Lieutenant General Hong Sa-ik of the Empire of Japan, Executed as a War Criminal

He was an elite military cadet sent to study in Japan by the Korean Empire in 1909.
It is said that the privileges usually reserved for royalty or the children of nobility were granted to Hong Sa-ik because he was exceptionally outstanding.
When the Korean Empire fell following the annexation in 1910, his fellow students gave up and returned to Korea, but Hong Sa-ik remained in Japan. As part of the 26th class of the Military Academy, he eventually became a second lieutenant in the Empire of Japan in 1914.
He achieved distinction while participating in World War I.
He was pressured to adopt a Japanese surname (Sōshi-kaimei).
However, he firmly refused, maintaining his name and declaring himself a Korean.
It is quite ironic that while even influential figures were rushing to change their names to Japanese ones, a high-ranking officer insisted on keeping his Korean name.
It seems the Japanese government was swayed by him, using his case to create and promote external evidence that the adoption of Japanese names was not mandatory.
Even so, he rose through the ranks without discrimination compared to Japanese officers.
In fact... it is said that because his military command and operational abilities were so superior, he was promoted even faster than Japanese officers.
There were several opportunities for him to leave the Japanese military.
There was even an opportunity to join the Liberation Army.
However, he did not leave the Imperial Japanese Army until the very end.
He was executed by hanging in 1946 as a Class B war criminal. While most military personnel were executed as reserve civilians, there are very few people like Hong Sa-ik who died while still on active duty.
If he had possessed a Korean identity strong enough to refuse a Japanese name, wouldn't it have been wonderful if he had changed his mind and joined the Liberation Army?
He truly could have become a great figure.
But in the end, he finished his life as an anti-nationalist, a war criminal, a traitor to his country, and a collaborator with the Empire of Japan.
Although he never hid that he was Korean throughout his life, was he Korean? Or was he Japanese?