Park Kyung-won

Park Kyung-won (; 24 June 1901 – 7 August 1933) was the first female Korean civilian aviator.

Park is not the first female Korean pilot, however. That title is generally given to Kwon Ki-ok, who was trained by the Republic of China Air Force.

Park is the subject of the controversial 2005 South Korean film Blue Swallow, in which she was portrayed by actress Jang Jin-young.

Early life Park was born in Daegu, Gyeongsang-do.

Aviation career In January 1925, Park returned to Japan, where she finally enrolled in an aviation school in Kamata (present-day Ōta, Tokyo). She had initially hoped to attend the same flight school as An Chang-nam, the first Korean male pilot, but it had burned down in 1923. She graduated and took the test for her third-class pilot's licence on 25 January 1927; she obtained the licence three days later. On 30 July of the following year, she obtained her second-class pilot's licence. from Tokyo's Haneda Airport on one such flight to Manchuria; she crashed 42 minutes later near Hakone, Kanagawa and died.