yu kil-chun was born in kwangju. in his early years he studied under park kyu-su and oh kyung-suk. as a young man in 1881, he went to meiji japan to study at keio university. he then went to the united states in 1884 to study mathematics. after his he was accused of supporting the "gaehwadang" (enlightenment party). he was arrested and put in jail from 1885 to 1894.