This book tells the true story of Lee Taejun, who was respected as a “divine doctor”, for his commitment to the health of the Mongolian people, and as a patriot for his contribution to the independence of Korea in China and Mongolia during the Japanese occupation.

In the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, there is a place called Lee Taejun Memorial Park. Here, the Mongols remember a Joseon doctor who treated countless patients in the 1910s when syphilis was rampant. This story portrays the life of Dae-am Lee Taejun. Lee, called the “divine doctor” in Mongolia, was also an unknown independence activist, who silently took part in the independence movement of his country.

Lee Taejun was born in Haman, Gyeongsangnam-do in 1883. He moved to Seoul as a young man and studied at the Severance Medical School. While working at the Severance Hospital after graduation, he treated Dosan Ahn Changho, but this incident later forced him to flee from the Japanese police. Lee left for Mongolia in 1912 and came to be adored by the people there for fighting a sexually transmitted disease, which was sweeping the country at the time. With the help of other independence fighters, Lee opened a hospital and also served as the doctor for the last emperor of Mongolia, after earning his trust. Though he received the highest honor in Mongolia, he did not stop his struggle for the independence of his country. The hospital that he opened in Mongolia was one of the bases for the independence movement, and the Shanghai Provisional Government appointed him as a military doctor. Lee was killed by the Russian military (White Army) in 1921 while taking part in the independence movement.

To the patients, Dr. Lee was a doctor who was willing to travel great distances to treat his patients, and to his fellow patriots in the independence movement, he was a patriot who firmly stood his place like a boulder. Through this novel, the reader will gain the courage to brave the “lightning and thunder” roaring before us today.