Kim Ku
Kim Gu | |
|---|---|
| File:Kim Koo.jpg | |
| 6th President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea | |
| In office 1927 – August 15, 1948 | |
| Vice President | Kim Kyu-sik |
| Preceded by | Yi Dong-nyung |
| Succeeded by | Syngman Rhee |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 29, 1876 Hwanghae, Korea |
| Died | June 26, 1949 (aged 72) Seoul, Korea |
| Nationality | Korean |
| Political party | Korean Independence Party |
| Kim Ku | |
| Hangul | 김구 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 金九 |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Gu |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Ku |
Kim Gu (김구 金九, August 29, 1876 – June 26, 1949), the sixth and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, was a Korean patriot who had struggled against the Japanese occupation of Korea that lasted from 1910 to 1945. Also known by his pen name Baek Beom (백범 白凡), he has been constantly regarded as one of the greatest figures in Korean history.
Early Accounts
Kim Gu was born on August 29, 1876 in Haeju, South Hwanghae Province, Korea, the lone son of poor farmer Kim Soonyoung and his wife Kwak Nackwon. His name at birth was Kim Changahm (김창암 金昌巖). He studied Chinese literature at a local school and joined the Donghak (동학 東學) movement in 1893 and changed his name to Kim Changsoo (김창수 金昌洙). He was appointed the district leader of Palbong a year later, at the age of 18. He commanded a Donghak army regiment in Donghak Peasant Revolution of 1894, but was defeated eventually and went into hiding.
On October 8, 1895, Empress Myeongseong (Queen Min), the wife of Emperor Gwangmu (King Gojong) of Korean Empire was assassinated by a group of Japanese assassins (the Eulmi Incident). In February 1886, Kim assassinated Josuke Tsuchida (土田譲亮) for being involved in the murder of the queen in Chihapo, Hwanghae Province. The resulting "Report from acting administrator Hagihara Moriichi of Incheon Consulate on the current situation of Incheon" (在仁川領事館事務代理萩原守一ヨリ仁川港ノ情況ニ付続報ノ件, April 24, 1896) describes Tsuchida as a "commoner from Nagasaki Prefecture" (p. 6, "長崎縣平民土田譲亮") and an "employee of a Nagasaki trader on a business trip"(p. 7, "貿易商大久保機一の雇人")[1]. However, this does not prove that Tsuchida was not involved in the assassination of the Empress Myeongseong, as this assassination was carried out by not only Japanese soldiers but also many Japanese Ronins as described in the report by Ezo Isizuka (石塚英藏), the Japanese consultant to the Korean Empire at the time[2]. In addition, Kim stated in his biography 'Baekbeom Ilji' (白凡逸志) that Tsuchida was carrying a sword and had identification papers that showed him to be a Japanese army lieutenant[3]. Official Japanese interrogation police records from also verify the fact that Tsuchida was carrying around a sword.[4]
After the kiling, Kim left a hand-written document which said "Kim Changsoo from Haeju, Hwanghae Province, killed this Japanese man to revenge the murder of Korean Queen", as documented in Baekbeom Ilji. Kim was immediately arrested and sentenced to the death penalty, but his execution was suspended by the order from Emperor Gwangmu. In 1898 he broke out of prison and escaped into Gongju, Chungcheong province.
Joining Korean independence movement
After returning to Hwanghae, Kim founded several schools in the area between 1903 and 1908 and devoted himself to enlightenment and education of Korean people. In 1904, he married Choi Junrye from Sincheon, Hwanghae Province. In 1905, the Eulsa Treaty was made between Japan and Korea, making Korea a protectorate of Japan. Kim participated in mass protest against the treaty in Seoul and presented a memorial to Emperor Gwangmu urging him to withdraw from the treaty. In 1908, Kim joined Shinminhoi (신민회, 新民會), a national-level underground organization established by Ahn Chang Ho for nonviolent Korean independence movement.
In 1910, the Japanese colonial government arrested An Myung Geun, a cousin of An Jung-Geun, for plotting to assassinate Governor-General Terauchi Masatake. Kim, who was a close friend of Ahn, was suspected to be an accomplice and arrested as well. Kim was jailed and severely tortured, but no evidence linking him to the assassination attempt was found, and he was released from prison after 3 years.[5] In the prison, Kim changed his name from Kim Changsoo (김창수) to Kim Gu (김구) and adopted the pen name of Baekbeom (백범, 白凡). Kim stated in his biography that the change of his name symbolized breaking free from Japanese nationality records and that he chose the pen name Baekbeom, which means "ordinary person", hoping every ordinary Korean person would fight for the independence of Korea.
Shanghai Provisional Government
Kim exiled himself to Shanghai, China in 1919 after a nationwide non-violent resistance movement, known as the March 1st Movement, was violently suppressed by the Japanese imperialist government. In Shanghai, Kim joined the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which vowed to liberate Korea from Japanese occupation. After serving as the Police Minister, Kim became the president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in 1927. He was re-elected to the office many times by the Provisional Assembly.
In 1931 he organized a nationalist group, Korea Patriotic Legion. One of the members, Yoon Bong-Gil, ambushed and eliminated the Japanese military leadership in Shanghai on April 29, 1932. The commander of the Japanese Army and Navy died instantly. It was a great victory for the Korean cause. Another member, Lee Bong-chang, tried to eliminate the Japanese emperor Hirohito in Tokyo on January 8 of the same year. After escaping to Chongqing where Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government was established, Kim established the Korean Liberation Army, commanded by General Ji Chung-chun. When the Pacific War broke out on December 8 1941, Kim Gu declared war on Japan and Germany, and committed the Korean Liberation Army to the Allied side, which took part in warfare in China and Southeast Asia. Kim organised for the Korean Liberation Army to advance to Korea in 1945, but days before the departure of the leading unit, the war ended.
After Korean Liberation
He returned to Seoul upon the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945.
As the division of the newly-independent country became obvious, he led a team of former independence activists to Pyongyang to hold unification talks with Kim Il-sung (who later became the president of North Korea), but failed drastically after being humiliated by Kim Il-Sung.
In 1948, the inaugural National Assembly of South Korea nominated Kim as a candidate for the office of the first president of the Republic. In the election by the National Assembly, Kim was defeated by Syngman Rhee, the first president of the provisional government who was impeached in 1925, by a vote of 180-16. He also lost the election for vice presidency to Lee Si-young by a vote of 133-59. Kim himself didn't know about his nominations until after the election, and he did not approve the nomination, considering it a ploy to discredit him.
Death and Legacy
In 1949 Kim was assassinated by Ahn Doo-hee in his office. Although some suggest there may have been a right-wing conspiracy to assassinate him in which even president Rhee and the CIA could have been involved, no details of the assassination have been revealed. Moreover, Ahn Doo-hee was murdered by Kim's follower in 1996 after he allegedly confessed Kim Chang-Ryong was the mastermind of the assassination, thus further obscuring the prospect of finding the motive of assassination.
He was posthumously awarded the Republic of Korea Medal of Order of Merit for National Foundation, the most prestigious civil decoration in the Republic of Korea. His autobiography, Baekbeomilji (Journal of Baekbeom, 백범일지) is an important source for study of history of Korean independence movement and has been designated as a cultural treasure No. 1245 by Korean government.[6] A steady seller in Korea, the autobiography was first published in 1947 and republished in more than 10 versions in Korea and abroad.[6]
He has been constantly regarded as one of the greatest figures in Korean history. For example, he was voted in a 2004 online poll as the greatest leader after the restoration of Korean independence[7] and in 2005 as the most revered figure by Korean National Assemblymen.[8] In 2007 national surveys, Kim received the most vote as the Korean historic figure whose portrait should be featured in new Korean banknotes that will be issued in 2009, making it highly likely that the new 50,000 or 100,000 Korean won bill will feature Kim's portrait.[9][10]
His second son, Kim Shin (1922-), was a founding member of Republic of Korea Air Force, the Chief of Korean Air Force, a National Assemblyperson, and the Minister of Transportation, and is now the Director of Kim Koo Museum and Library. His grandson, Kim Yang (1953-) was appointed as the Korean Consulate General in Shanghai, China in 2005.
'My desire'
In his autobiography Baekbeomilji, Kim expressed his desire with which he carried all his life time:
- If God asked me what was my wish, I would reply unhesitatingly, "Korean independence."
- If He asked me what was my next wish, I would again answer, "Our nation's independence."
- If He asked me the same question for the third time, I would reply in an even louder voice, "My wish is our Great Korean Nation's Complete Independence."
- ...Recenty, some of our brothers say they want our nation to be a part of a federation of another country, I don't believe this, and if there is really someone who really does, I can only say that he is crazy and lost his mind.
- I've studied the ideas of Confucius, Buddha, and Jesus, I respect them as saints, but even if there's a heaven made by them, it's not a nation created by our nation, and I will never take our nation there.
- It is because, a nation which share the blood and history is clear and just like my body can't be other's, the reason that a certain nation can't become other is as same as even brothers living in same house. If two gathers and becomes one, one is high and other is low, so it becomes a basic problem that one orders from above, and other obeys under.
- And so-called leftists denies the motherland of blood, and say such and such of so-called motherland of ideology, ignores brothers of blood-ties, and claims the so-called comrade of ideology and international class of proletariat, and speak as if nationalism is outside of truth.
- This is foolish thinking. Philosophy change and theories of politics and economics are only a snap, but nation's success is everlasting.
- ...I want our nation to become the most beautiful nation in the world. I do not want our nation to become the richest and powerful nation in the world. Because I have felt the pain of being invaded by another nation, I do not want my nation to invade others. It is sufficient that our wealth is such that it makes our lives abundant and our military strength such that it is able to repel others' invasion. The only thing that I desire in infinite quantity is the power of a highly-developed culture. This is because the power of culture both makes ourselves happy and gives happiness to others.
See also
References
- Doh Jin-Soon (ed.): Kim Koo - Das Tagebuch von Baekbeom. Hamburg: Abera Verlag 2005. ISBN 3-934376-70-3. German version of Baekbeomilji (Journal of Baekbeom).
- Koo, K. (1997). Baekbeomilji [Journal of Baekbeom]. Seoul, Korea: Dolbaegae.ISBN 8971990996
- Yamabe, K. (1966). Japanese Occupation of Korea. Tokyo, Japan: Taihei Shuppan-sha. ISBN 4803127085
Notes
- ^ Japan Center for Asian Historical Records Reference code: A04010024500
- ^ "山邊健太郞", Kentaro Yamabe (1966, p.223)
- ^ 새國史事典(New Encyclopedia of Korean History) (Seoul:Gyohaksa, 1983, ISBN 8909005068)
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2] Doosan Encyclopedia
- ^ a b [3] Korean Cultural Heritage Information Center
- ^ [4] 2004 online poll
- ^ [5] 2005 survey by Dongailbo
- ^ [6] 2007 survey by CBS
- ^ [7] 2007 survey by Maeil Business