Gim Gu

Kim Gu (, ; August 29, 1876 – June 26, 1949), also known by his pen name Baekbeom (백범; ), was a Korean statesman. He was the sixth, ninth, and president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea; a leader of the Korean independence movement against the Empire of Japan; and a Korean reunification activist after 1945. He was assassinated by Korean Lieutenant Ahn Doo-hee in 1949.

Early life

Kim was born in Teot-gol (텃골), Baek-un-bang (백운방), Haeju, South Hwanghae Province, Korea, the only son of the farmers Kim Soon-young (김순영) and Kwak Nack-won (곽낙원). His name at birth was Kim Changahm (; ). When he was nine years old, he started to study Chinese classic texts such as ''Zizhi Tongjian'', and ''Great Learning'' at local seodangs.

Kim was a 34th-generation descendant of Kim Suk-seung (김숙승;金叔承), the founder of the Andong Kim clan (Old), who was the grandson of King Gyeongsun of Silla. He is the 22nd-generation descendant of Kim Sa-hyeong (김사형;金士衡), one of the meritorious retainer at the founding of the Joseon dynasty and was himself the great-great-grandson of the famous Goryeo military personnel Kim Bang-gyeong (김방경;金方慶). Sa-hyeong's sixth-generation descendant was Kim Ja-jeom, who became his seven-greats-grandfather Kim Dae-chung, who escaped to Hanyang (now Seoul) to Haeju and later concealed his identity.

Leader of Donghak

At the age of 16, Kim took the Gwageo (Imperial Examination) of Joseon but failed. He then joined the Donghak rebellion against the government and foreign oppressions in 1893 and changed his name to Kim Changsoo (). As the organization grew rapidly, he was appointed the district leader of Palbong (팔봉) at the age of 17 and as a Donghak army regiment. Under the instruction of the Donghak leader Choi Si-hyung (최시형; 崔時亨), Kim's troops stormed the Haeju fort in Hwanghae-do, but the army was eventually defeated by governmental forces. He was then defeated by his companion, Lee Dong-yeop (이동엽) in the turf war of Donghak's organization. Royal Army General An Tae-hun (안태훈; 安泰勳 (the father of Ahn Jung-geun, who would in 1909 assassinate the Japanese governor Itō Hirobumi) gave Kim's Donghak rebels a safe pass, but other government troops ignored it and attacked them. At 20, with I-eon Kim, whom he had met around the Yalu River, Kim attacked the Royal Army unit holding the Gang-gye fort and was supported by the army of the Qing dynasty allies. However, the attack failed, and he went into hiding.

Assassination of Josuke Tsuchida

In February 1896, Kim stayed at an inn in Chihapo, Hwanghae Province, while he was traveling to southern regions. There, he found a Japanese man, Tsuchida Josuke (土田譲亮), who was a trader from Tsushima, Nagasaki, and killed him>in the belief that he was a Japanese army lieutenant involved in the assassination of the queen.

In his autobiography, 'Baekbeom Ilji' (백범일지, 白凡逸志, Baekbeom Journal), Kim described his motivation at the time as follows:

The following morning, Kim attacked Tsuchida and killed him. The "Report from acting administrator Hagihara Moriichi of Incheon Consulate on the current situation of Incheon" described Tsuchida as a "commoner from Nagasaki Prefecture" and an "employee of a Nagasaki trader on a business trip."

However, Kim argued in his autobiography that Tsuchida was concealing a sword and had identification papers, which showed him to be a Japanese army lieutenant.

Jailbreak and educational activities

Kim was tortured and sentenced to death. According to ''Baekbeom Ilji'', however, many Korean people were sympathetic and admired him for his patriotism and bravery, since his execution was suspended by the order of Emperor Gwangmu; the Korean judicial officials behaved politely to him despite Japanese pressure to execute him promptly! and influential Koreans at the time, including major merchants of Incheon, made efforts to rescue him by repeated petitions to Korean Justice Department Officials and by collecting money for his ransom before his scheduled execution date.

In prison, Kim had a chance to read newly-published textbooks about Western culture and science such as Taeseo Shinsa (태서신사; 泰西新史) and Saegye Jiji (세계지지; 世界地誌). He was deeply impressed by the strengths of the new Western science and recognized the importance of education for the Korean people. He started to teach about 100 illiterate fellow prisoners. The Korean newspaper Hwhangsung Shinbo (황성신보; 皇城新報) reported at the time that by teaching prisoners, Kim Chang Soo had changed the Incheon Prison into a school.

In 1898, he broke out of prison and escaped into Magoksa, a Buddhist temple in Gongju, Chungcheong Province, and entered the Buddhist priesthood. A year later Kim, left the priesthood and returned to Hwanghae, where he devoted himself to the enlightenment and education of the Korean people by founding Jangyeon School (장연학교; 長淵學校) and the Yangsan School (양산학교; 楊山學校) in 1907, becoming the principal of the Yangsan School. In 1904, he married Choi Jun-rye (최준례; 崔遵禮) from Sinchon, Hwanghae Province.

Joins Korean independence movement

In 1905, the Eulsa Treaty was made between Japan and Korea and made Korea a protectorate of Japan. Kim participated in a mass protest against the treaty in Seoul and presented a memorial to Emperor Gwangmu to urge him to withdraw from the treaty. In 1908, Kim joined the New People's Association, a national-level underground organization that had been established by Ahn Changho for nonviolent Korean independence movement.

In 1910, the Japanese colonial government arrested An Myung-geun (안명근; 安明根) for plotting to assassinate Governor-General Terauchi Masatake. Kim, who was a close friend of An, was suspected of being an accomplice and arrested as well. Like other jailed suspects, Kim was severely tortured, but no evidence linking him to the assassination attempt was found, and he was released from prison after three years.
Doosan Encyclopedia

The term of imprisonment left Kim with damage to cartilage and his left ear disfigured for life because he was beat by Japanese in the prison, and his calves had lready been permanently scarred in his earlier imprisonment torture for the killing of Tsuchida. At the time, Han Pil-ho (한필호; 韓弼昊), a member of Sinminhoe, was killed. Shin Suk-choong (신석충; 申錫忠) killed himself. An tried to commit suicide during the severe interrogation but failed. Kim also tried to kill himself with a self-inflicted injury in his head but failed.

In prison, Kim changed his name from "Kim Changsoo" to "Kim Koo" 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" in the hope that every ordinary Korean person would fight for the independence of Korea.

Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea

Kim exiled himself to Shanghai, China, in 1919 after a nationwide non-violent resistance movement, known as the March 1st Movement, which 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, the Korean Patriotic Corps. One of the members, Yun Bong-gil, ambushed and assassinated the Japanese military leadership in Shanghai on April 29, 1932. The commander of the Japanese Army and Navy died instantly. Another member, Lee Bong-chang, tried to assassinate Japanese Emperor Hirohito in Tokyo on January 8 of the same year but failed.

After escaping to Chongqing, where Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government was established, Kim established the Korean Liberation Army, which was commanded by General Ji Cheong-cheon. When the Pacific War broke out on December 8, 1941, Kim Koo declared war on Japan and Germany and committed the Korean Liberation Army to the Allies. The Korean Liberation Army took part in warfare in China and Southeast Asia. Kim arranged for the Korean Liberation Army to advance to Korea in 1945, but days before the departure of the leading unit, the war had ended.

After Korean Liberation

Kim returned to Korea upon the surrender of Japan to the Allies in 1945. He was known as "the Assassin" and reportedly travelled with an entourage of gunmen and concubines.

On December 27, 1945, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China agreed to a trusteeship for the newly-liberated Korea. Kim was opposed to the trusteeship and to the 1947 creation of The Joint Soviet-American Commission.

As the division of the newly-independent country under the trusteeship became obvious, he led a team of former independence activists to Pyongyang to hold unification talks with Kim Il-sung, who later became the Premier of North Korea in 1948. Talks deteriorated rapidly after Kim Gu had voiced his hostility toward the growing communist presence in North Korea.

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 Rhee Syngman, the first president of the provisional government, who had been impeached in 1925 by a vote of 180–16. He lost the election for the vice presidency to Lee Si-yeong (이시영; 李始榮) by a vote of 133–59. Kim did not know about his nomination until after the election. He did not approve the nomination since he considered it a ploy to discredit him. Kim would never have participated in the election, as he fiercely opposed the establishment of separate governments in North and South Korea.

Death and legacy

On June 26, 1949, Kim was assassinated by Lieutenant Ahn Doo-hee, who burst in and shot him four times while Kim was at home and reading poetry. Ahn stated that he had killed Kim because he saw him as an agent of the Soviet Union. On April 13, 1992, a confession by Ahn was published by the Korean newspaper ''Dongah Ilbo''. Kim Il Sung claimed in 1949 that Kim Gu had been "murdered by the Syngman Rhee clique." In his confession, Ahn claimed that the assassination had been ordered by Kim Chang-ryong, who served as the head of Rhee's national security. Ahn was murdered by Park Gi-sheo (박기서; 朴琦緖), a follower of Kim Gu, in 1996. According to Bruce Cumings's 1981 books, another possible motive for the assassination was Kim Gu's alleged connection to the assassination of Song Jin-woo, a leader of the Korean Democratic Party (KDP), who had chosen to work closely with the American military government. In 2001, declassified documents revealed that Ahn had been working for the US Counter-Intelligence Corps, leading to suggestions of American involvement in the assassination. However, some have questioned the evidence for those accusations.

Kim 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, as well as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's National Reunification Prize. His autobiography, Baekbeomilji (Journal of Baekbeom, 백범일지) is an important source for study of history of Korean independence movement and has been designated as cultural treasure No. 1245 by the Korean government.
Korean Cultural Heritage Information Center A steady bestseller in Korea, the autobiography was first published in 1947 and republished in more than 10 versions in Korea and abroad.

Legacy

Kim 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
2004 online poll and in 2005 as the most revered figure by Korean National Assemblymen.
2005 survey by Dongailbo In 2007 national surveys, Kim received the most votes as the Korean historic figure whose portrait should be featured in new Korean banknotes, which were to be issued in 2009.
2007 survey by CBS
2007 survey by Maeil Business On November 5, 2007, the Bank of Korea, the national central bank of the Republic of Korea, announced the new 100,000 Korean won bill would feature Kim's portrait.
Yonhap News Article However, the issuing of the new bill was delayed indefinitely as of 2009 for fear that issuing the bill would cause an inflation.

Family

Kim's second son, Kim Shin (김신; 金信; b. 1922), was a founding member of Republic of Korea Air Force, the Chief of Korean Air Force, member of the National Assembly, and the Minister of Transportation, and later the Director of Kim Koo Museum and Library. Two great-grandsons would follow the latter's footsteps and complete their mandatory military service in the Air Force. Kim Yong-man (김용만; 金容萬; b. 1987) appointed second lieutenant of Korean Air Force, and in 2011, Kim Dong-man (김동만; 金東萬; b. 1987) was also appointed second lieutenant of Korean Air Force. Kim Dong-man is the son of Kim Shin's daughter Kim Mi and Kim Ho-yeon, former chairman of Binggrae Co. Ltd. and second son of Hanwha Group founder Kim Chong-hee.

Kim Koo's grandson, Kim Yang (김양; 金揚; b. 1953), was appointed as the Korean Consulate General in Shanghai, China, in 2005 and as the Minister of Patriots and Veteran Affairs of Korea (국가보훈처; 國家報勳處) in 2008.

"My Desire"

At the end of his autobiography, ''Baekbeomilji'', Kim expressed his desire with which he carried all his lifetime:
: If God asked me what was my wish, I would reply unhesitatingly, "Korean independence."
: If he asked me what was my second wish, I would again answer, "My country's independence."
: If he asked me what was my third wish, I would reply in an even louder voice, "My wish is the complete independence of my country, Korea."
: My fellow brethren. This is my only wish. I have lived seventy years of my life for this wish, am living my life for this wish, and will live my life only to fulfill this wish.

:...Recently, some of our brothers have said that they wanted our nation to be a part of a federation of another country. I don't believe this, and if there is really someone who does, I can only say that he is crazy and has 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 shared blood and history is clear, and just like my body can't be another's, the reason that a certain nation can't become another is the same as brothers living in the same house. If two gather and become one, one would be higher and the other lower, so it becomes a basic problem that one orders from above, and the other obeys from below.
:And so-called leftists deny the motherland of blood, and say this and that about the so-called motherland of ideology, ignoring brothers of blood-ties, and claims the so-called comrade of ideology and international class of proletariat, and speak as if nationalism is outside the truth.
:This is foolish thinking. Philosophies change and theories of politics and economics are only a snap, but a nation's success is everlasting.

:... I want our nation to be the most beautiful in the world. By this I do not mean the most powerful nation. 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 makes our lives abundant; it is sufficient that our strength is able to prevent foreign invasions. The only thing that I desire in infinite quantity is the power of a noble culture. This is because the power of culture both makes ourselves happy and gives happiness to others.

Writings

* "Baekbeom Ilji" (백범일지; 白凡逸志)
* "Dowae Silgi" (도왜실기; 屠倭實記)

In popular culture

* Portrayed by Kim Sang-joong and Jo Sang-geon in the 1995 KBS1 TV series ''Kim Gu''.
* Portrayed by Lee Young-hoo in the 2010 KBS1 TV series ''Freedom Fighter, Lee Hoe-young''.
* Portrayed by Kim Hong-pa in the 2015 film ''Assassination''.
* Portrayed by Cho Jin-woong in the 2017 film ''Man of Will''.

See also

* Provisional Government of Republic of Korea
* Korean independence movement
* Syngman Rhee
* Kim Kyu-sik
* Yoon Bong-Gil
* Lee Bong-Chang
* Kim Wonbong
* Kim Ja-jeom
* Kim Koo Museum

Bibliography

* Doh Jin-Soon (ed.): ''Kim Koo - Das Tagebuch von Baekbeom'', Hamburg: Abera Verlag 2005. . German version of ''Baekbeomilji'' (''Journal of Baekbeom'').
* Kim, Koo (1997). ''Baekbeomilji ournal of Baekbeom'. Seoul, Korea: Dolbaegae.
* Yamabe, K. (1966). ''Japanese Occupation of Korea''. Tokyo, Japan: Taihei Shuppan-sha.

Notes

References

External links

Kim Koo Museum & LibraryKim Koo Memorial Association

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Gu
1876 births
1949 deaths
People from Haeju
Korean politicians
Korean independence activists
Korean nationalists
Assassinated Korean politicians
Assassinated South Korean people
Conservatism in South Korea
People murdered in Korea
Korean revolutionaries
South Korean anti-communists
South Korean Methodists
Converts to Protestantism from Buddhism
Korean educators
Recipients of the National Reunification Prize
Gim clan of Andong
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