Kim Kyu-sik, also spelled Kimm Kiusic (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

:김규식,

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

:金奎植, January 29, 1881 – December 10, 1950), was a Korean politician and academic during the

Korean independence movement The Korean independence movement was a military and diplomatic campaign to achieve the independence of Korea from Japan. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea's domestic resistance peaked in the March 1st Movement of 1919, which ...

and a leader of the

Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea The Korean Provisional Government (KPG), formally the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, was a partially recognized Korean government-in-exile based in Shanghai, China, and later in Chongqing, during the period of Japanese c ...

. Kim served in various roles in the provisional government, including as foreign minister, ambassador, education minister and finally as the vice president from 1940 until the provisional government's dissolution on March 3, 1947. Kim's nicknames included Usa(우사), Kummun(금문), Kimsong(김성), and Chukchok(죽적).

Life and career

Early life

Kim was born in

Dongnae Dongnae District is a '' gu'' in central Busan, South Korea. Administrative divisions It has a population of about 300,000, and an area of 16.7 square kilometers. It was once a separate city, the principal port of southeastern Korea. Numerous ...

, now part of modern-day

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

. Orphaned at an early age, Kim studied with American missionary H.G. Underwood starting from the age of 6, taking the

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often assigned by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...

"Johann". He later traveled to the United States, receiving a bachelor's degree from

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a private liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers 35 majors, 57 minors and concentrations, and pre-professional pr ...

in 1903 and a master's degree in English literature from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

the following year. In 1905 Kim returned to Korea, teaching widely. Following the 1910

Japanese annexation of Korea Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspo ...

Kim fled to China in 1913.

Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea

In 1919 Kim traveled to Paris for the Paris Peace Conference to lobby for Korean independence from Japan. He was sent by Lyuh Woon-Hyung and Chang Duk-soo, who had organized Sinhan Cheongnyeondang in Shanghai in the summer of 1919. Eckert, Carter J., Lee, Ki-baik, Lew, Young Ick, Robinson, Michael & Wagner, Edward W. (1990). ''Korea old and new''. Seoul: Ilchokak. His efforts in Paris proved to be futile. The

Korean National Revolutionary Party The Korean National Revolutionary Party ( ko, 조선민족혁명당, Minjok Hyǒngmyǒng-dang), or KNRP, was a nationalist party formed by exiles in Shanghai in 1935 to resist the Japanese occupation of Korea. At first it was the main nationalist ...

was formed in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

in 1935 through a grouping of nationalist Korean parties. Organizers were Kim Kyu-sik,

Kim Won-bong Kim Won-bong (김원봉, 金元鳳 – 1958) was a Korean anarchist, independence activist, communist, and statesman from North Korea. Biography Kim Won-bong was born in 1898, in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-Do province, Korea. His father was Kim Ju ...

and Cho Soang. Kim was a leading member of the

based in Shanghai, becoming the Vice-President. He was fluent in English and taught English to the Provisional Government's members.

After Korean Liberation

After the post World War II liberation of Korea in 1945, he returned to his homeland to join in the formation of a newly independent state, which was then under the rule of the

United States Army Military Government in Korea The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body of the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 8 September 1945 to 15 August 1948. The country during this period was plagued with political and eco ...

in the south and the Soviet Civil Authority in the north. Kim was favored by the American occupation leader

John R. Hodge General John Reed Hodge (June 12, 1893 – November 12, 1963) was a highly decorated senior officer of the United States Army. His final assignment before retiring was as Chief of Army Field Forces from 1952 to 1953. Early life and career Born ...

, who saw him and Lyuh Woon-Hyung as moderate leaders on the right and left, respectively. In September 1947, the United States and Lee Seung Man (이승만; 李承晩 – also known as

Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee (, ; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Ko ...

) ''et al.'' pushed to move the Korean question to the newly created United Nations, which voted to allow for

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

in the south despite the objections of southern nationalists such as Kim and

Kim 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 indepen ...

as well as from the north's Interim People's Committee, who were opposed because of the non-participation of the North.

Death

After failed efforts to broker reunification in that year, he retired from politics. After the outbreak of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

in 1950, he was kidnapped and taken to the North; he reportedly died near

Manpo Manpo () is a city of northwestern Chagang Province, North Korea. As of 2008, it had an estimated population of 116,760. It looks across the border to the city of Ji'an, Jilin province, China. History Manp'o was incorporated as a city in October ...

in the far north on December 10. In May 1988 he was posthumously awarded the Republic of Korea Medal of

Order of Merit for National Foundation The Order of Merit for National Foundation (Hangul: 건국훈장) is one of South Korea's orders of merit. It is awarded by the President of South Korea for "outstanding meritorious services in the interest of founding or laying a foundation for th ...

(건국훈장 대한민국장; 建國勳章大韓民國章), the most prestigious civil decoration in South Korea. He was posthumously awarded North Korea's

National Reunification Prize The National Reunification Prize () is an award of North Korea, bestowed by the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly upon people who have contributed to the reunification of Korea. The award was instituted in 1990. Recipients * An Ji-sae ...

in 1998.

Other information

; Educational career * December 17, 1913 in Shanghai, a professor of Barkdal English School * 1923 professor of English at Fudan University * 1927–1929 In Tianjin, Northern Sea University Professor of English * 1932–1937 Nanjing political instructor School, professor of political. * 1937–1940 ShChwan College Professor of English Literature, Foreign Languages and Chair, Head of Foreign Language and Literature ; Books * Poems, 《Yangjayugyong》(양자유경) * 《Small English grammar》 * 《Practical English》 * 《Elizabeth I Age's Introduction to Theatre》 * 《WonYongSa》 ; Degrees * 1903

(Bachelor of Arts) * 1904 Master of English Literature(MA) at

* 1923 Honorary Doctor of Law

; Awards and recognition *

(1988) *

(1988)