Kim Chung-seon (1571–1642), birth name and often known by his pen name Mohadang, was a Japanese general who defected to Korea during the Japanese invasion. After his defection, Kim served in the Joseon army, contributing to Korean victories over Japanese forces in the battles of

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 ...

and

Ulsan Ulsan (), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring ...

. Thereafter he was granted his Korean name, on the recommendations of

Gwon Yul Gwon Yul (; December 28, 1537 - July 6, 1599) was a Korean Army General and the Commander-in-chief (도원수; 導元帥) of the Joseon Dynasty, who successfully led the Korean forces against Japan during the Japanese invasions of Korea (임진� ...

and others, and was made part of the Gimhae Kim lineage. Kim continued his military service after the end of the Japanese invasions in 1598, working for 10 years on securing the northern border. He fought the rebellion of

Yi Gwal Yi Gwal (1587 – 15 February, 1624) was a general during the Joseon Dynasty, Korea, known for the failed Yi Gwal's Rebellion. His family belonged to the Gosung Yi clan. He rebelled against King Injo in 1624, but failed. Yi Gwal was then kill ...

in 1624, personally capturing Yi's lieutenant Seo A-ji (서아지 / 徐牙之). In 1636, he participated in the defense against the

Second Manchu invasion of Korea The Qing invasion of Joseon (Korean: Byeongja Horan) occurred in the winter of 1636 when the newly-established Qing dynasty invaded the Joseon dynasty, establishing the former's status as the hegemon in the Imperial Chinese Tributary System a ...

, credited with the death of some 500 Qing troops at the battle of Ssangnyeong. After Joseon's surrender to the Manchus, Kim retired from military life, moving to Daegu where he married the daughter of the ''mok'' ( 목; 牧) administrative district commander Jang Chun-jeom (장춘점 / 張春點). They settled in present-day Urok-ri,

Gachang-myeon Gachang-myeon is a ''myeon'', or township in rural southeastern Daegu, South Korea. Part of Dalseong County, it is separated from the urban center of Daegu by the ridgelines of Yongjibong and Apsan. These two mountains are separated by the n ...

, Dalseong-gun. Kim devoted himself to Confucian ethics, promulgating '' gahun'' (family principles) and ''

hyangyak The ''hyangyak'' was a contractual arrangement that allowed for a degree of local government in the history of Korea. During the rule of Jungjong (1506–1544), the contract was enforced by the local level officials. Specific details were circu ...

'' (village creed). The Nokdong Seowon in Urok-ri was erected in his memory in 1789. This

seowon Seowon () were the most common educational institutions of Korea during the mid- to late Joseon Dynasty. They were private institutions, and combined the functions of a Confucian shrine and a preparatory school. In educational terms, the seowon ...

was abolished in 1864 as part of the regent Daewon-gun's general campaign against seowon, but was reestablished in 1914 under the Japanese colonial regime. The seowon remains a popular destination for Japanese tourists in Daegu. During the Japanese colonial era in the 20th century, Japanese officials and scholars tried to deny Kim’s existence. Some scholars visited the village and personally investigated the records handed down in his family. However, they did not recognize him as Japanese. Rather, they considered him “half Korean and half Japanese” or just a fictional figure. In 1930, Hidetaka Nakamura of the Japanese colonial government’s Korean History Compilation Committee conducted an investigation and confirmed that Kim Chung-seon was indeed a Japanese defector. Recently, a monument in memory of Kim was built in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Kim Chung-seon is the founder of one of the

Korean clan Bon-gwan (or Bongwan) is the concept of clan in Korea, which is used to distinguish clans that happen to share the same family name (clan name). Since Korea has been traditionally a Confucian country, this clan system is similar to ancient Chinese ...

Urok Kim clan The Urok Kim clan (), officially the Gimhae Kim clan (), is a Korean clan descended from Kim Chung-seon, a general in the Japanese forces that invaded Korea in 1592. He defected to the Korean side and fought against the Japanese invaders. He ...

. Kim's 6th-generation descendants compiled his collected works, which exist in two editions.

Popular culture

* Portrayed by Hiromitsu Takeda in the 2017

tvN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

TV series ''

Live Up to Your Name, Dr. Heo ''Live Up to Your Name'' () is a 2017 historical time travel South Korean television series. It brings Heo Im (a medical scientist from the Joseon Dynasty portrayed by Kim Nam-gil) to present day Seoul, where he meets the surgeon, Choi Yeon-kyun ...

''.RPM9 전자신문엔터테인먼트: (ET-ENT 인터뷰) 배우 다케다 히로미츠(Takeda Hiromitsu)! 한국을 정말 사랑하는 아티스트
/ref>

Notes

References and further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Chung-seon Japanese defectors People of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) Korean people of Japanese descent People from Daegu 1571 births 1642 deaths 16th-century Korean people 17th-century Korean people Gim clan of Urok

Popular culture

See also

Notes

References and further reading