Sohn Won-yil (May 5, 1909 in

Nampo Nampo (North Korean official spelling: Nampho; ), also spelled Namp'o, is the second largest city by population and an important seaport in North Korea, which lies on the northern shore of the Taedong River, 15 km east of the river's mouth. ...

February 15, 1980) was a South Korean naval vice admiral best known for being the first

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

(CNO) of the

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy in ...

. As one of the founding members of the

, Sohn is generally regarded as the founder of the South Korean navy.

Career

Shortly after Korea was liberated from the Empire of Japan on August 15, 1945, Sohn Won-yil, a former merchant mariner and son of the independence activist

Sohn Jung-do Sohn may refer to *a German word meaning "son"; *an alternate transliteration of the Korean name Son; *Sohn (musician), a Vienna-based English musician, songwriter, and producer Sohn is the surname of: * Sohn Kee-chung (孫基禎) — the first ...

, led the Maritime Affairs Association. The Association evolved into the Marine Defense Group on November 11, 1945 (later became Navy Foundation Day) and later became the Korean Coast Guard, which was formed in Jinhae. After the new

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...

government was established on August 15, 1948, the Korean Coast Guard has formally renamed the

, and Sohn became the first Chief of Naval Operations of the ROK Navy on September 5, 1948."Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea: The Early Years (1945 to 1957)"
Commander U.S. Naval Forces Korea, U.S. Navy Official Website. Retrieved March 4, 2007. After relieved from the service, he was appointed as the fifth Minister of National Defense, and the first

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Legacy

In honor of Sohn, the ROKS ''Sohn Won-yil'' (SS 072), the first of ''Sohn Won-yil'' class submarines, was commissioned in 2007, named after him.

References

Biography at the War Memorial Korea official website
1909 births 1980 deaths People from Nampo Chiefs of Naval Operations (South Korea) National Defense ministers of South Korea Ambassadors of South Korea to West Germany {{Korea-bio-stub