Kim Gu

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Kim Gu : biography

August 29, 1876 – June 26, 1949

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 (한인애국단; 韓人愛國團). One of the members, Yoon Bong-Gil (윤봉길; 尹奉吉), 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 (이봉창; 李奉昌), tried to assassinate the 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 (광복군; 光復軍), commanded by General Ji Cheong-cheon (지청천; 池靑天). 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; 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 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 (김일성; 金日成), who later became the president of North Korea, but failed drastically after being humiliated by Kim.

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 Lee Seung Mahn (이승만; 李承晩), the first president of the provisional government, who had been impeached in 1925 by a vote of 180-16. He also lost the election for the vice presidency to Lee Si-yeong (이시영; 李始榮) by a vote of 133-59. Kim himself did not know about his nomination until after the election, and he did not approve the nomination, considering it a ploy to discredit him. Also, 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

In June 26, 1949, Kim was assassinated by Ahn Doo-hee (안두희; 安斗熙) 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 Park Gi Sheo (박기서), a follower of Kim’s in 1996 after he allegedly confessed that Kim Chang-ryong (김창룡; 金昌龍) masterminded the assassination, thus further obscuring the prospect of finding the motive of assassination. According to Bruce Cumings in his 1981 books, another possible motive for the assassination could have been Kim’s alleged connection to the assassination of Song Chin-u (송진우; 宋鎭禹]), a leader of the Korean Democratic Party (KDP) who had chosen to work closely with the American military government.Cumings, Bruce. The origins of the Korean War: liberation and the emergence of separate regimes 1945-1947. (Princeton; Guildford: Princeton University Press, 1981.), 219. However, there are strong arguments against such accusations without any evidences. 2010 Pressian article

Kim Gu Funeral (1949.07.05)

Kim was posthumously awarded the Republic of Korea Medal of Order of Merit for National Foundation (건국훈장 대한민국장; 建國勳章 大韓民國章), 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 seller in Korea, the autobiography was first published in 1947 and republished in more than 10 versions in Korea and abroad.