Kim Gu
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Kim Gu (August 29, 1876 – June 26, 1949), the sixth and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, was a Korean patriot who had struggled against the Japanese occupation of Korea that lasted from 1910 to 1945.
After Empress Myeongseong of Korea was assassinated by Japanese swordsmen, In 1896, Kim Gu killed Josuke Tsuchida (土田譲亮). Kim Gu alleged in his autobiography Baekbeom Ilji (白凡逸志) that Tsuchida was a Japanese army liutenant who was involved in the death of the Empress [Korea WebWeekly] asserts that Tsuchida was a general (see []); however, according to the 새國史事典 (Seoul:Gyohaksa, 1983), he was a lieutenant.; however, "Report from acting administrator Hagihara Moriichi of Incheon Consulate on the current situation of Incheon" (在仁川領事館事務代理萩原守一ヨリ仁川港ノ情況ニ付続報ノ件, April 24, 1896) records that Tsuchida was only a "commoner from Nagasaki Prefecture" (p. 6, "長崎縣平民土田譲亮") and an "employee of a Nagasaki trader on a business trip" (p. 7, "貿易商大久保機一の雇人").[Japan Center for Asian Historical Records]. Reference code: A04010024500. In 1919, Kim Gu was exiled to Shanghai after a nationwide non-violent resistance movement (March 1st Movement) was violently quenched by the Japanese imperialist government. He participated in the exiled regime with figures like Syngman Rhee and Yo Un-hyung.
In Shanghai, Kim joined the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which vowed to liberate Korea from Japanese occupation. After serving the Police Minister, Kim Gu 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, Korea Patriotic Legion. One of the members, Yoon Bong-Gil, ambushed and eliminated the Japanese military leadership in Shanghai on April 29, 1932. The commander of the Japanese Army and Navy died instantly. It was a great victory for the Korean cause. Another member, Lee Bong-chang, tried to eliminate the Japanese emperor Hirohito in Tokyo on January 8 of the same year. After escaping to Chongqing where Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government was established, Kim established the Korean Liberation Army, commanded by General Ji Chung-chun. 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, which took part in warfare in China and Southeast Asia. Kim organised for the Korean Liberation Army to advance to Korea in 1945, but days before the departure of the leading unit, the war ended.
He returned to Seoul upon the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945. When the United States and the Soviet Union set out to establish two Korean governments, respective in the southern region and the northern region, he was determined not to participate in either of the efforts.
Kim Gu was a leader of the Korean Independence party and has been accused of involvement in at least two important postwar assassinations. One is the death of the important early postwar politician Yô Unhyông July 19, 1947, head of the Preparatory Committee for Korean Independence and vice-chairman of the short-lived Korean People's Republic before the United States set up its military government and banned Korean government formation on October 10, 1945. Kim Gu is suspected of involvement in the assassination due to the fact that the assassin Han Chikun was connected to the Korean Independence party. He is also accused of being involved in the assassination of the leader of the Korean Democratic Party Song Chin'u December 30, 1945. The assassin Han Hyông'u was also a member of Kim's Independence Party. He was called to clarify his involvement in court but not charged for involvement in either murder.
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 (who later became the president of North Korea), but failed drastically after being humiliated by Kim Il-Sung.
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 Syngman Rhee, the first president of the provisional government, by a vote of 180-16. He also lost the election for vice presidency to Lee Si-young by a vote of 133-59. Kim himself didn't know about his nominations until after the election, and he did not approve the nomination, considering it a ploy to discredit him.
In 1949 Kim was assassinated by Ahn Doo-hee in his office. Although some suggest there may have been a right-wing conspiracy to assassinate him in which even president Rhee could have been involved, no details of the assassination have been revealed. Moreover, Ahn Doo-hee was murdered by Kim's follower in 1996, thus further obscuring the prospect of finding the motive of assassination.
He is still revered by many Koreans, who saw him as having been deserving of being the first Korean president after the liberation rather than Syngman Rhee, who was favored to lead South Korea by the US government. He was posthumously awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of National Liberation of Korea. His autobiography, Journal of Baekbeom became a bestseller in Korea when published.
In his autobiography Baekbeom ilji (Journal of Baekbeom), he expressed his desire with which he carried all his life time:
- If God asked me what was my wish, I would reply unhesitatingly, "Korean independence."
- If He asked me what was my next wish, I would again answer, "Our nation's independence."
- If He asked me the same question for the third time, I would reply in an even louder voice, "My wish is our Great Korean Nation's Complete Independence."
References
- Doh Jin-Soon (ed.): Kim Koo - Das Tagebuch von Baekbeom. Hamburg: Abera Verlag 2005. ISBN 3-934376-70-3. German version of Baekbeom ilji (Journal of Baekbeom).
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