NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Kim Ku

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. Hangul also refers to a word processing application widely used in Korea. ... It has been suggested that Sino-Korean be merged into this article or section. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean (Korean: êµì–´ì˜ ë¡œë§ˆìž í‘œê¸°ë²•; åœ‹èªžì˜ ë¡œë§ˆå— è¡¨è¨˜æ³•) is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced (a modified) McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was a government in exile based in Shanghai, China and later in Chongqing. ...

After Empress Myeongseong of Korea was assassinated by Japanese swordsmen, he killed a Japanese merchant in revenge in 1896; he was arrested but later escaped from prison.(The Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR), Reference code:A04010024500) Kim Gu was exiled to Shanghai after a nationwide non-violent resistance movement that started on March 1, 1919 was violently quenched by the Japanese imperialist government. He participated in the exiled regime with figures like Syngman Rhee and Yo Un-hyung. Her Imperial Majesty Empress Myeongseong of Korea (October 19, 1851 â€“ October 8, 1895), more commonly known as Queen Min (æ˜Žæˆçš‡åŽ), was the last empress of Korea. ... For other uses, see Shanghai (disambiguation). ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee or Lee Seungman (March 26, 1875 â€“ July 19, 1965) was the first president of South Korea. ... Yo Un-hyung (呂運亨, 여운형, May 26, 1886 - July 19, 1947) was a Korean politician who argued that Korean independence was essential to world peace. ...

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. 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

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. 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Yoon Bong-Gil (21 June 1908, Yesan, Korea - 19 December 1932 Kanazawa, Japan) was a member of the Korean resistance movement fighting the Japanese occupation of Korea. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Hirohito ) (April 29, 1901 â€“ January 7, 1989) was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1926 to 1989. ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Chongqing (Simplified Chinese: é‡åº†; Traditional Chinese: é‡æ…¶; Pinyin: ChÃ³ngqÃ¬ng; Wade-Giles: Chung-ching; Postal System Pinyin: Chungking) is the largest and most populous of the Peoples Republic of Chinas four provincial-level municipalities, and the only one in the less densely populated western half of China. ... Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 â€“ April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. ... US landings in the Pacific, 1942â€“1945 The Pacific War occurred in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in Asia. ... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

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. Seoul (IPA: , (helpÂ· info)) is the capital and largest city of South Korea (Republic of Korea). ...

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. Pyongyang (í‰ì–‘ / å¹³å£¤) is the capital city of North Korea, located in the bottom third (almost direct center) of the country, situated on the Taedong River. ... Kim Il-sung (ê¹€ì¼ì„±) (15 April 1912 â€“ 8 July 1994) was the leader of North Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death, when he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il. ...

In 1948, the inaugural Parliament of the Republic of 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. 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... The National Assembly is the name of either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. ... Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee or Lee Seungman (March 26, 1875 â€“ July 19, 1965) was the first president of South Korea. ...

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. 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

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.

His desire

In his autobiography Baekbeom ilji (Journal of Baekbeom), he expressed his desire with which he carried all his life time.

His desire

See also

External links