South Korean Controversy: Was Kim Won Bong a Patriot?

(Source-KBS News 6.8) Kim Won Bong photo in a contemporary newspaper during the time of Japanese colonial administration of Korea (1923). The Donga Ilbo extra headline is Power of Terrifying Violence; Kim Won Bong, leader of Uiyeoldan (Heroic Corps). Title of the KBS news report was "exploring support for 100th Anniversary of Heroic Group."


(Source-KBS News 6.8) This picture shows Kim Bong Won (highlighted) with the Korean provisional government. The famous Korean independence leader Baek Beom (Kim Gu), President of the Provisional Government of Korea in exile, stands front row center in the black suit. The banner for the KBS news broadcast says government determination of support may reignite Kim Won Bong dispute.

Recently, the drama series Different Dream was produced in South Korea to celebrate the centennial of the March First Movement (the Korean independence movement).

"Uiyeoldan (Heroic Corps) was the most threatening organization to Japan in Korea's independence movement history. Along with its leader Kim Won-bong, many other activists' lives have been reflected in the story." *

*Drama portrays life of freedom fighter ( 이 몽 Different Dream 異夢 )
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2019/04/688_266957.html

Interestingly, an MBC promotion of the spy action drama about the underground anti-Japanese Heroic Corps explains there is a hidden meaning in the title: <이몽> 제목 속에 숨겨진 의미! From two different paths one dream. ' 이도일몽 ( 異道一夢 ) , 두 개의 길, 하나의 꿈 ' The actor Yoo Ji Tae plays Kim Won Bong, the leader of Uiyeoldan (Heroic Corps).*

* https://blog.mbc.co.kr/3015 [MBC 공식 블로그]

President Moon Jae In's recent statement about the group which provoked controversy is similar in nature. Moon said on June 6, Memorial Day in South Korea, that Kim Won Jong's underground group of fighters contributed ultimately to increasing the strength of the Korean people's independence movement. Further, he maintained that the Korean independence movement became the basis for the South Korean Army and in turn the foundation for the alliance with the US. Political critics have said this is such a stretch that one might also facetiously try to maintain, that Chun Du Hwan, a later well known military dictator in South Korea, contributed to democracy in Korea. President Moon suggests that one does not need to be a conservative nor a progressive to be a patriot. He appears to be trying to emphasize the deeper historical roots of Korean nationalism before it became bogged down in the partisan cold war politics that partitioned the country after the liberation in 1945. Older statements of Moon from before his presidential term such as wishing he could give Kim Won Bong an award, or have a drink with him are now the subject of conservative ridicule.


( Source- Channel A News Top Ten, 6.7 ) Title of program: President raises Kim Won Bong controversy. Picture shows Kim Won Bong (circle left) with Kim Il Sung (circle right). During a time of negotiations between North and South Korea, Kim Won Bong defected to the North in 1948; he was a member of the first Supreme People's Assembly; he was invited to become a member of the North Korean cabinet censorship office. During the time of the Korean conflict in 1950 he was a member of the military committee. He had full authority as provincial representative in Pyongbukdo. In 1958 he was eliminated in the "Yanan faction" purge.


( Source- Channel A News Top Ten, 6.7 ) Ideological tensions triggered in political circles- who is Kim Jong Won? 1898- Born in Miryang-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea, to a prosperous farming family; 1919- formed Heroic Corps; 1942- Deputy Commander of the Independence Army; 1944- Provisional Government cabinet minister and Chief of the Military Department.

Baek Beom (aka Kim Gu) was assassinated in 1949 allegedly at the instigation of political rival Syngmun Rhee's head of security. Baek Beom had also gone to North Korea to meet with Kim Il Sung in 1948. Unlike Kim Won Bong he broke with the communists. Kim Won Bong didn't return from his trip to North Korea in 1948 but became a part of the North Korean government and participated in the Korean War against the South. Kim Won Bong was purged from the North Korean government by Kim Il Sung in 1958.


It is said that during the provisional government period, Kim Gu didn't trust Kim Won Bong, and thought he was a run of the mill socialist, whom he regarded warily. Kim Won Bong's anti-Japanese operations were apparently considered effective by the Japanese Imperial Government who offered a large cash reward for his capture that exceeded that offered for the capture of Kim Gu. The sore points for the South Korean conservatives are that Kim Won Bong's cardinal misdeeds include defection to the North Korean communist side in 1948, and his participation in the war against South Korea. While President Moon has said that patriotism doesn't have a right or left political orientation, Kim Won Bong's association with the communist government is the basis for the controversy. There is an inability among many in South Korea to dissociate Kim Won Bong's North Korean activities from his prior patriotic leadership against Japanese imperialism. It is quite apparent that Moon is trying to mold a new public perception of love of country that differs from the cold war perspective that has divided Korea physically and ideologically in many ways. Moon seems to be saying that was then, this is now, and wants to leave the wartime perspective of June 25, 1950, behind. Implied is that he'd like Kim Jong Un to do the same.