|
Post by jae2476 on Apr 15, 2005 15:02:34 GMT -5
Hello I RECENTLY POSTED THIS ONTO THE GENERAL BOARD. SOMEONE SUGGESTED I TRY IT HERE.
I've been a member on this board since 'Ages of Warriors' and now throughout 'The Immortal Yi Soon Shin.' Through out this time I have noticed many people with extensive knowledge on Korean history, whether they're here or in Korea. I am in DESPERATE need of some help. Here's the situation. I'm looking for the name, and if possible the picture, of someone in Korean history from the eary 20th century, 1940's ish. Here is what I know:
-The person was a Senator or a Governor....something to that effect -Last name Kang -He was assasinated right before the Korean war began -Allegedly he was very well known and well respected. Like a 'Martin Luther King, JR of S. Korea. ' -I've heard conflicting reports. One saying that he was kind of an 'activist' and his assasination started the Korean war. One saying that there was a cleansing of state officials and he was killed then. Anyhow, his death had something to do with the begining of the Korean war.
If this sounds remotely familiar about anyone you know of in Korean history, Please let me know. I've looked all over the internet and found a lot of dead ends. This is kind of like a last resort. I asked one of the moderators and he said to post it here.
Thank you so much.
R. in New Jersey
|
|
|
Post by skinz on Apr 15, 2005 18:27:57 GMT -5
Do you know which side he was representing? A nationalist? A communist?
|
|
|
Post by jae2476 on Apr 15, 2005 19:22:27 GMT -5
Nationalist I am told.
|
|
|
Post by skinz on Apr 15, 2005 20:05:01 GMT -5
Are you looking for Chang Duk Soo?
I could be COMPLETELY wrong though since I have no knowledge of the inside politics concerning the korean war. I think I might start now.
|
|
ronin
Junior Addict
Posts: 168
|
Post by ronin on Apr 15, 2005 22:24:05 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by moreshige on Apr 16, 2005 1:32:27 GMT -5
Hey, shouldn't this thread be moved to the tangents section?
How about Kim Ku? He was a popular leader who was assassinated in 1949 probably under the approval of Rhee Syngman (first president of Korea)
Other assassinations of rival opposition leaders before outbreak of the war: Song Chin-u 1945, Yo Un-hyong 1947
Pak Hon-yong fled to the north in 1946 Kim Kyu-sik reportedly died during the war
I don't think any one person's assassination triggered the start of the war. After the liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, the entire peninsula was a hotbed of many competing nationalist** fronts, some were grassroot movements while others were already established outside of Korea itself .ie in China, Russia, USA. ready to make their presence known. It was a terrible time before the war because many people were killed for their political or non-political views. Think of Mcarthism gone to hell. Instead of just accusing people left and right, you were shot just for looking like a "red commie dog" or former Japanese collaborator. And this happened a lot. Personally speaking, my grandfather was a survior....
Have you seen the movie "Taegukgi" ? It centers around the time before and during the war. There's a scene where a bunch of thugs who were given "authority" to round up all the suspected communist "collaborators", lines their victims near a ditch and cold heartedly shoots them to death. Apparently, the poor victims' only crime was to sign their names to recieve free food. In the movie, you see this as an isolated incident, but these types of rampant, paranoid blood-thirsty killing sprees occured all over Korea.
That's why you see that the war is not just about differences of political ideology; it was about revenge, justice, circumstance, the problem of poverty, control (local and national), survival, identity crisis....it was about so much more..............
**To put in a historical context, you have to understand that the Communists were a type a nationalist movement before the Korean war. Think of it this way; the sinlge factor that the various national movements had in common was that they all hated the Japanese and their collaborators. The exiled korean governments in shanghai (not sure), USA (hawaii) and even Russia were all consumed with disposing Japanese rule long before and during WWII. Some wanted direct military action as with the case with the Korean communists in China and Russia. While others like Sygman Rhee and his camp based in Hawaii pursued economic ways to challenge the Japanese. Well, I could go on and on....but this is getting too long for a side comment.
|
|
|
Post by Choko on Apr 16, 2005 1:45:59 GMT -5
I think the person is Kim Guwww.kimsoft.com/2000/kimgu.htmwww.korean-war.com/Archives/2002/06/msg00085.html- He was the great leader of the interim Korean government in Shanghai, China. - He was assasinated on July 26th, 1949, one year before the Korean war. - He is very well respected by both North and South Koreans. Yes, like a 'Martin Luther King, JR of S. Korea. ' - Japanese government called him a "terrorist" but Korean people call him "The Father of the country"
|
|
|
Post by moreshige on Apr 16, 2005 2:03:53 GMT -5
I think the person is Kim Guwww.kimsoft.com/2000/kimgu.htmwww.korean-war.com/Archives/2002/06/msg00085.html- He was the great leader of the interim Korean government in Shanghai, China. - He was assasinated on July 26th, 1949, one year before the Korean war. - He is very well respected by both North and South Koreans. Yes, like a 'Martin Luther King, JR of S. Korea. ' - Japanese government called him a "terrorist" but Korean people call him "The Father of the country" I agree, I think it's Kim Ku too.
|
|
|
Post by jae2476 on Apr 16, 2005 7:58:43 GMT -5
WOW. Thank you all so very much. I'll do some more research with all the information given. I've never heard of Kim Ku before so I'll start there. They were pretty certain that the last name was Kang. I think his son is still in and out of government there (Kang Ki nam). Maybe i'm wrong. anyway... Everyone has been such a great help. Thank you!!
|
|
|
Post by florel on Apr 16, 2005 17:36:58 GMT -5
One more vote for Kim Ku (or Kim Gu). He is very famous in Korea and highly respected by Koreans. But I don't know who Kang Ki-Nam is. I'm sorry I cannot bring a rescue.
|
|
|
Post by vista on Apr 17, 2005 10:07:47 GMT -5
How about Kang Sang Wook?
|
|
|
Post by kinoeugene on Apr 18, 2005 0:38:57 GMT -5
one more vote for Kim Gu. He was one of the most respected person during moden korean history. Well, i think he was an idealist and not a professional politician. he was a kinde of a nationalist who fought for the independence of korea against japan. In those years between 1945 and 1950, couple of the idealogies(ie. communism, nationalism, socialism, democracy, etc) were oppesed to each other. Because the idealogical disupte was so intense, sometimes there were violent demonstrations or even assassinations.. Kim Gu didn't care about idealogy. He only cared about people and building an independent county. He tried to gather ans unify each idealogical groups. I think this is why he was assassinated and why he was so beloved and respected by korean people. There was a speech, aka "My hopes", i think which described his character well. I can only roughly translate. "If the god asked me what my hope is, I'll answer : My first hope is the independence of korea. My second hope is the independence of korea. My third hope is also the perfect self-independence of korea. ......... And I hope to live with whole people in the world without discrimination between YOU and I(or US). ......."
|
|
|
Post by moreshige on Apr 18, 2005 10:45:35 GMT -5
Hmmm I did a search and this is what I came up with but I'm not sure how reliable the truth of this article is. Could someone verify? It talks about an assassination attempt on Kim Il sung but someone with a last name, "kang" was killed instead. He turned out to be a relative. www.kimsoft.com/assassins.htm
|
|
|
Post by kinoeugene on Apr 18, 2005 22:47:16 GMT -5
I found some articles about Kang Yang Wook on some of the christianity site based in south korea. One of them says Kang Yang Wook was Kim Il Sung's grandfather's cousin. He was a chaplain and the leader of the christianity in north korea. According to those articles, Kang wasn't assasinated in those years around korean war. However it seems true that some people tried to bomb his house but he wasn't killed. He led an active life until 1970', but i'm not sure he is still alive or not. Well, because he was a person in north korea, he was not well-known in south korea. So I couldn't get more information about him. I don't think he is not the one who we are looking for.
|
|
|
Post by moreshige on Apr 18, 2005 23:45:40 GMT -5
I found some articles about Kang Yang Wook on some of the christianity site based in south korea. One of them says Kang Yang Wook was Kim Il Sung's grandfather's cousin. He was a chaplain and the leader of the christianity in north korea. According to those articles, Kang wasn't assasinated in those years around korean war. However it seems true that some people tried to bomb his house but he wasn't killed. He led an active life until 1970', but i'm not sure he is still alive or not. Well, because he was a person in north korea, he was not well-known in south korea. So I couldn't get more information about him. I don't think he is not the one who we are looking for. hmmm. After finally reading the article I cited, I see that it was Kang yang wook's son and his fiance who were murdered on their wedding day. Yeah, it doesn't look this "Kang"'s the man we're looking for. I'm getting a little perturbed by this article though. If there are elements both within South Korea and outside who seek to assassinate Kim Il Sung and then later Kim Jong Il, wouldn't that fact alone would hamper diplomatic talks and the peace process towards unification?
|
|