편집자 주     본지에서는 전세계 외국인 독자들을 대상으로 한국의 역사와 문화를 정확하게 소개하기 위해 김정기 변호사의 칼럼을 영문판으로 연재를 시작합니다.

한국의 역사와 문화에 관심있는 전 세계인들에게 도움이 되길 바랍니다.

한국어 독자들은 한국어로 번역된 화면이 보이므로 반드시 사이트 상단에서 원문보기로 설정하셔야 영문판으로 보실수 있습니다.



 

<김정기 변호사 걸어온 길>

 
[학력]
● 뉴욕주립대(Stony Brook) 정치학과 수석졸업 (BA--Summa Cum Laude)
● 마케트대(Marquette) 로스쿨 법학박사 (Doctor of Jurisprudence )
● 하버드대(Harvard) 케네디스쿨 최고위과정 (Senior Executive Program)
● 베이징대(Peking) 북한학 연구학자 (Research Scholar)

 
[주요 경력]
● 제8대 주상하이 대한민국 총영사(13등급 대사)
● 2010 상하이엑스포 대한민국관 정부대표
● 아시아태평양지방정부네트워크(CityNet) 사무국 대표
● 미국 밀워키지방법원 재판연구원
● 법무법인 대륙아주 중국 총괄 미국변호사
● 국민대 정치대학원 국제관계학 특임교수
● 경희대 테크노경영대학원 협상학 객원교수
● 동국대 경영전문대학원 석좌교수
● 난징대 국제경제연구소 객좌교수
● 베이징대 동방학연구원 연구교수
● 숭실사이버대 초대 총장

 
[저서]
● 대한민국과 세계 이야기(책미듬)
● 한국형 협상의 법칙(청년정신)
● 나는 1%의 가능성에 도전한다(조선일보)
● 밀리언셀러 '대학생을 위한 거로영어시리즈'[전10권]   (거로출판)

(Newskorea=Seoul) Digital News Team = <Korea Story 4  by Atty Jeong-kee Kim>

● President Kim Gu of the Provisional Government of Korea and Independence Movement during the Japanese Occupation

When you ask Koreans of all ages who the person they respect is, the name Kim Gu invariably rises to the top. However, if questioned further about why they admire him or what makes him a great figure, most people fall silent. 
At most, they might mention he was a patriot, served as the President of the Provisional Government of Korea, or attempted nationalist cooperation between North and South after liberation. Beyond these superficial answers, few delve deeper into the reasons behind his greatness.

To that extent, Kim Gu's continued popularity has some bubbles in it. On the other hand, there are many people who do not know the true value of Kim Gu, so he is an undervalued person. The fact that Kim Gu is either exaggerated or undervalued compared to what it really is implies that knowing  Kim Gu properly is an important measure in understanding the modern history of the nation and, further, in gauging the future direction of the nation.

Kim Gu left Shanghai's Gangman Airfield on November 23, 1945 and sat like a stone Buddha on the plane heading to his homeland. But tears were flowing endlessly from his eyes. These were the recollections of Jang Jun-ha, who flew with him on the same plane. Kim Gu himself, upon hearing the news of Japan's surrender, expressed his shock and sentiments as follows:

"To me, it was not joyful news but felt like the sky collapsing. All the efforts and preparations for years to participate in the war were in vain. Truly, past achievements will be undervalued, but what worries me more is that our lack of participation in this war will weaken our international voice in the future..."

As the Pacific War neared its end, Kim Gu was organizing a Korean mainland landing force composed of Korean youth in collaboration with the American OSS, and was preparing to participate in the war. Jang Jun-ha was also one of the members. Had this force landed on Jeju Island or the coast of the West Sea, engaged in combat with the Japanese army, and liberated Korea by force, the subsequent situation of the newly established Republic of Korea would have been vastly different from what it is today, and there might not have been the lament of division between North and South Korea in our national history.

However, luck was not on their side. The issue of Korea's independence and its subsequent handling became entirely a feast for the great powers. The tears shed by returning overseas Koreans upon liberation were a testament to the unfortunate fate foreseen in our national history due to such circumstances.
 
And everything went as Kim Gu expected. The communist camp and right-wing forces, who entered into a power game in both North and South Korea, were outwardly shouting 'unified Korea' verbally, but in reality, they were rushing to complete a separate ruling organization and establish a government.

Kim Gu opposed this course of action. In early 1948, after the UN General Assembly decided to hold general elections in South Korea, he presented an alternative solution in a letter to the UN Korean Commission. He suggested that:

"As soon as the US and Soviet forces withdraw and the UN takes over security, all existing military forces or paramilitary groups in North and South Korea should disarm completely. Immediately upon the establishment of a unified government through democratic means, the National Defense Force is organized, and now it is appropriate for the UN to relinquish its security responsibilities."

Kim Gu exerted every effort to overcome the division between North and South Korea and the confrontation by foreign powers, striving to establish an independent unified nation. The pinnacle of his efforts was his visit to Pyongyang. Already, the establishment of the North-South regimes had become an irreversible product of international dynamics, yet Kim Gu's solitary resistance embodied a "pure passion" in itself.
 
The reason Kim Gu is loved and revered to this day is due to the ‘purity’ of his passion for unification. On the contrary, the disgust toward the impure ‘unification workers’ who call for unification verbally and use it as a means to seize and maintain power appears to us in a more refracted form in contrast to Kim Gu’s pure love for the nation.
“I will cut the 38th parallel and achieve peaceful unification of my country even if it means dying.”
The day he left Gyeonggyojang to visit Pyongyang, crowds who knew the true nature of the ‘communists’ staged a protest to block his departure. As he made his way through the crowd and left, Kim Gu made a solemn decision, saying, ‘Even if I have to die cutting down the 38th parallel.’ However, the communists beyond the 38th parallel only cleverly used the visiting Kim Gu to strengthen their power and showed no will to promote a unified Korea.

Disappointed and in despair, Kim Gu returned, and didn't participate in Syngman Rhee's establishment of a separate government in South Korea. Was this the price he paid? In 1949, he met his end on a path where he could have avoided the bullet fired by second lieutenant An Doo-hee, a former intelligence officer. Kim Gu calmly faced the gunman who repeatedly fired shots. Knowing that his time had passed and his mission had been completed, he accepted his fate.
 
The controversy that continues to this day is that there are those who highly value Kim Gu's 'pure passion and love for the nation' regarding his visit to Pyongyang to hold talks with communists, while others say 'it was nothing more than a daydream without knowledge of political reality.' The fact is that criticism always exists. In particular, there are criticisms that wrong judgments about communists ultimately had the opposite effect of solidifying the communist system. Did Kim Gu really not know about communists? Or was it the progenitor of unification supremacy, saying, ‘It’s okay if unification is achieved through communism, so just unification is enough’.
 
During his tenure as Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Korea, Lee Dong-hwi once proposed to Kim Gu the idea of introducing communist ideology within the provisional government with the prospect of later achieving independence and building a communist state together. Kim Gu firmly opposed this, stating, "If it becomes a communist state, we cannot avoid the influence of the Soviet Union, and then our nation cannot truly become an independent and sovereign country."

Kim Gu viewed Stalin's Soviet Union from afar and was certain that "that's not it." Even when observing the Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un regime, which surpassed Stalin in some ways, he maintained a clear distinction. He stood apart from today's blind unification idealists who admire "Juche ideology" and advocate for national reconciliation.

Kim Gu’s thoughts were simple and clear. He cited the Joseon Dynasty as an example. In the Joseon Dynasty, other studies, excluding Confucianism, were rejected as being rebellious, regarded as heresy, and those who violated them were often executed. This was thought to be an example of a dictatorship that oppressed freedom of speech, scholarship, and conscience. Communism was also seen as no different from that. In the end, Kim Gu was a liberal who knew freedom as an absolute value, a believer in democratic politics, and a person who realized it himself.
 
This is proven by the leadership that led the Unified Provisional Government of Korea in Chongqing without any problems by establishing a collective leadership system rather than operating it arbitrarily. Therefore, to dismiss Kim Gu as a simple idealist or a dreamer who ignores reality is to fall into the trap of misconception.
 
Many have tried to emulate Kim Gu's journey to Pyongyang. One senior politician, who served as the Chief Secretary to the President's Office, reflected in his memoir: "Once Korean presidents take ownership of the Blue House, they contract 'Presidential Disease.'" What is this disease? It is the symptom of a strong desire to leave their mark on the foundation of national unity by convening inter-Korean summits. How are those afflicted with this disease different from Kim Gu? I believe it lies in prioritizing political engineering and strategy over a pure passion for unification.

Kim Gu's dream did not come true. However, that dream still remains before us as a national dream. This is why Kim Gu is still alive.

It is now time to discuss the Independence Movement during the Japanese occupation.

First of all, let us explore the Independence Movement centered in Shanghai. The Provisional Government of Korea, which was divided into Shanghai, Maritime Province, and Hanseong, was consolidated and reborn as the Unified Provisional Government of Korea with Syngman Rhee serving as its first president in 1919. 
However, the leaders split and left the provisional government, and Kim Gu remained to safeguard the provisional government, which had been reduced to the level of a political club. In 1932, Kim Gu orchestrated Yun Bong-gil's bombing at the Emperor's Birthday and Victory Ceremony held at Hongkou Park in Shanghai. Japanese commander Shirakawa was killed instantly, and Lieutenant Generals Nomura and Ueda, and Ambassador Shikemitsu were seriously injured. The Yun Bong-gil act brought him to the attention of Chiang Kai-shek, who was leading the Kuomintang government at the time, and later, with financial support from Chiang Kai-shek, the situation improved. After the Sino-Japanese War, it moved along the retreat route of Chiang Kai-shek, who was chased by the Japanese army, and finally settled in Chongqing in 1941. At that time, China was also at a time when the Kuomintang was cooperating with the Communist Party against their common enemy, the Japanese army, and with the advice of Chiang Kai-shek, Kim Gu also led a Unified Provisional Government of Korea through a left-right coalition. Although Chiang Kai-shek did not formally recognize the provisional government, he facilitated Kim Gu’s diplomatic efforts, which led to the declaration at the Cairo Conference that ‘in due course, Korea shall be free and independent,’ securing a diplomatic commitment to Korea's eventual independence.

Next, let us examine the Independence Movement focused on Manchuria. Immediately after the March 1st Movement in 1919, Kim Jwa-jin led the Battle of Cheongsan-ri and Hong Beom-do led the Battle of Bongori, engaging in large-scale armed resistance against the Japanese. However, in 1932, Japan established the puppet state of Manchukuo, and the independence forces rapidly began to collapse.
Later on, partisans like Kim Il-sung resorted to small-scale guerrilla warfare, and the vast majority of them were socialists. During the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, these forces were incorporated into the Korean contingent of the Chinese Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and continued their resistance. However, by then, Manchuria was already under the strong control of the Japanese Kwantung Army, so there was no activity to the point where the term anti-Japanese struggle itself was meaningless. 
When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the Pacific front of World War II was established, Kim Il-sung sought refuge and joined Korean contingent of the Soviet Far East Army as a captain. At that time, the Soviet Union did not declare war on Japan, so there was no real fight against the Japanese army.

Lastly, what was the Independence Movement like on the Korean Peninsula? After the March 1st Movement in 1919, the Japanese Governor-General of Korea ostensibly pursued a policy of appeasement, but in reality, it adopted a policy of annihilating the Korean people through forcing them to visit shrines and assimilating them into imperial subjects. Therefore, the environment for the Independence Movement in Korea became poor, and in particular, from 1932, when Japan established Manchukuo, until 1945, when liberation was achieved, it is no exaggeration to say that the seeds of the Independence Movement dried up on the Korean Peninsula, and the foundation for the Independence Movement in Korea was completely collapsed.

☆ Author:  Atty Jeong-kee Kim ☆

[Education]
- Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, State University of New York at Stony Brook
- Juris Doctor, Marquette University Law School
- Senior Executive Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- Research Scholar in North Korean Studies, Peking University

[Experience]
- Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai
- Commissioner General for the Korean Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo
- CEO of the Asia-Pacific Local Government Network for Economic and Social Development (CityNet)
- Law Clerk, Milwaukee Circuit Court, USA
- Senior Attorney-at-Law, Dr & Aju LLC
- Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Political Science, Kookmin University
- Chair Professor, Graduate School of Business, Dongguk University
- Distinguished Visiting Professor, World Economy Research Institute, Nanjing University
- Research Professor, Institute of Oriental Studies, Peking University 
- First President of Soongsil Cyber University

[Publications]
- Georo English Studies Series for College Students [10 volumes] (Georo Publishing)
- I Challenge the Possibility of One Percent (Chosun Ilbo)
- The Art of Negotiation (Cheongnyonneongsin Publishing)
- Korea and the World (Chekmidum Publishing)