Kim Dal-sam (; 1923 – 20 March 1950) was a Korean school teacher and communist revolutionary. He led insurgents of the

Workers' Party of South Korea The Workers' Party of South Korea () was a communist party in South Korea from 1946 to 1949. It is also sometimes colloquially referred to as the "Namro Party" (). It was founded on 23 November 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of ...

during the

Jeju uprising The Jeju uprising (in South Korea, the ''Jeju April 3 incident'', ) was an insurrection on Jeju Island, South Korea from April 1948 to May 1949. A year prior to its start, residents of Jeju had begun protesting elections scheduled by the Un ...

Background

Kim Dal-sam was born Yi Song-jin () in 1923 and grew up in

Jeju Province Jeju Province (; ), officially Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (Jeju language, Jeju: ; ), is the southernmost Provinces of South Korea, province of South Korea, consisting of eight inhabited and 55 uninhabited islands, including Marado, Udo ...

Korea, Empire of Japan From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

. During Japanese occupation, Kim spent time in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

before moving to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

to study mathematics at

Chuo University , commonly referred to as or , is a private research university in Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan. The university finds its roots in a school called Igirisu Hōritsu Gakkō (English Law School), which was founded in 1885, and became a university in 1 ...

(Tokyo Central University). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Kim was conscripted by the Japanese government to work for the Hakbyeong shipbuilding company. In January 1945, Kim married the daughter of a man named Gangmunseok Gangyoungae. After World War II, Kim taught

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism () is a communist ideology that became the largest faction of the History of communism, communist movement in the world in the years following the October Revolution. It was the predominant ideology of most communist gov ...

at a middle school in

. He also became quite active in politics, serving as an organizer and director for the Workers Party of South Korea (WPSK) in the late 1940s. Kim was an outspoken critic of Koreans who collaborated with the Japanese during occupation and often protested against the government police force on Jeju, demanding unification with the North. Kim was vehemently opposed to the elections planned for 10 May 1948 by the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) because he thought they would further reinforce Korean division. In order to prevent these elections from happening, Kim led an armed rebellion against the government police forces on the island on 3 April 1948, which became known as the

Role in the Jeju uprising

As a leader in the Military Committee of the WPSK Jeju branch, Kim, along with Cho No-gu, planned the 3 April 1948 attacks on government police forces one month prior, in March 1948. When the uprising commenced, Kim's forces included 400 guerilla fighters and 4,000 members of "self-defense" groups located throughout the island. On 28 April 1948, the fighting on Jeju stopped as Kim Dal-sam met with the leader of the police forces on the island, Kim Ik-ryeol, to negotiate a truce. Kim Dal-sam's demands included "the surrender of all police forces, the confiscation of all weapons, punishment of police and rightists who had committed atrocities, withdrawal of rightist youth groups, and assurances that the May 10 elections would be cancelled." Kim Ik-ryeol refused Kim Dal-sam's demands and hostilities started again three days later. In August 1948, with the uprising in full-swing, Kim left Jeju to attend a conference of the Korean Communist party (KCP) on the border town of

Haeju Haeju () is a city located in South Hwanghae Province near Haeju Bay in North Korea. It is the administrative centre of South Hwanghae Province. As of 2008, the population of the city is estimated to be 273,300. At the beginning of the 20th centu ...

, North Korea. At the conference, Kim reported on the positive developments on Jeju, to which the other participants responded with "thunderous applause." It was at this same conference that KCP and

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

officials held elections to establish North Korea. Kim returned to Jeju in early to mid-September.

After the Jeju uprising and death

After South Korean forces crushed the Jeju uprising in March 1949, Kim left Jeju for mainland Korea in order to enter the DPRK. On 20 March 1950, Kim's body was found among the dead in the aftermath of a guerrilla battle at

Jeongseon County Jeongseon (''Jeongseon-gun'') is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, county in the province of Gangwon-do (South Korea), Gangwon-do, South Korea. It is famous as the hometown of "Jeongseon Arirang," a traditional Korean folksong. It is als ...

, before the full-scale

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

began.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Dal-sam South Korean left-wing activists Chuo University alumni People from Jeju Province 1923 births 1950 deaths North Korean military personnel killed in the Korean War South Korean emigrants to North Korea Workers' Party of South Korea politicians Schoolteachers