Kim Suk-won (29 September 1893 – 6 August 1978) was a Korean officer in the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

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 one of the highest-ranking ethnic Koreans in the Japanese Army during the Second World War. He later became a general in the

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the largest of the military branches of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces with 365,0 ...

during the

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 ...

Biography

Born in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Kim was sent to

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 ...

for studies in 1909 just before the

Empire of Korea The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by Gojong of Korea, King Gojong of the Joseon, Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Kor ...

was annexed by Japan. Kim entered the 27th class of the

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

in 1913. At that time, there were several students from Korea enrolled at the military academy. Many of those who opposed the annexation had already left to join in the movements for Korean independence; others followed the advice of Ji Cheong-cheon, who argued that they should stay and learn military skills from the Japanese before joining the independence movements. However, Kim saw the annexation of Korea as an opportunity for advancement, and a chance to prove his loyalty to Japan. Following his 1915 graduation, Kim was assigned to the

IJA 4th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call-sign was (from the Yodo River). History The 4th Division was formed in Osaka City in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial ...

, based 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 ...

. In 1917, Kim was promoted to the rank of

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

Invasion of Manchuria

During the 1931 invasion of Manchuria, Kim was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of a mechanised artillery division, which had a distinguished combat record. After the 1937 outbreak of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, Kim was further promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, and assigned to the IJA 20th Division based outside of Seoul, which was a singular indication of the trust that he had attained within the Japanese military.http://www.korean-war.com/Archives/2002/01/msg00149.html Kim Il-sung on the eve of the Korean War

Second Sino-Japanese War

Kim was dispatched to mainland China in July 1937. Prior to departing, he announced that he intended to die for the Emperor in battle and asked that a school be established in his memory, to be financed partly by the 700 won reward money he had received from Emperor

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

for his previous victories in

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

. However, this request alarmed the officials in the Japanese administration in Korea, who felt that such a school in honor of an ethnic Korean that might foster Korean nationalism. Kim distinguished himself again at the Battle of Dingwon on 28 July 1937, where he led two companies of Japanese soldiers in a seven-hour hand-to-hand combat that smashed a Chinese division. He was awarded several medals and the

Governor-General of Korea Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

gave his permission for a school, the "Won Suk Academy" to be founded in 1938. This academy is known today as

Seongnam Seongnam (; ) is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. It consists of three administrative districts: Bundang District, J ...

Junior and Senior High Schools. Following the 1939 implementation of the ''

sōshi-kaimei was a policy of pressuring Koreans under Japanese rule to adopt Japanese names and identify as such. The primary reason for the policy was to forcibly assimilate Koreans, as was done with the Ainu and the Ryukyuans. The Sōshi-kaimei has been ...

'' (name change) policy, Kim adopted the Japanese style name Kaneyama Shakugen, by adding the character for "mountain" to his

Korean surname This is a list of Korean surnames, in Hangul alphabetical order. The most common Korean surname (particularly in South Korea) is Kim (Korean name), Kim (), followed by Lee (Korean name), Lee () and Park (Korean surname), Park (). These three sur ...

Kim; his Japanese given name "Shakugen" was just the Japanese reading of his Korean name. In March 1939, Kim was promoted to lieutenant colonel soon after returning Seoul, reassigned to the 78th Infantry Regiment of the IJA 20th Division, located in Yongsan. He awarded the

Order of the Golden Kite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

, 3rd class. In 1944, Kim was further promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

; he was active on the

home front Home front is an English language term with analogues in other languages. It is commonly used to describe the civilian populace of the nation at war as an active support system for their military. Civilians are traditionally uninvolved in com ...

in Korea during this time, giving speeches at schools and publishing articles in the official newspaper '' Maeil Sinbo'' encouraging Korean youths to volunteer to serve in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was also instrumental in the implementation of the

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

on the Korean peninsula, which began from 20 January 1944.

After World War II

After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

ended

, Kim joined the

Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea The Korean Provisional Government (KPG), formally the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (), was a Korean government-in-exile based in Republic of China (1912–1949), China during Korea under Japanese rule, Japanese rule over K ...

's military affairs commission, and later the

, where he held the rank of brigadier general. In 1948, President

Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee (; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965), also known by his art name Unam (), was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisiona ...

put Kim in charge of the South Korean border units, and attempted to name him commander of the Republic of Korea Army, but was overridden by General Walton H. Walker of the United States Eighth Army, who distrusted Kim's background. Kim retired from active duty, but was recalled in early July 1950 due to the outbreak of the

. He was promoted to major general and retired again in 1956. Kim published his memoirs in 1977. After his death in 1978, he was buried next to

High School, of which he was one of the founders. A bronze bust of him remains standing on the school ground; in 2002, protestors attempted to have it taken down.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Suk-won 1893 births 1978 deaths Koreans in the Imperial Japanese Army Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite Military history of Korea during World War II Military personnel from Seoul South Korean generals South Korean military personnel of the Korean War