Sohn Won-yil (June 22, 1909 in

Nampo Nampo (North Korean official spelling: Nampho; ), also spelled Namp'o, is a major city in North Korea which is the country's List of cities in North Korea, fourth-largest by population. The city is an important seaport in the country as it lies ...

February 15, 1980) was a South Korean naval

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

best known for being the first

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...

(CNO) of the

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ), also known as the ROK Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and Amphibious warfare, amphibious operations. The South ...

. As one of the founding members of the

, Sohn is generally regarded as the founder of the South Korean navy.

Career

Shortly after Korea was liberated from the Empire of Japan on August 15, 1945, Sohn Won-yil, a former merchant mariner and son of the independence activist Sohn Jung-do, led the Maritime Affairs Association. The Association evolved into the Marine Defense Group on November 11, 1945 (later became Navy Foundation Day) and later became the Korean Coast Guard, which was formed in Jinhae. After the new

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

government was established on August 15, 1948, the Korean Coast Guard has formally renamed the

, and Sohn became the first Chief of Naval Operations of the ROK Navy on September 5, 1948."Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea: The Early Years (1945 to 1957)"
Commander U.S. Naval Forces Korea, U.S. Navy Official Website. Retrieved March 4, 2007. After being relieved from the service, he was appointed as the fifth Minister of National Defense, and the first

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Legacy

In honor of Sohn, the ROKS ''Sohn Won-yil'' (SS 072), the first of ''Sohn Won-yil'' class submarines, was commissioned in 2007, and named after him.

References

Biography at the War Memorial Korea official website
1909 births 1980 deaths People from Nampo Chiefs of Naval Operations (South Korea) National defense ministers of South Korea Ambassadors of South Korea to West Germany South Korean people of North Korean origin Burials at Seoul National Cemetery Won-yil {{Korea-bio-stub