Kim Tu-bong

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Kim Tu-bong
Kim in 1955
Chairman of the Workers' Party of North Korea Central Committee
In office
28 August 1946 – 30 June 1949
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byKim Il Sung
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly
In office
9 September 1948 – 20 September 1957
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byChoe Yong-gon
Personal details
Born(1889-02-16)16 February 1889
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
NationalityNorth Korean
Political partyWorkers' Party of Korea
Other political
affiliations
Communist Party of Korea (1925–1946)
Workers' Party of North Korea (1946–1949)
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
김두봉
Hancha
Revised RomanizationGim Dubong
McCune–ReischauerKim Tubong
Art name
Chosŏn'gŭl
백연
Hancha
Revised RomanizationBaekyeon
McCune–ReischauerPaegyŏn

Kim Tu-bong (

Ju Sigyeong; later, after participating in the March 1st Movement, he with other Korean leaders of the time established a provisional government-in-exile
in China, and because of his communist beliefs he played an important role in the early North Korean communist government.

He and other members of the

in 1957.

Early childhood and education

Born on 2 February 1889, in South Korea's South

Pusan, he spent his early years being homeschooled during the time of imperial rule. He would move to Seoul at the age of 20 (1908) to attend both Geho School and Baechae School and in that same year graduate from Bogo High School. While he was in Seoul
he would join the Korea Youth organization in 1913 and the following year (1914) leave Baechae School. He was also an editor for the So nyoun magazine.

Early linguistic work

After graduating from

Ju Sigyeong, who was at that time beginning his work in the study of Hangul, for which his name would later be known, as he would dedicate his life to bring it about (the Korean script made by King Sejong
during the 15th century). He also worked as a teacher. In 1916 he spent a majority of his time working on compiling MalMoi, the first Korean dictionary.

Shanghai and the exiled Korean government

Kim Tu-bong (right) sitting next to Kim Il Sung (center)

After the March 1st Movement (1 March 1919) he and other members of the independence club fled into China and in April 1919 set up a provisional government in Shanghai. During that time, he was first exposed to communism and eventually accepted it in 1920 after he had first supported the Democratic Party. In 1924, he was entrusted with the department of children education and schooling where he served as the president and also taught both Korean and Korean History. After the Japanese invaded China he and other members of the Korean government in Shanghai fled to Yan'an, headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party, and Kim would become the head of the independence club and a very important figure in combining the conflicting views of both communist and democratic ideas.

Return home and the new government

Choe Yong-gon
in 1955.

The December following World War II and the Japanese's surrender (15 August 1945) Kim Tu-bong and other members returned to the now-divided Korea. Like many other communist-minded people of the time, Kim Tu-bong and other communist leaders took residence in what is now North Korea under the Soviet occupation. In February 1946, Kim Tu-bong became the chairman of the new People's Party. Later that year in August, it merged to form the Workers' Party. He would become the chairman in 1948, but from the outset the real power was held by Premier Kim Il Sung. Kim Tu-bong designed the new flag that is still used in North Korea today in an effort to throw off what he saw as feudal rule.

Kim Il Sung became chairman of the Workers' Party after it had merged with its southern counterpart in 1949, thus becoming in name as well as in fact the country's leader. In most communist states, the party leader is understood to be the most powerful man in the country.

Disappearance and death

After the

purged in March 1958,[1] accused of involvement in the 1956 August Faction Incident.[2] Like many others of Kim Il Sung's political opponents, he disappeared with no records to indicate whether he had been sentenced to hard labor or exile. He is believed either to have been executed or to have died sometime in the 1960s in detention within North Korea.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Journal of Korean Affairs". 22 May 1975 – via Google Books.
  2. – via Google Books.
  3. – via Google Books.

External links