Kim Jwa-jin

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Kim Jwa-jin
Hangul: 김좌진
Hanja: 金佐鎭
Revised Romanization: Gim Jwa-jin
McCune-Reischauer: Kim Chwajin
Pen name
Hangul: 백야
Hanja: 白冶
Revised Romanization: Baegya
McCune-Reischauer: Paegya

Kim Jwa-Jin (December 16, 1889 – January 24, 1930), sometimes called the "Korean Makhno" or by his pen name Baekya, played an important role in the Korean Anarchist Movement and in the development of Korean nationalism.

Kim was born to a wealthy family of the Andong Kim lineage in Hongseong County, Chungcheong province. His father was Kim Hyeong-gyu. When Kim was 18, he released 50 families of slaves when he publicly burned the slave registry and provided each family with enough land to live on. This was the first emancipation of slaves in modern Korea.[1]

Contents

[edit] Acts

Kim Jwa-Jin, unlike many other Korean radicals, had recognised and fought against Japanese imperialism from an early stage. When anarchist and nationalist groups founded a rebel state in Japanese Manchuria in the province of Shinmin in 1929, Kim Jwa-Jin was chosen to lead its armed forces. He was charged with organising and leading guerrilla attacks on the Japanese. Though the Japanese soldiers were far more experienced and better armed than Kim Jwa-Jin's band, Kim's attacks were successful both in defending the young Anarchist community of Shinmin, and in encouraging other groups in North-East Asia to resist the occupiers. Kim Jwa-Jin's exploits are said to be legendary in Manchuria and North Korea.

Kim Jwa-Jin was assassinated in 1930 while repairing a rice mill the Korean Anarchist Federation had built in Shinmin. Although his assassin was never found, the assassin's handler was caught and executed.

[edit] Shinmin after Kim Jwa-Jin

After the assassination of Kim Jwa-Jin, the Anarchist Movement in Manchuria and Korea became subject to massive repression. Tokyo sent armies to attack Shimin from the south, while Chinese Stalinists formerly allied with the anarchists attacked from the north. By the summer of 1932, Shimin's most prominent anarchists were dead, and the war on two fronts was becoming untenable. The anarchists went underground and anarchist Shinmin was no more.

As a leader of the Korean independence movement, Kim is remembered in both North and South Korea. In 1991, the town of Hongseong restored his birthplace. A festival is now held in his honor every October. [2]

[edit] Legacy

Kim Jwa-Jin is remembered today as a great hero of the Korean people, and also as the father of Korea's most famous and well-known gangster, Kim Doo-Han.

[edit] Family

  • Father: Kim Hyeong-Gyu
  • 1st Wife: Lady Oh (오씨 부인)
  • 2nd Wife: Lady Kim (김씨 부인)
  1. Son: Kim Du-han
  2. Grandson: Song Il-Guk

[edit] References

  • Ha Ki-rak (1986). History of the Korean anarchist movement. Seoul: Anarchist Publishing Committee. 

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Kim, Jwa-jin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 김좌진, 金佐鎭, Baegya, 백야, 白冶
SHORT DESCRIPTION Korean anarchist.
DATE OF BIRTH 1889-12-16
PLACE OF BIRTH Hongseong, Korea
DATE OF DEATH 1930-01-24
PLACE OF DEATH Shinmin, Manchukuo
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