| Kim Hyŏng-jik | |
|---|---|
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 김형직 |
| Hancha | 金亨稷 |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Hyŏng-jik |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Hyeong-jik |
Kim Hyŏng-jik (July 10, 1894 – June 5, 1926) was a Korean independence activist and Communist politician. Hyŏng-jik is the father of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, grandfather of the late leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, and great-grandfather of the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un.
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Little is known about Kim. He was the son of Kim Bo-hyon (金輔鉉, 1871-1955),[1] attended Sungshil school, which was run by American missionaries, and became a teacher and later an herbal pharmacist. He died as a result of numerous medical problems, including third-degree frostbite.
Kim and his wife attended Christian churches. It was reported that his son, Kim Il-sung attended church services during his teenage years before becoming an atheist later in life.[2]
Kim Il-sung spoke a lot of his father's idea of chiwŏn (righteous aspirations).
Kim and his family were active in opposition to the Japanese, who controlled Korea at the time, and in 1920, when Kim Il-sung was eight, they fled to Manchuria for safety.
Kim Jong-Il's official government biography states that he was "the leader of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement and was a pioneer in shifting the direction from the nationalist movement to the communist movement in Korea." However this is widely disputed among foreign academics and independent sources, who claim that his opposition was little more than the general grievances with life under the Japanese occupation. Kim Il-sung claimed Kim ancestors, including his grandfather Kim Bo-hyon and great-grandfather Kim Un-u (1848-1878) were involved in the General Sherman incident, but this is also disputed and believed to be a fabrication.
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