WEBZINE NORTHEAST ASIAN HISTORY FOUNDATION

Revolutionary Kim Koo’s Turbulent Family History Even an individual who has achieved many great feats or occupies a position of great power can disappoint the public by revealing problems in their private life, being obscure about public or private matters, or revealing an arrogant personality. This is a familiar phenomenon today, a time in which values are confusing and arguments are not refined. Kim Koo (Baekbeom) is the figure who can serve as a wake-up call for today’s world. As his pen name “Baekbeom” means and suggests, he did not mind doing the lowest and most miserable work. He served and loved the nation and its compatriots while devoting his whole life to national independence. His thoughts, words, and deeds did not change from beginning to end. The fact that his life, dotted with turmoil and ups and downs, creates an emotional impression may be due to his firm view of life and death that did not compromise with the beliefs of his time.

Kim Hyong-o(chairman of the Association of Commemorative Services for Patriot Kim Koo and former National Assembly Speaker)

Kim Koo and Chiang Kai-shek After having moved to Shanghai in exile right after the March 1st Movement, Kim Koo was named the director of police affairs when the Provisional Government launched, became the director of domestic affairs in 1922, and then became premier in late 1926. Yet it was after Yun Bong-gil’s patriotic deeds on April 29, 1932 that he emerged as the central figure of the Provisional Government. This can be concluded based on a statement made by Chiang Kai-shek, China’s supreme military and political leader from 1928 through 1949. Chiang, who is famous for having kept a diary during his lifetime, wrote a diary entry on April 30, 1932, the day after the bombing incident. In this entry, he wrote that he found out through newspaper reports, mentioning that Koreans, Yun Bong-gil and An Chang-ho were the masterminds. Thus, one can assume that Chiang was not well aware of Kim Koo until this time. As Japan’s investigations into and pressure on Korean independence fighters in Shanghai intensified following the bombing, Kim Koo sent statement letters to a few newspapers in China and revealed that Yun’s patriotic deeds were executed according to his plan. In the statement entitled, “The Truth Surrounding the Bombing Incident at Hongkou Park,” (today, Lu Xun Park) that was published in the May 10 editions of China’s major newspapers, Kim revealed, in detail, his and Yun’s profiles and the progress and objectives of the heroic bombing. It is presumed that on this day, Chiang learned that Kim Koo stood behind Yun Bong-gil and began to help Kim escape, while offering him personal security through organizations related to Kuomintang of China. A report sent to Chiang by Kong Pei-cheong under the command of Kuomintang’s Organization Department member, Xiao Zing, in early July 1932 states, “It would be better to offer Kim Koo support because he says he can form an independence army of Koreans in the northeastern region, cooperate with China’s volunteer corps, and conduct joint anti-Japan operations if we provide him with weapons.”

Bae Gyeong-han(research professor at Korean Studies Institute, Pusan National University)

Self-directed Dokdo Teaching Aids, “The Dokdo that I’m Making” Marking the 4th Dokdo Education Week, the Foundation developed self-directed teaching aids, “The Dokdo that I’m Making,” and distributed them to primary, middle, and high schools across the country. Let’s take a look at the facets of these teaching aids that will be used in schools.

Lee Ji-hye(professor of Social Studies Education Department at Seoul National University of Education)

AMA Museum, Home to the Stories of Taiwanese Comfort Women Taiwan’s “House of Grandmothers – Museum of Peace and Women’s Human Rights (AMA Museum),” which opened in December 2016, displays photos and videos containing the lives of 59 Taiwanese victims of Japanese military’s sexual slavery. Founded as Taiwan’s first base of human rights for comfort women, the museum is also in charge of diverse social education programs, including education on women’s human rights. The construction of the museum was led by the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation, a civilian organization in Taiwan. What prompted the foundation’s interest in Japanese military comfort women was the testimony given by Mrs. Kim Hak-sun. After Kim’s testimony in 1991 revealed the existence of Japanese military comfort women, the foundation began to investigate to see if there were women who suffered similarly in Taiwan, which was also a colony of Japan. In 1992, the foundation discovered documents showing Taiwanese women’s roles as comfort women in brothels and immediately formed a “Comfort Women Team” to carry out investigations on comfort women in Taiwan and to demand compensation from Japan. So far, the foundation has collected 5,042 pieces of historical data, videos, and books and 730 articles related to comfort women while helping to take care of surviving comfort women. The AMA Museum both stores and displays these records. Located on Dihua Street, a street in Taiwan famous for its traditional markets, the museum is easily accessible. There is a lovely coffee shop on the ground floor at the entrance of the museum where visitors can drink tea and buy souvenirs.

Kim Jeong-hyun(researcher at Research Center on Japanese Military Comfort Women, Northeast Asian History Foundation)

Searching for an Intersection Between History of Assault and History of Reconciliation As part of the foundation’s research activities on the cases of historical reconciliation, on April 17 - 20, three of the foundation’s co-researchers and I visited Ishikawa Prefecture and Toyama Prefecture where there are sites related to historical disputes between Korea and Japan. We had time to find clues pointing towards historical reconciliation through meetings with members of Japanese civic groups. We planned our trip centering around Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture because the city was a historic intersection. Kanazawa is where “extreme-right” patriotism is expressed, but it is also a place where there are signs of reconciliation. Therefore, we thought that Kanazawa would be a place through which we could intensively observe Japan’s complex images.

Lee Byong-taek(researcher at Institute on International Relations and Historical Dialogue, Northeast Asian History Foundation)

A Time to Have Dokdo in Our Hearts: Looking Back on 1 Year as a Junior Docent at the Dokdo Experience Center In February 2018, I heard that I had passed the exam to be in the first class of junior docents. In fact, until then, I knew very little about Dokdo. Thinking that I could use this opportunity to study hard to learn about Dokdo from prominent scholars and professors, I took my first step as a docent. We prepared a special event for the opening ceremony – the “Dokdo is Our Land” flash mob. I will probably never forget this flash mob. This is because I was able to become closer with new friends while laughing and chatting after the flash mob, even though it was awkward to dance with strangers at first. After passing the exam to be a junior docent, we spent one-month learning about Dokdo and explanatory skills while practicing the dance for the flash mob. At last, we held the opening ceremony on February 27, 2018, where we performed the flash mob in front our parents and I demonstrated docent explanations with a few of my friends. After finishing the much-awaited opening ceremony, I felt proud and decided to work hard for this job. It was the moment during which I thought about my expectations for the year to come as a junior docent and my heart pounded with excitement.

Kim Jun-hee(third-year student at Mokdong Middle School)

World History Before Revisiting the March 1st Movement The March 1st Movement in 1919 was the consequence of our own proactive response to changes in world order for the sake of independence. World War I was the incident that symbolically demonstrates changes in world order at that time. World War I, that broke out in 1914, ended with the conclusion of a peace treaty that was signed by the Allies, including Britain and Germany, in Palace of Versailles on June 29, 1919. The Allies claimed that the Versailles Treaty was intended to establish peace, but it was in fact supporting the restoration of international order as it was before World War I. French Prime Minister Clemenceau, who concurrently served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Paris Peace Conference, argued for the conference to open on January 18. After Germany’s victory in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the German Emperor’s coronation ceremony took place on January 18 at Versailles Palace, thus marking the beginning of the German Empire. To France, the restoration of world order meant that the world would return to the way it was during the era before the Franco-Prussian War. Yet the restoration aroused concern about revenge against Germany. In preparation for this, France occupied Rhineland and created a buffer zone. This post-war uneasiness was not a situation that France and Germany faced alone, but one which the entire world faced.

Shin Hyo-seung(researcher at Institute on Korea-Japan Historical Issues, Northeast Asian History Foundation)

NAHF News On April 20, a ceremony to launch the second class of junior docents at the Dokdo Experience Center took place in the Foundation’s conference room. The ceremony was an event held to declare the start of the 13 junior docents’ duties, all of whom received certificates of appointment after completing their training courses. Thirteen elementary and middle school students were selected as junior docents after going through an interview process and audition. They completed training programs such as listening to lectures by Dokdo specialists, learning expertise for explaining exhibitions, changing lyrics of the song, “Dokdo Is Our Land,” and writing their own scripts. The junior docents will perform tours while explaining the exhibits and other various activities in order to publicize Dokdo at the Dokdo Experience Center on the weekends until December.

Gyeonggyojang House, the Last Office Building of Provisional Government This year marks the 70th year since the death of Kim Koo (Baekbeom). Gyeonggyojang House, Historical Site No. 465, located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, was the office and lodgings to which Kim returned home following the independence of Korea. It is also the historical site where Kim was shot to death by Ahn Doo-hee in 1949. Gyeonggyojang House was originally called Jukcheomjang House but changed appellations to a name modeled after the nearby Gyeonggugyo Bridge, instead of a Japanese name.

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