By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
The conservative Lee Myung-bak administration has been taking a step back from labeling Kim Gu as the "founding father of the nation," as many Koreans have normally perceived him throughout their modern history.
Authorities have put on hold a plan confirmed during the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration to issue a 100,000-won banknote featuring Kim's face.
Ultra right-wing activists have called Kim a "left-wing politician who was against the founding of the Republic of Korea and made no contribution to the new nation," in recently published textbooks.
Such moves seemingly go against the people's general perception of Kim. In a 2008 survey by the Korea Research, 44 percent replied that they associate the establishment of the ROK government primarily with Kim, placing him ahead of Syngman Rhee (1875-1965), the nation's first President.
Opponents have accused Kim of being uncooperative with the country's foundation. He boycotted the general elections of May 10 1948 to constitute the inaugural National Assembly and led persistent campaigns against separate governments in the two Koreas.
"Kim was a nationalist leader who gave his whole life to nation-building. His crusade for liberation through the Provisional Government (1919-1948) was ultimately to build a new united country after gaining independence," Shin Yong-ha, chair professor at Ewha Womans University, said at a recent international conference.
"It is not a new Republic of Korea that he was against. He simply opposed the establishment of two separate governments on the Korean Peninsula. He wanted one government to avoid a civil war."
Kim's wishes for a unified government are articulated in one famous quote from his address to the country published in the Chosun Ilbo on Feb. 10, 1948. "I would risk my life at the 38th Parallel in trying to form a unified government rather than participate in forming a separate government in the South."
As the division of the newly-independent country became apparent following Korea's liberation in 1945, Kim led a delegation of former independence activists to Pyongyang to hold unification talks with Kim Il-sung in April 1948.
"Kim believed that forming a separate government in the South would lead to a similar movement in the North, which would ultimately solidify the national division and trigger armed conflict," added Shin.
His concerns turned into a reality ― shortly after Kim was assassinated in what many suspect as a right-wing conspiracy, the Korean War broke out in 1950.
He was assassinated in 1949 at his office in Gyeongyojang, the last headquarters of the Provisional Government that Kim had led for many years ― he was the sixth and final president of the former China-based interim government during the Japanese occupation.
Kim's leadership and political approach were not without shortcomings, especially in comparison with the learned former President Rhee, one of the first Koreans to earn a PhD in the United States.
"After liberation, international politics played a crucial role in deciding Korea's future course. It is hard to deny that Rhee was more open to such an outlook than Kim," professor Doh Jin-soon of the Korean history department at Changwon National University said. "From a realistic point of view, Kim's nationalist approach could be criticized as being insufficient in meeting Korea's political challenges at the time."
While the government is seemingly keeping its distance from Kim, cultural and restoration projects are under way to bring his legacy closer to the people.
A pansori work tracing his life will be introduced in November and his offices in Gyeonggyojang in central Seoul are undergoing restoration work.
Commemorative projects for the iconic Korean independence activist and statesman have also been gaining momentum abroad, particularly in light of the 60th anniversary of his 1946 assassination this year.
Members of the Kim Gu Academic Club, sponsored by the Kim Gu Foundation in the New England area in the U.S., have embarked on an additional translation of Kim's celebrated autobiography, "Baekbom Ilji", into English for young Korean-Americans. The new English version will be published early next year.
Brown University of the U.S. recently launched the Kim Gu Library, specializing in documents on the history of Korea's independence movement against Japanese colonial rule (1910~1945). Tufts University has instituted a Kim Gu chair, while Harvard University has routinely held a Kim Gu forum.
The Association of Commemorative Services for Patriot Kim Gu held an international conference last week in honor of the man revered by many Koreans for his role in the liberation movement and reunification efforts since its national division in 1945.
Scholars from China, India, Vietnam and Korea gathered to discuss the similarities between Kim and the nationalist leaders of their respective countries. Participants found that after independence from colonial rule, they prioritized the unity of their peoples and gave their lives in attempts to terminate national divisions.
With a focus on Kim, the speakers compared the political convictions, achievements and leaderships of Sun Yat-sen 1866-1925, a Chinese revolutionary who founded the Republic of China in 1912; Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), leader of the Indian independence movement; and Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), president (19451969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).