I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Korean War spy named hero
.jpg?w=728)
Korean and American marines salute during a military event on Sep. 15 to commemorate the 65th anniversary of Battle of Incheon on Wolmido Island situated approximately one kilometer off the coast of the port city of Incheon. / Yonhap
By Kang Hyun-kyung
By Kang Hyun-kyung
CAMP RED CLOUD, Gyeonggi Province — The late Col. Kim Dong-seok was a legendary South Korean spy who provided critical information about the North Korean military to the U.N. forces during the Korean War.
As the head of the Human Intelligence Detachment (HID), Kim produced intelligence reports based on some 260 of his own infiltrations and espionage operations, including the assassination and kidnapping of key North Korean officials.
The Korean War legend, who later served as mayor in five cities, was forgotten during the five decades after the war, partly because of the secretive nature of intelligence work.
Clockwise from top left: Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Gen. Matthew Ridgway, Col. Kim Dong-seok, and Gen. Paik Sun-yup. The four were acknowledged as Korean War heroes by the U.S. government in 2000.
His heroic acts were officially recognized in 2000 when the U.S. government named him as one of four Korean War heroes, along with three renowned military generals — Douglas MacArthur, Matthew Ridgway and Paik Sun-yup. Paik is well-known in the country as the first South Korean who became a four-star general during the war.
Kim’s relatively humble military rank fueled the public’s curiosity. Unlike the three generals, Kim retired from the Army in 1961 as a colonel.
Many Koreans still wonder: How was an unknown Korean named a hero, along with three high-profile generals with stellar military records, five decades after the war?
William M. Alexander, a retired U.S. Army colonel and now director of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division Museum in the eastern city of Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, said that Kim’s sacrifices and heroic acts during the war are indisputable, but he was forgotten because many of his missions are still classified.
“Governor Kim’s unit helped provide information and to facilitate the landing of Operation Chromite. They helped to put the information out,” he said during an interview with The Korea Times on Sept. 17 at the museum. He was referring to the Battle of Incheon in September 1950, which enabled the U.N. forces to cut the North Korean supply lines, retake the capital city and advance into North Korean territory.
The U.S. military refer to Kim as governor because in 1980, he was appointed by the South Korean government as nominal governor of the North Korean province of Hamkyung as a symbolic gesture to facilitate the unification of the two Koreas.
William M. Alexander, a retired U.S. Army colonel and now director of the 2nd Infantry Division Museum in Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province on Sep. 16 during an interview. Korea Times
In 2000, the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division designated Dec. 16 in 2000 as Governor Kim Dong-seok Day, and in 2002, it established the Governor Kim, Dong-suk Hero Room at the museum in memory of his sacrifices and contributions.
Kim was decorated by both the Korean government and the U.S. military. He received 28 medals, including the U.S. Bronze Star Medal.
Alexander declined to provide specific details of Kim’s role in the key amphibious landing.
“He was working as an intelligence operative, which is a highly classified position, and some of the stuff they did is still classified. So we won’t ever know exactly everything they did,” he said. “But they were instrumental and contributed toward the success of the landing of Operation Chromite.”
He said it was no surprise that Kim remained anonymous after the war.
“By the nature of his position in intelligence, some of his missions and what he and his unit did are still classified,” he said.
“It’s not common knowledge because intelligence attachment has specialized missions that were not known to the military. Governor Kim’s sacrifices and his unit’s work were of a classified nature and were not known to the Korean people or the American people.”
The late Gen. Chae Myung-shin said Gen. MacArthur deeply trusted Kim because the information Kim provided during the war was critical. Kim confirmed Chae’s remarks in a media interview, saying he received special treatment from Gen. MacArthur because of his accurate intelligence reports.
“MacArthur described Kim as ‘this man’ and said the information that came from him was reliable,” Chae quoted the five-star U.S. general as saying during a speech to celebrate the publication of Kim’s aptly named memoir, “This Man Kim Dong-suk,” at the Korea War Memorial in Seoul in October 2005.
The memoir disclosed several unknown stories about Kim’s missions, including how his intelligence reports helped the U.N. forces fight effectively against the North Korean enemies.
According to the book, information provided by Kim enabled the U.N. forces to trace and destroy the location of a large albeit unspecified number of North Korean troops and enter the North Korean territory after the Battle of Incheon.
Intelligence agents are trained to keep a low profile and not to disclose their clandestine missions until they are declassified. Considering this code of secrecy for intelligence agents, Kim’s memoir, which details some previously unknown stories, could be a source of debate.
However, the late Kim Sung-eun (1924-2007), who served as defense minister from 1963 to 1968, defended the memoir, saying its publication of some previously unknown stories during the Korean War is acceptable as long as they have been declassified.
Otherwise, he said, Kim would have been forgotten forever, and the younger generation would never have known what he did during the war. The former defense minister added that the Korean public was already aware of some of the clandestine missions during the war because of the 2003 box office hit movie “Silmido,” which was based on the true story of Unit 684 during the war.
The two authors of Kim’s memoir, Lee Seon-ho and Joo Jeong-yeon, said they welcomed the book project in hope that it could help clear misperceptions and undeserved criticism that intelligence agents and those who perform covert missions receive. They said the families of these intelligence operatives have also suffered a lot, partly because of the general public’s limited understanding of intelligence activities.
Kim’s life was full of drama and adventures. Born in 1923 in Russia’s Far East, he spent most of his childhood in the northeastern part of China. His uncle, who was a successful businessman, adopted his nephew after his younger brother and his wife passed away.
Kim arrived in South Korea in 1948, after serving two years in prison in China. In 1946, he joined a volunteer paramilitary unit affiliated with the Chinese Chiang Kai-Shek’s National Party in China’s northeastern city of Harbin, and later, he was captured by the Chinese military while helping Koreans travel safely back to their homeland after the country was liberated from Japan’s colonial rule.
After graduating from the military academy in Seoul, he served during the Korean War as an intelligence officer.
Kim was multilingual, fluent in Russian and Chinese. After he retired from the military, Kim became a public servant, serving as mayor in five cities, Samcheok, Gangneung, Sokcho, Mokpo and Suwon. He passed away in March 2009 at the age of 86.
He was the father of singer Jin Mi-ryeong. Jin recalled that her father was a patriot who always put national interests ahead of his own or those of his family.
Alexander said the late Kim was a close friend of the United States.
“He was a great friend of the U.S, military and the United States, too. He was a mentor to young soldiers and also to the leadership of the 2nd Infantry Division. He was always there when we needed someone to strengthen Republic of Korea-U.S. relations,” he said.