Kim Gu Had Close Ties With Ahn Jung-geun
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
The October centenary of Ahn Jung-geun's 1909 assassination of Hirobumi Ito has been generating renewed interest in various aspects of the independence activist's personal life, influences and legacy.
Historical accounts show that Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910) was revered by noted contemporary independence activists such as Kim Gu (1876-1949) and Ahn Chang-ho (1878-1938).
The three had much in common ― they were all born in the 1870s, dedicated their lives to Korea's independence and enjoy hero status in modern Korea.
Park Eun-sik, second president of the Provisional Government, paid tribute to Ahn by writing his biography in 1914.
Ahn's History with Kim Gu
Relations between Ahn and Kim Gu spanned decades, continuing even after Ahn's assassination of Ito in 1910 through Kim's active cooperation with Ahn's brothers and relatives.
Kim is one of the most respected figures in modern Korean history. He was a leader of the Provisional Government established in Shanghai, China, in 1919. He devoted himself to the independent reunification of the Korean peninsula after the division of the country immediately followed liberation in 1945.
Traces of their relationship are found in Kim's autobiography, ``Baekbeom Ilji."
Kim, remembering their first meeting in 1895 in Haeju, Hwanghae Province, recalled that An was a ``a skilled hunter and a brave man."
Ahn's father provided temporary shelter and guidance for Kim, who was on the run for his role in the 1894 anti-government uprising known as the Donghak Peasant Revolution.
Ahn's mother, known by her Catholic name of Cho Maria, was considered one of the spiritual backbones of the liberation activists based in Shanghai, where Kim Gu served as President of the Provisional Government in 1927.
After Ahn's 1910 execution at Lushun Prison, Kim looked after Ahn's family in China and tried to have his remains repatriated to Korea.
Ahn-Kim Family Connections
There were family connections as well ― Ahn's niece Ahn Mee-saeng was married to Kim Gu's eldest son.
Mee-saeng was Kim's personal assistant. Her father, Ahn Chung-geun, (1885-1949) moved to China and served with Kim in the Shanghai Provisional Government as an officer in charge of finance and communications.
Chung-geun carried Kim Gu's letters to Kim Il-sung as part of an effort that resulted in a joint meeting between the leaders of the South and North in April 1948 aimed at establishing a unified Korean government.
Ahn Jong-geun, Ahn's youngest brother, served as one of Kim's close aides. They founded the Korea Independence Party, the governing party of the Provisional Government, in 1930 and shared a long political partnership.
Implication in Ito Assassination
Due to his background as an independence activist, Kim was a suspect in the 1909 killing of Ito and arrested in Haeju.
``I learned of the assassination through a telegram from Harbin and found out from the papers that it was Ahn Jung-geun's doing. Then I understood why I had suddenly been detained," Kim wrote in his autobiography.
Kim was questioned at a local courthouse and jailed for a month in a Haeju prison.
After Ahn was executed in 1910, Kim paid particular attention to Ahn's bereaved family.
When the Japanese army attacked Shanghai in 1937, Kim made it a priority to secure the safety of Ahn's wife.
Historians interpret such devotion on Kim's part as a sign of loyalty.
In ``Baekbeom Ilji," Kim states the assassination was ``the very symbol of Korea's independence movement.
Partnership with Ahn Chang-ho
Ahn was also associated with Ahn Chang-ho, an independence activist and one of the early leaders of the Korean-American community.
Before Ahn Jung-geun sought refuge in Northeastern China in 1907, the two met for the first time at a school he was running in Pyongan Province, North Korea.
Ahn Chang-ho was touring the region, giving lectures on enlightenment and patriotism.
They met several times after these lectures to share their concerns for the country.
During a 1907 military collision between Japan and the Korea, the two Ahns extended aid to the wounded soldiers.
1914 Biography by Park Eun-shik
Ahn's unique legacy caught the attention of Park Eun-shik (1859-1925), the liberation activist and journalist who became the president of the Provisional Government in 1925.
Park was the author of the earliest biography on Ahn. Like Kim Gu, Park was acquainted with Ahn's father.
In the 1914 biography, Park stressed that the assassination of Ito was ultimately aimed at establishing peace in Asia and that the incident became the foundation for joint Korea-China anti-Japanese activities.
Ahn also inspired independence fighter Kim San (1905-1938), also known as Jang Ji-rak, who was executed by Chinese authorities on charges of espionage.
Accounts from the 1941 book ``The Song of Arirang" by American journalist Helen Foster Snow, based on interviews with Kim, show his admiration for Ahn.
Kim recounted Ahn's assassination in Harbin of a top Japanese official and other bold achievements of Korean independence fighters.
Japanese Reaction
While Koreans generally supported Ahn's cause, Japan was outraged.
``The Japanese media called him `crazy' and expressed contempt for what the assassination stood for ― Korea's resistance against Japanese rule," according to a paper published at a recent conference in Seoul.
More Japanese began to support the consensus that Japan must destroy Korea for its role in the `murder of Ito.' Such a widening consensus was used to justify Japan's occupation of Korea.
However, some Japanese were sympathetic.
Ahn's prosecutor, Mizobuchi Takao, called him a ``a righteous man of East Asia."
While incarcerated at Lushun Prison, Ahn wrote, ``A solider's duty is to give his life for the country," in Chinese calligraphy and left it with a Japanese ward who respected him.
Today, these words are one of the slogans of the Korean Army.