Korean History › Japanese rule › Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
Kim Gu
1876–1949· Person· Rulers & states
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Independence leader who headed the Provisional Government in exile and, after 1945, opposed dividing Korea until his assassination in 1949.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
Kim Gu (김구), pen name Baekbeom, joined the Donghak rebels as a youth and was jailed for killing a Japanese man in 1896 to avenge Empress Myeongseong. He joined the Shanghai Provisional Government in 1919, became its head in 1926, organized the Korean Patriotic Organization behind Yun Bong-gil's 1932 Hongkou Park bombing, and chaired the government in Chongqing from 1940. Back home in 1945, he opposed separate southern elections and was shot dead by army officer An Du-hui on June 26, 1949.
Why it matters
He is South Korea's most revered independence leader and a symbol of the united Korea that never came; his death removed Syngman Rhee's chief rival.
Legacy and how we know
His autobiography Baekbeom Ilji, Provisional Government records, Japanese police files, and the trial and later statements of his assassin.
Still debated
Whether An Du-hui acted alone or on orders from higher up, possibly in Rhee's circle, was never settled; An gave shifting accounts before he was killed in 1996.
Connections (2)
▸Kim Gu led Provisional Government of the Republic of KoreaWell documented
The connection
Kim Gu began as the government's police chief in Shanghai in 1919. As factions drifted away in the 1920s, he held it together and became its head in 1926. After Yun Bong-gil's 1932 bombing he won Chinese Nationalist support, and from 1940 he served as chairman in Chongqing and created the Korean Liberation Army.
When and how
Shanghai from 1919, then Hangzhou, Changsha and other Chinese cities, and Chongqing from 1940 until he flew home in November 1945.
How we know
Provisional Government cabinet records, Kim Gu's autobiography Baekbeom Ilji, and Chinese Nationalist archives on aid to the government.
Debates and open questions
Critics then and now say his leadership leaned on a narrow faction; how far he could have united the rival exile groups is debated.
▸Kim Gu opposed Division of Korea at the 38th parallelWell documented
The connection
Kim Gu first fought the 1945 trusteeship plan, then broke with Syngman Rhee over the UN-sponsored separate southern election. In April 1948 he and Kim Kyu-sik crossed to Pyongyang for a North–South leaders' conference, hoping to prevent two states. It failed, and he boycotted the May election.
When and how
Seoul and Pyongyang, 1945–1948; the North–South joint conference in Pyongyang, April 1948, hosted by Kim Il-sung.
How we know
Kim Gu's February 1948 statement 'A Tearful Appeal to 30 Million Compatriots', conference records, and US military government reports.
Debates and open questions
Some see the Pyongyang trip as principled; critics say Kim Il-sung used it for propaganda while the North was already building its own state.