Kim Bung-jun (金朋濬, 1888 – September 1950) was a Korean independence activist, unification activist, and politician during the Japanese colonial period and in South Korea. He worked in the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and after liberation, as a centrist-right figure, he took part with Won Se-hoon and others in the Left–Right Coalition Movement and the North–South Joint Conference. He was also elected as a member of the National Representative Democratic Council of Korea, established by the US Army Military Government, and of the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly.
He also joined Ahn Chang-ho and Yun Chi-ho's New People's Association and the Young Friends Association, and in 1911, after the Japanese annexation of Korea, he operated Seungdong School with Han Seok-jin and others. He took part in the March 1st Movement and then fled into exile in Shanghai, China, where he took part in the Shanghai Provisional Government and the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and served as a cabinet member of the provisional government.
During the Korean War in 1950, he remained in Seoul, and on July 27 he was abducted to North Korea by the Korean People's Army, and died there. He was from Yonggang, South Pyongan Province, and his pen name was Dangheon (棠軒).
Life
Before liberation
Childhood
On September 27, 1888 (lunar calendar August 22), he was born as the third of three sons and two daughters to his father Kim Ui-hyeon (金義鉉) and his mother, of the Kim clan, at 245 Yongdong, Kuryong-ri, Osin-myeon, Yonggang County, South Pyongan Province (平安南道 龍岡郡 吾新面 九龍里 龍洞).
Yongdong in Kuryong-ri was a settlement of the Uiseong Kim clan, and Kim Bung-jun's family converted to Christianity through the evangelism of missionary W. R. Smith. Under this environment, Kim Bung-jun studied Chinese classics in his hometown from 1895 to 1902.
Move to Seoul and independence activism
In 1907 he moved to Seoul together with Ahn Jeong-geun (安定根), and in 1908 he enrolled in the agriculture and forestry department of Boseong Middle School. While at Boseong Middle School, he joined the Seouhak Society, the New People's Association, and the Young Friends Association, and carried out patriotic activities.
In 1911, when the Japanese arrested independence activists in the 105 Incident, he escaped the disaster by moving to Jinnampo in Pyeongan Province after graduating from Boseong Middle School, and during this period he married No Yeong-jae (盧英哉).
Afterward, he operated Seungdong School at Seungdong Church in Seoul, and until 1918 he worked on land reclamation and farmland development projects in his hometown.
Exile in China and participation in the Provisional Government
Shanghai
During the March 1st Movement in 1919, he was in Seoul and took part. Afterward, to evade Japanese arrest, he fled into exile in Shanghai, China. In China he took part in the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and served as a secretary in the Department of Military Affairs, a member of the Provisional Legislative Assembly, and secretary-general, among other posts.
On July 13, 1919, he joined the Korean Red Cross Society, founded around Ahn Chang-ho, opposed the Japanese Red Cross Society, established branches in the United States, China, and Russia to recruit members, and focused on training medical personnel by establishing a nursing training school.
In 1920 he held posts in the Department of Military Affairs under No Baek-rin and, in 1922, in the Department of Communications under Son Jeong-do, while also joining Heungsadan. In 1923 he served as general secretary of the Shanghai Korean Residents' Association under the Provisional Government, and he was elected as a regular member in the 4th general election of the Shanghai Korean Residents' Association, leaving a major mark on the Korean community in Shanghai.
In 1923 he was elected as a member of the Provisional Legislative Assembly from Pyeongan Province and acted as a member of the reformist faction of the Provisional Government.
In December 1924, under President Park Eun-sik, he was appointed as a secretary in the State Council and worked to revise the provisional constitution. In 1925 he was appointed as business manager of the Provisional Government's organ, the Dongnip Sinmun (The Independent), but the newspaper soon ceased publication due to financial problems.
Around 1927, together with Ahn Chang-ho, he devoted himself to the movement for a unified party, but the movement collapsed when left-wing forces largely defected because of the Comintern's "December Theses." In the same period, he was elected Chairman of the 14th Provisional Legislative Assembly.
Guangdong
In July 1930, when a standing committee was launched within the Provisional Legislative Assembly, he was elected as a standing committee member and reviewed the Provisional Government's revenues and expenditures. In December of the same year, he submitted his resignation as a member of the Provisional Legislative Assembly and left for Guangdong, where he trained independence activists. While doing so, he continued his activities in the Provisional Legislative Assembly.
In October 1935, at the 28th session of the Provisional Legislative Assembly, he was elected as a secretary of the State Council. In November, when the Korean Nationalist Party was founded around Kim Gu, he was appointed as a director together with Yi Dong-nyeong, Song Byeong-jo, Jo Wan-gu, and others.
In November 1936, at the regular meeting of the standing committee of the 29th session of the Provisional Legislative Assembly, he was elected as chairman of the standing committee and remained active until 1937.
In 1939, at the 32nd session of the Provisional Legislative Assembly, he was elected as the 18th Chairman of the Provisional Legislative Assembly.
Chongqing
Impeachment and unification movement of the Provisional Government
In 1940, when the Provisional Government moved its seat to Chongqing, Kim Bung-jun also left Guangzhou and settled in Chongqing.
In 1941, when the Korean National Revolutionary Party expressed its intention to take part in the Provisional Government, he, as Chairman of the Provisional Legislative Assembly, attempted to bring the Korean National Revolutionary Party into the Legislative Assembly for the sake of the unification movement, but on October 15, 1941, the Korean Independence Party faction impeached Kim Bung-jun.
In February 1942, he founded the Korean Independence Party Unification Comrades Association, merged with the Korean National Revolutionary Party, and led the unification with the Provisional Government. In July of that year, military unification followed, and in October, at the 34th session of the Provisional Legislative Assembly, a joint legislative body of left and right was formed, and unification was achieved.
On April 26, 1944, at the 36th session of the Provisional Legislative Assembly, an amendment to the provisional charter passed, increasing the number of State Council members, and he was appointed as a State Council member.
Formation of the New Korea Democratic Party
On February 7, 1945, he gathered figures who had left the Minjok Revolutionary Party and the Korean Independence Party and founded the New Korea Democratic Party, and together with Hong Jin and Yu Dong-yeol, he led the organization as a member of the party's leadership council.
The New Korea Democratic Party sought to strengthen a third force within the Provisional Government, but the Korean Independence Party faction, including Jang Jun-ha, checked the New Korea Democratic Party.
After liberation
Anti-trusteeship movement and founding of the Sinjin Party
On August 15, 1945, with the unconditional surrender of the Empire of Japan, Korea was liberated. Kim Bung-jun entered the country on December 1 as part of the second group of Provisional Government figures, aboard a US military transport aircraft.
After returning home, in December 1945 he joined the National Mobilization Committee against Trusteeship and carried out the movement against trusteeship. He was active in the Provisional Legislative Assembly until February 1946, and when the Emergency National Congress was formed, he also took part as propaganda chief. In the same period, he was appointed as a member of the National Representative Democratic Council of Korea by the US Army Military Government, and he joined and worked in the Committee for the Study of Regulations.
In July 1946, when the Left–Right Coalition Conference was held, he took part as a representative of the right-wing side. On September 15 of that year, he led the founding of the Sinjin Party, which was centered on the New Korea Democratic Party, the Korean Revolutionary Party, the Chongwoo Party, the Korean American Federation, and others, and he was selected as vice chairman of the Sinjin Party.
In December 1946, the US Army Military Government appointed him as an appointed member of the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly, and he worked in the Committee for Drafting Laws and the Committee on Home Affairs and Police, drafting the outline for state building. On March 8, 1948, he submitted a letter of resignation, which was accepted at the 211th plenary session of the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly on March 18.
In 1948 he took part in the founding of the Democratic Independence Federation, was elected as a standing committee member and director of propaganda, and in July of that year he was appointed as a central executive committee member and secretary-general of the Association for the Promotion of Unification and Independence. He also took part with Kim Kyu-sik and others in the North–South Joint Conference and worked for unification.
In the 1950 South Korean legislative election, he ran for the Seongdong district as a candidate of the National Self-Reliance Federation, but he was defeated, pushed aside by candidate Ji Chong-cheon.
Abduction to North Korea and death
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, he was detained by North Korean forces. Afterward, on September 28, 1950, when North Korean forces were retreating during the Battle of Incheon, his vehicle was struck by an air raid from US aircraft, and he died at the age of 62. It is said that Bang Eung-mo was also in the vehicle in which Kim Bung-jun was riding.
Posthumous honors
In 1989, the Government of South Korea posthumously conferred the Order of National Foundation (Presidential Medal) on him in recognition of his merit.