Kim Do-tae

Kim Do-tae (金道泰, September 11, 1891 – December 26, 1956) was a Korean educator. His record includes merit as an independence activist in the early part of the Japanese colonial period and pro-Japanese editorial contributions in its later years.

Life

He was born in Jeongju County, North Pyongan Province. After attending Osan School in Jeongju, he studied in Japan and graduated from Jungchik English School in 1912. He then became a teacher of geography and history and worked at the Sinheung Military Academy in Manchuria and at Myeongsin School, a Christian-affiliated school in Jaeryeong County.

In the March 1st Movement of 1919, he took part as one of the 48 National Representatives. In the planning stage, Kim served as an important liaison between Choe Nam-seon, who sought negotiations with the Christian side, and Yi Seung-hun, the founder of Osan School. He was arrested for this event and tried, but was acquitted the following year and released.

In 1921 he became a teacher at Hwimoon High School. According to Japanese authorities, he was recorded as a person harboring anti-Japanese ideas who was likely to propagate them, but during the wartime situation at the end of the colonial period he published many pro-Japanese editorials and converted ideologically.

In 1945 he served as principal of Gyeongseong Girls' Commercial School (now Seoul Girls' Commercial High School), and after the founding of the Republic of Korea he served as principal of Munyoung Girls' Middle School and Hwimoon Middle School, and he also held the position of president of the Joseon Geographical Society (now the ).