Kim Sang-don (金相敦, 9 June 1901 – 30 April 1986) was a politician and civil servant of South Korea who took part in the founding of the Democratic Party.
He worked as a reporter for the Chosun Ilbo, and after liberation in 1945 he joined the Korean Democratic Party. In May 1948 he ran as a candidate for the Constituent National Assembly and was elected, and in 1949 he served as vice chairman of the Special Committee for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese Collaborators, but his work was halted by government suppression. He then joined the opposition Democratic Nationalist Party, took part in the founding of the Hoheon Dongjihoe and the Democratic Party, and served as a member of the House of Representatives in the 3rd, 4th and 5th terms. In December 1960, after the founding of the Republic of Korea, he ran in the first local autonomy election in South Korea as a candidate for Mayor of Seoul and was elected, but he resigned the following year due to the May 16 coup d'état.
In 1962 he was also implicated in the Lee Ju-dang incident and stood trial. In 1969, as an adviser to the Committee for the Struggle against Constitutional Revision, he opposed the third-term constitutional amendment proposed by Park Chung-hee, Yun Chi-young and others.
Biography
Early activities
He was from Jaeryong County, South Hwanghae Province, and studied in Japan, entering the theology department of Meiji Gakuin University (明治學院) in Japan. While enrolled in the theology department of Meiji Gakuin University, he took part in organizations such as the Tokyo Korean Christian Youth Association (東京朝鮮基督敎靑年會) and was active in them.
In 1925 he graduated from the theology department of Meiji Gakuin University in Japan and returned home. That same year he found employment at the Chosun Ilbo and worked as a reporter in its editorial department, while also engaging in cultural movements. He then went to the United States again to study, and in 1928 graduated from the Department of Social Work at the Pacific School of Religion. He also served as education department head of the Korean National Association in America (大韓人國民會). After returning home he again engaged in rural enlightenment work and worked as a reporter for the Chosun Ilbo. There is a record that he took part in the pro-Japanese collaborationist organization Mangwon Hapjeong Jeongdae.
In 1945 he became a director of the Chosun Ilbo, and in the same year, when liberation came, he took part in the founding of the Korean Democratic Party. He then worked as a director (取締役) of the Chosun Ilbo until 1950. In 1948, when theories of North-South negotiations and of establishing a separate government emerged, he supported the theory of establishing a separate government, and on 10 May of that year he ran as an independent candidate for the Constituent National Assembly in Mapo District, Seoul, and was elected.
Political activities
In 1948, when the first constitution was being drafted, he opposed Yu Chin-o's proposal to call the people "insaeng" (人民), along with Yun Chi-young and Kim Jun-yeon, calling it "a word used only by communists."
In 1949 he served as vice chairman of the Special Committee for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese Collaborators and engaged in identifying and punishing collaborators from the colonial period, but in the course of this work he came into conflict with the Rhee Syngman government. In the same period, while driving a jeep, he struck and killed a child, and Park Jun, a member of the National Assembly, raised suspicions that he was a pro-Japanese collaborator.
After resigning as vice chairman of the Special Committee, he joined the Democratic Nationalist Party (民主國民黨). He lost in the 2nd National Assembly general election in May 1950, and that year, when the Korean War broke out, he evacuated to Busan. He then served as head of the labor department of the standing executive committee of the Democratic Nationalist Party.
In the 1954 general election for the 3rd House of Representatives, he ran as a candidate of the Democratic Nationalist Party and was elected, and afterward he took the lead in the struggle against the Liberal Party, the Korea National Party and others. That same year he joined the Hoheon Dongjihoe, and in 1955, when the opposition coalition Democratic Party was founded in opposition to the long-term rule of the Liberal Party government, he joined it. In 1957 he served as head of the Central Training Institute of the Democratic Party. In the May 1958 general election for the 4th House of Representatives he ran and was elected. He became a leading figure of the old faction of the Democratic Party, and after the 4.19 Revolution in May 1960 he ran in the general election for the 5th House of Representatives and was elected, becoming one of the leading figures of the old faction of the Democratic Party. In July of that year, in the first local government head election held after the founding of the Republic of Korea, he ran as the Democratic Party candidate for Mayor of Seoul and was elected, serving as the first elected mayor of Seoul. However, he resigned as a result of the May 16 coup d'état on 20 May 1961.
In 1962, under the military government, he was designated as a subject of the Political Purification Act and, bound by political restrictions, he moved to Ahn-yang in Siheung County, Gyeonggi Province, where he devoted himself to agriculture and livestock farming. In June of that year, the Korean Central Intelligence Agency identified him as behind the Lee Ju-dang incident, and he was summoned with Chang Myon before a military tribunal and stood trial. After a three-month legal process, he was acquitted in September 1962 and released. With the lifting of the Political Purification Act in 1963, he returned to politics, and in 1967 he took part in the founding of the New Democratic Party, but soon retired from politics.
Later life
In 1969, when discussion of Park Chung-hee's third-term constitutional amendment for the presidency came to the surface, he firmly opposed the third-term amendment proposed by Park Chung-hee and Yun Chi-young. He took part in the Committee for the Struggle against Constitutional Revision and was installed as an adviser, returning to politics. In 1970 he rejoined the New Democratic Party and devoted himself to the anti-government struggle. In 1971 he opposed Kim Dae-jung's candidacy for president, and together with Park Ki-chul, Jang Jun-ha and others he left the New Democratic Party. On 17 October 1972 he joined the National Party of Yun Bo-seon, which was organized that day. However, after a tortuous process the third-term amendment was passed and the long-term rule of President Park Chung-hee was confirmed. He then felt doubts about the third-term amendment and the Yushin system, arguing that various restrictions would appear, and he sought political asylum in the United States.
In the United States he also criticized the reality of South Korea's dictatorial regime before the international community and carried out publicity activities against the dictatorship. Earlier, in 1928, he had served as education department head of the Korean National Association in America, and he continued anti-government activities in the United States, arguing that the Park Chung-hee regime in South Korea used patriotism as a pretext to justify dictatorship.
Chronology
- Graduated from the theology department of Meiji Gakuin University in Japan.
- August 1945: Took part in the founding of the Korean Democratic Party.
- 1948: When theories of establishing a separate government in South Korea and of North-South negotiations emerged, supported the theory of establishing a separate government.
- 10 May 1948: Member of the Constituent National Assembly (Mapo District)
- 23 October 1948: The Special Committee for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese Collaborators was officially launched. Its chairman was Kim Sang-deok, and its vice chairman was Kim Sang-don.12
- December 1954: Shortly after the New Delhi secret letter forgery incident, a statement calling for North-South negotiations, issued in the name of the Supreme Committee of the North Korean People's Committee, was delivered to his house.3
- July 1960: In the first local government head election after the founding of the country, ran as a candidate for Mayor of Seoul, was elected, and served as Mayor of Seoul.
- 20 May 1961: Resigned as a result of the May 16 coup d'état.
- After 1963: Took part in the movement opposing military rule.
- 1969: Took part as an adviser to the Committee of the Nationwide Struggle against the Third-Term Amendment.
- Served as a member of the House of Representatives in the first, 3rd, 4th and 5th terms.
References
- Kim Sang-don - Korea Constitutional Association
- Korea National Assembly Biography Compilation Committee, Yeokdae Gukhoe Uiwon Chongnam (Josegongron, 1983)
- Naeoe Tongsin, Daehanminguk Yeokdae Sambu Yoinchongnam (Naeoe Tongsin, 1981)
Footnotes