Kim Shin-seok

Kim Shin-seok (Korean: 김신석; September 26, 1896 – September 12, 1948) was a businessman and politician of the Japanese colonial era. He served as a councillor of the Chungchuwon of the Japanese Government-General of Korea.

Life

He was born on September 26, 1896, and was a native of Sancheong, South Gyeongsang. After graduating from Busan Commercial High School, he worked at the Bank of Chosen, and he gained a reputation in financial circles for his outstanding ability in accounting work.

Subsequently, Hyeon Jun-ho, a wealthy magnate and financier, recruited Kim Shin-seok from the Bank of Chosen and brought him to the Honam Bank, which Hyeon operated. Kim served as branch manager of the Honam Bank's Mokpo branch and then became its managing director. In 1935, he was listed as one of 353 Korean meritorious persons in the Joseon Gongno Jamyeonggam (Directory of Joseon Meritorious Persons) compiled by the Government-General.¹²

In 1936, he was appointed as a councillor of the Chungchuwon of the Japanese Government-General of Korea. Hyeon Jun-ho had held the post of Chungchuwon councillor since 1931, so Kim succeeded him in the position; the two of them were both repeatedly reappointed as Chungchuwon councillors until the liberation of Korea. According to the report of the Committee on Pro-Japanese Collaborators, he is recorded as having owned more than 300 servants. In the late stage of the Japanese colonial period, he supported the Pacific War effort and joined the Daehwa Alliance.³

Family

His daughter, Kim Yun-nam, married Hong Jin-ki and bore Hong Ra-hee and Hong Seok-hyun, making Kim their maternal grandfather. Hong Ra-hee married , the third son of of the and the successor to Samsung. Hyeon Jun-ho's granddaughter, , became the spouse of of the . Thus, Samsung and Hyundai, two representative chaebol groups of South Korea, are connected through the ties between Kim Shin-seok and Hyeon Jun-ho dating back to the Japanese colonial period.