Kim Hyong-jik - Wikiwand (2025)

Kim Hyong-jik (Korean:김형직; 10 July 1894– 5 June 1926) was a Korean independence activist during Japanese rule. He was the father of the North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, the paternal grandfather of Kim Jong Il, and a great-grandfather of the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un.

Little is known about Kim. Born on 10 July 1894,^{[2][unreliable source?]} in the small village of Mangyongdae, situated atop a peak called Mangyungbong (만경봉(萬景峰),"All-Seeing Peak") just 12 kilometers downstream on the Taedong River from Pyongyang, Kim was the son of Kim Pohyŏn (1871–1955).^[3][4] Kim attended Sungshil School (평양숭실학교), which was run by American missionaries, and became a teacher at the Sunhwa school (순화학교) in Mangyongdae in 1913 and the Christian Myongsin school (명신학교) in Ponghwa-ri, Kangdong County in 1916 and later worked as a herbal pharmacist. According to the North Korean official sources, he died as a result of numerous medical problems, including third-degree frostbite.

Kim and his wife attended Christian churches,^[5] and Kim even served as a part-time Protestant missionary.^[6] It was reported that his son, Kim Il Sung, attended church services during his teenage years before becoming an atheist later in life.^[5]

Kim Il Sung often spoke of his father's idea of chiwŏn (지원(志遠), righteous aspirations).

Kim Jong Il's official government biography states that his grandfather was "the leader of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement and was a pioneer in shifting the direction from the nationalist movement to the communist movement in Korea".^[7] Kim Hyong-jik is claimed by North Korea to have convened an important meeting of independence activists in November, 1921 memorialized at the Sansong Revolutionary Site.

• Father: Kim Pohyŏn (3 October 1871– 2 September 1955)
  • Paternal grandfather: Kim Ŭngu (17 June 1848– 4 October 1878)
  • Paternal grandmother: Lady Yi (이씨)
• Mother: Yi Poik (이보익; 31 May 1876– 18 October 1959)
• Two brothers
  • Kim Hyŏngnok (김형록)
  • Kim Hyŏnggwŏn (4 November 1905– 12 January 1936)
• Three sisters
  • Kim Kuil (김구일)
  • Kim Hyŏngsil (김형실)
  • Kim Hyŏngpok (김형복)
• Wife: Kang Pan Sok
  • First son: Kim Il Sung (15 April 1912– 8 July 1994)
  • Second son: Kim Chol-ju[ko] (12 June 1916– 14 June 1935)
  • Third son: Kim Yong-ju (1920–2021)