전주 김씨(全州 金氏) — A clan seated at Jeonju in North Jeolla, said to have branched off from the Gyeongju Kim. Records name Kim Bong-mo, Kim Ye or Kim Tae-seo as founder, and Kim Tae-seo's sons Kim Yak-seon and Kim Gyeong-son made their names in Goryeo.
A clan seated at Jeonju in North Jeolla, said to have branched off from the Gyeongju Kim. Records name Kim Bong-mo, Kim Ye or Kim Tae-seo as founder, and Kim Tae-seo's sons Kim Yak-seon and Kim Gyeong-son made their names in Goryeo. In the 2015 Census the 전주 김씨 clan numbered about 56,989 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 김, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 전주) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Jeonju Kim (全州 金氏) take Jeonju, North Jeolla, as their ancestral seat and numbered 56,989 in the 2015 census. They are known as a branch of the Gyeongju Kim, with Kim Alji as the remote original ancestor. They are a different family from the Gimhae, Andong or Gyeongju Kim even though the surname is the same.
Records differ. The 1887 Gimssi Bungwanrok takes Kim Bong-mo (金鳳毛) as founder; he was fluent in Jurchen and Chinese, received Jin envoys, rose to Munha Sirang Pyeongjangsa under Sinjong, and was titled Jeongpyeong. The Jeungbo Munheon Bigo and the Joseon Ssijok Tongbo record Kim Ye (金芮), while the great genealogy of the clan honors his son Kim Tae-seo. One tradition makes the line descend from Kim Eun-yeol, Prince Daeangun and a son of King Gyeongsun, but his existence is not attested in standard histories and the epitaph is disputed, so this page does not settle it.
Kim Tae-seo passed the civil examination under Gojong, served as Hallim Academician and rose to Munha Sirang Pyeongjangsa, with the posthumous title Munjang. One account says that after Gyeongju was ruined by the Mongol invasion of 1254 he moved to Jeonju and his descendants took Jeonju as their seat. His eldest son Kim Yak-seon became son-in-law of the strongman Choe U; his daughter became Queen Sungyeong, consort of Wonjong, whose son was Chungnyeol. His third son Kim Gyeong-son led twelve volunteers at Guiju fortress in the first Mongol invasion. The 1308 restoration decree of Chungseon is said to cite the Kim Tae-seo line as a ministerial family eligible to marry into the royal house.
Many moved to Pyeongan and Hamgyeong in Joseon, so most clan villages lay in what is now North Korea, including Pyongyang, Pyeongwon, Yeongwon, Huichon, Byeokdong, Jaseong, Kanggye and Huchang in Pyeongan and Hamju, Jeongpyeong, Yeongheung, Goweon, Anbyeon, Iwon, Sinheung, Gyeongseong, Myeongcheon, Musan and Gyeongheung in Hamgyeong; in the South, Goesan in North Chungcheong and Uiseong in North Gyeongsang are cited. The home seat in North Jeolla is known to have no clan village. Modern figures include Kim Yak-yeon of Jiandao, the novelist Kim Dong-in and Speaker Kim Jae-sun.
Generation-name characters were historically not unified, and were recorded when the great genealogy was compiled in 2004, so check the exact generation with your own genealogy.
Little verified branch information survives; a Taeseo-gong branch is mentioned (check against the genealogy).
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
김태서(Goryeo Munha Sirang Pyeongjangsa honored as founder), 김경손(Goryeo general who led twelve volunteers at Guiju), 김약연(independence activist and founder of Myeongdong School), 김동인(novelist, designated pro-Japanese collaborator), 김재순(Speaker of the National Assembly, founder of Saemteo)
Tap a name for the full profile (life, career, grave, descendants).
전주 김씨 figures recognized as independence patriots (National Independence Hall / Gonghun public data). Tap a name for the citation.
전주 김씨 figures listed by the Presidential Committee or the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators (Minjok Munje Institute).
This clan is separate from the Jeonju Yi (the Joseon royal house), Jeonju Choe and Jeonju Ryu, which share the same seat. The Jeonju Kim on this page are those presented as the Kim Tae-seo line.
Kim Tae-seo's tomb is said to lie on Moaksan in Wanju, but no basis was confirmed. Only the Taeseo-gong branch name was found, and no official clan association material was verified. Some writings present the North Korean leadership as Jeonju Kim, but it is pointed out that the 1915 great genealogy was lost during the Korean War and the region omitted, so there is no way to confirm; this page does not treat them as people.
The 전주 김씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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