Independence patriot · Manchuria theater · Order of Merit for National Foundation, Republic of Korea Medal (Daehanmingukjang, 1962)
| Life | 1878 ~ 1937 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 의성 김씨 |
Gim Dong-sam (pen name Ilsong) was born in 1878 in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, and studied under the prominent Confucian scholar Kim Heung-rak. In 1907 he co-founded Hyeopdong School with Yu In-sik and Kim Hu-byeong to promote modern education and national self-strengthening in the traditionally conservative Andong region.
After emigrating to West Jiandao (Manchuria) in 1911, he helped establish the Gyeonghaksa society and Sinheung Military Academy with fellow exiles Yi Si-yeong, Yi Dong-nyeong and Yi Sang-nyong, and ran the Baekseo Farm as an independence-army base from 1914. He went on to serve as chief of staff of the Seoro Military Government, chairman of the National Representatives' Conference, and chief of staff of the Righteous Government (Jeongui-bu), becoming one of Manchuria's "three great generals" of the armed independence movement alongside Kim Jwa-jin and O Dong-jin.
Arrested by Japanese police in Harbin in 1931, he was sentenced to ten years in prison and died in Seodaemun Prison in 1937. His last words are said to have been, "What use is a grave to a man without a country — when I die, burn my body and scatter it on the river." The Buddhist monk and poet Han Yong-un arranged his funeral.