Independence patriot · Korean Liberation Army · Independence Medal (獨立章, 1962)
| Life | 1900 ~ 1967 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 안동 김씨 |
Kim Hak-gyu, of the Andong Kim clan, graduated from Sinheung Military Academy in Liuhe County, Liaoning, in 1919 and served as a cadet officer of the Righteous Army Government of Western Manchuria. In 1929 he joined the Korean Revolutionary Army led by Yang Se-bong as chief of staff, and in 1936 took part in an emergency congress of the Korean Revolutionary Party in Nanjing with Hyeon Ik-cheol and Yang Gi-tak that reorganized it into the Joseon Minjok Hyeongmyeongdang.
When the Korean Liberation Army (Gwangbokgun) was established in 1940, he served concurrently as chief of staff and commander of its Third Detachment, directing anti-Japanese propaganda, recruitment, intelligence gathering, and guerrilla operations from a base in Fuyang, Anhui Province. After liberation he was dispatched to Manchuria in 1946 as head of the Korean Independence Party's Northeast Special Committee, but was later implicated in the 1949 assassination of Kim Gu after introducing the shooter, An Du-hui, and served a fifteen-year sentence before his release following the 1961 military coup. He received the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Independence Medal, in 1962.