Founder of the Gangneung Kim clan, known for the royal-succession episode with King Wonseong; Prince of Myeongju
| Era | 통일신라 |
| Clan | 강릉 김씨 |
Kim Ju-won (金周元, dates unknown) was a Silla aristocrat said to be a fifth-generation descendant of Kim Mun-wang, third son of King Taejong Muyeol, and is the founder of the Gangneung Kim clan. A later genealogy of the Silla Kim names his great-grandfather as Kim Dae-chung, grandfather Kim Sa-in and father Kim Yu-jeong, but this is considered uncertain. The Gangneung Kim article elsewhere presents him as a 21st-generation descendant of Kim Alji, so genealogical statements differ.
When King Seondeok died without an heir in 785, the ministers acclaimed him as king, but the Alcheon stream swelled with heavy rain before he could arrive and, taking this as Heaven's will, Kim Gyeong-sin, the Sangdaedeung, ascended as King Wonseong.
Fearing reprisal after Wonseong's accession, he withdrew to Haseulla (Gangneung), and two years later was appointed governor of Haseo Province and enfeoffed as Prince of Myeongju. The governorship is said to have been inherited by his descendants, making the province a family domain called Myeongju-guk, and his descendants took Gangneung as their clan seat.
The Alcheon story comes down in records of the Samguk Sagi tradition. As his descendants inherited the governorship of Haseo Province, Myeongju is described as growing estranged from the Silla court and existing in a semi-independent state until the Later Three Kingdoms.
Sons recorded are Kim Jong-gi, Kim Heon-chang (Kim Heon-chang) and Kim Sin. See also the Gangneung Kim clan page.