김성숙 金星淑
Independence activist, Buddhist monk and politician
| Life | 1898 ~ 1969 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 상산 김씨 |
Life & career
Kim Seong-suk (1898-1969) was an independence activist, Buddhist monk and politician. Korean Wikipedia gives his clan as Sangsan Kim of the Sangsan-gun branch (Cheolsan lineage), born 10 March 1898 in Cheolsan, North Pyongan.
He took Buddhist vows in 1916 and joined the March First Movement in 1919 as a monk of Bongseonsa, being arrested and imprisoned as an organiser of the Gwangcheon market demonstration in Yangju.
From 1923 he lived in exile in China, studying in Beijing, serving as head of propaganda of the Uiyeoldan and joining the 1927 Guangzhou uprising. He founded the Korean National Liberation League in 1936, became political director of the Korean Volunteer Corps in 1938, and served in the Provisional Government in 1942-44.
After returning in December 1945 he founded the Independence Labor Party in 1946 and later worked as an opposition politician, imprisoned in 1957-58 and 1961. He died in Seoul on 12 April 1969; he was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1982, interred in the Provisional Government cemetery in 2004 and named Independence Activist of the Month in April 2008.
After Liberation
He led the Independence Labor Party from 1946 and chaired the National Revolutionaries League. He supported a separate government in 1948 and afterwards worked with several opposition parties.
Grave
Interred in the Provisional Government section of Seoul National Cemetery in 2004.