Army lieutenant general and politician, first-class graduate of the Military English School, commander of II Corps, planning committee chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction; pen name Daedong
| Life | 1920 ~ 2001 |
| Era | 대한민국 |
| Clan | 강릉 함씨 |
Ham Byeong-seon (咸炳善, 1920-2001) was a soldier and politician of the Gangneung clan, with the pen name Daedong. He was born on 30 May 1920 in Daedong County, South Pyongan, and left the Pyongyang Higher Common School without finishing. Wikipedia says he enlisted in 1938 as one of the first Korean volunteer soldiers in the Japanese army, graduated from the Japanese Army Infantry School in 1939 and was a warrant officer at liberation. This records his service in the Japanese army; whether any official judgment was made about it was not confirmed here.
In January 1946 he entered the first class of the Military English School and was commissioned a second lieutenant, then completed infantry schools in 1947-49, the US Army Command and General Staff College in 1953 and became a member of the first class of the National Defense College's administration course in 1956. He fought in the Jeju April 3 events, the Yeosu-Suncheon rebellion and the Korean War and received the Taeguk Order of Military Merit. Classmates included Paik Sun-yup, Yu Jae-heung and Yi Han-lim, and his direct superiors were Yi Hyeong-geun and Chung Il-kwon.
As a major general he commanded the Second Training Center in July 1954, became a lieutenant general in January 1955 and commander of II Corps in May. He then served as army planning and operations staff chief and as president of the National Defense College. After the May 16 coup of 1961 he chaired the planning committee of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction from 28 May to 4 July, when he was forcibly retired as a lieutenant general. He later held posts in the Democratic Republican Party, the Korea Nationalist Party, the New Democratic Republican Party and the United Liberal Democrats, and announced his withdrawal from the New Korea Party in 1996 about a month after joining. A Protestant, he died in Seoul in 2001 and was buried at the Daejeon National Cemetery.
After being commissioned from the first class of the Military English School in 1946, he became a major general in 1954 and a lieutenant general in 1955, serving as head of the Second Training Center, commander of II Corps, army headquarters staff chief and president of the National Defense College.
Wikipedia records that he enlisted as a Korean volunteer in 1938. Evaluations of late-colonial military service differ, and whether he appears in any official list of collaborators was not confirmed here, so no separate label is attached.
He is buried at the Daejeon National Cemetery.
Wikipedia mentions a youngest son, omitted here as a private matter.