Kim Hong-il (general)

Official portrait of Kim in 1948 as principal of the Korea Military Academy

In August 1948, Kim moved to South Korea to join the newly formed Republic of Korea Army.[9] He was assigned to be the principal of the Korea Military Academy.[2] In 1949, he finished writing the Outline of National Defense, one of the earliest works of the new country's Ministry of National Defense regarding military strategy.[10][11]

After the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, Kim became the commander of the I Corps.[2] During the First Battle of Seoul, the I Corps held a position at Kumchon, North Hwanghae, to the north of Uijeongbu. Once he learned of the North Koreans' 28 June capture of Seoul, Kim had his forces retreat to the south bank of the Han River and set up a defensive line, which they were able to hold for six days until 3 July when North Korea had recovered sufficiently from the demolition of the Hangang Bridge to begin sending tanks across the river.[12] Historian Jongsuk Chay credited the time earned by this operation with "saving the Republic of Korea from communism".[13] Kim went on to fight in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter later that year.[14] However, his conflicts with President Syngman Rhee and American military officers led to his discharge in March 1951.[15]

Kim (centre) with Chiang Kai-shek (left) and Syngman Rhee (right) during the latter's state visit to Taipei in 1953

Kim arrived in Taipei, Taiwan on 3 November 1951 to begin his service as ambassador to the Republic of China.[16] He remained in the position until 13 June 1960.[17][18] On the occasion of his departure, General Peng Meng-chi presented him with the Order of the Cloud and Banner in recognition of his wartime military service to the Republic of China, as well as the second rank of the civilian Order of Brilliant Star.[19] Kim was one of a large number of high-level diplomatic personnel who resigned in the aftermath of the April Revolution, along with ambassador to the U.S. Yang You-chan and ambassador to Japan Yu Tae-ha.[20] In the aftermath of Park Chung-hee's May 1961 coup, Kim served a brief term as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 21 May until his resignation on 21 July.[21][22] He continued to play a role in foreign affairs after his resignation, and was dispatched to Niger in December 1961 as South Korea's representative to the celebrations for Niger's fourth Republic Day.[23]

Kim made his first foray into electoral politics in the 1960 elections as a candidate for the Senate. He announced his intention to run when he resigned from his ambassadorial post.[24] He ran as an independent in the Seoul electoral district, facing off against multiple Democratic Party and Liberal Party candidates.[25] He came in seventh place behind George Paik (independent), Lee In (independent), Kim Dong-o (Democratic), Han Dong-suk (Democratic), Go Hui-dong (Democratic), and Jeon Yong-sun (Democratic).[26] In December 1961, Kim was chosen as the ninth president of the Korean Veterans Association.[27] In 1962, he was awarded the Independence Medal of the Order of Merit for National Foundation.[4] Kim then ran again in the 1963 elections as one of six Korea Independence Party candidates.[28][29] The party received 1.28% of all votes cast, and failed to secure any seats.[30][31]

Kim's objections to the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea later led him into further conflict with the Park regime.[2] While the treaty negotiations were ongoing, Kim co-authored a series of op-eds along with Association of Families of Patriotic Martyrs president Koo Sung-suh,[lower-alpha 5] former Minister of Justice Lee In, Christian philosopher Ham Seok-heon, former prime minister Byeon Yeong-tae, and linguist Kim Yun-gyeong, which were published on the front page of the Kyunghyang Shinmun in February 1965.[32] After the signing of the treaty in June, Kim intensified his public activities in opposition to it. On 27 July, he became a founding member of the Citizens' Council for the Protection of the Fatherland,[lower-alpha 6] which aimed to block ratification of the treaty.[33] After he failed to achieve that goal, he issued a statement on behalf of the council calling for the National Assembly to be dissolved and a new general election to be held.[34] Then on 27 August, Kim and ten other Republic of Korea Reserve Forces officers issued another statement calling on the Armed Forces to "maintain political neutrality" in the face of increasing public turmoil relating to the treaty.[35] Two days later, Kim and three co-signers of that statement—former Minister of Defense Park Byung-kwon, former Korean Central Intelligence Agency director Kim Jae-chun, and former minister without portfolio Park Won-bin—were arrested and charged with criminal libel in relation to its contents, and were held at the Seoul Correctional Institute (the former Seodaemun Prison).[36] Further charges of inciting rebellion were laid against the four on 7 September.[37] Kim's three co-defendants were eventually released on ₩50,000 bail on 25 October, while Kim himself was released on the official ground of severe illness.[38]

Kim (right) and other National Assembly members with President of the Bundestag Kai-Uwe von Hassel during a visit to West Germany in 1970

Kim later became a member of the opposition New Democratic Party, and was elected to represent Mapo-gu in the National Assembly in the 1967 elections.[39] In 1969 he was one of the founders of the Pan-Citizens' Committee to Fight Against the Three-Term Constitutional Reform, created in opposition to the constitutional referendum that year which allowed Park to run for a third term as president.[40] He played a larger role in the May 1971 legislative elections, running as an at-large representative and also becoming the acting head of the New Democratic Party following the resignation of Yu Chin-san two weeks before the election.[41][42] He won his election, and also became the official chairman of the New Democratic Party in July following its all-party convention.[43][44]

Throughout 1972, the New Democratic Party was riven by conflicts between Kim's faction, supported by party heavyweights Kim Dae-jung and Yang Il-dong, and the opposing pro-Yu Chin-san faction led by Chyung Yil-hyung. Matters came to a head at the party convention in September, held in the absence of Kim's faction, which resulted in the return of Yu Chin-san as party chairman.[45] Kim's faction issued a statement denouncing the results and declaring the convention illegal, but the National Election Commission refused Kim's application for an injunction against the Yu Chin-san faction.[46] The following month, Park Chung-hee carried out his October Restoration self-coup and dissolved the National Assembly, and then just a month before the February 1973 elections, Kim's faction broke off from the New Democratic Party and established the Democratic Unification Party.[47][48] However, the Democratic Unification Party performed poorly, and only two of its candidates were elected, Kim not among them.[49] Following the election, Democratic Unification Party leaders expressed regret for participating, and Kim pledged to dedicate the remainder of his life to fighting for the return of democracy.[50] Later that year, he was one of thirty opposition politicians to sign a petition calling for constitutional reform and free elections, and in 1974 he became one of the founding members of the Citizens' Conference for the Restoration of Democracy.[51][52]