金立과 항일민족운동

Kim Rip and Anti-Japanese Movement of Korea

Historians have not fully illuminated the anti-Japanese national activities of Kim Rip(1880~1922), mainly because of the notorious image given to him by his political rivals. After he was put in charge of the funds which his Korean Socialist Party had obtained from the Soviet Government, all Korean parties criticized him for not delivering the fund to them. His opponents, particularly members of the Irkutsk group of the Korean Communist Party(Koryeo Kongsandang), spread a bad rumor that he personally misappropriated the funds that the Soviet government provided for the Korean revolutionary movement. Claiming the Moscow money, the Korean Provisional Government also accused Kim Rip of committing a crime deserving of death in its announcement dated January 26, 1922. Two weeks later, on February 11, 1922, Kim Rip was brutally assassinated in Shanghai by two Korean terrorists sponsored by Kim Ku. Kim Rip’s anti-Japanese activities should not be tainted by his involvement in the issue of the Moscow funds. We need to pay more attention to his leading and progressive role in educational and cultural activities in social organizations such as the Northwestern Association(Seobuk Hakkhoe), the New People’s Association(Sinminhoe), in the Educational Association of Koreans in Chientao(Kanmin Kyoyukhoe), the Association of Koreans in Chientao (Kanminhoe), the Work Promotion Association(Kwonophoe) in the Primorye (Maritime Province), the Korean Socialist Party and Korean Provisional Government Although Kim Rip’s intolerant and factional affiliation made him a major target of rival groups., he demonstrated leadership initiative in the creation of the Korean Socialist Party (1918), through military cooperation with the Russian Red Army, the alliance with the Union of New People(Sinmindan). His initiatives included the dispatch of the delegation of the Korean Socialist Party to the Third Communist International, joining to the Korean Provisional Govennment, and the dispatch of special envoy Han Hyeong-gwon to the Soviet Government.