Kim Hong-il | |
|---|---|
&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Kim_Hong-il_1961-may-20.jpg) Kim Hong-il in 1961 | |
| 7th Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 21 May 1961 – 21 July 1961 | |
| President | Yun Posun |
| Preceded by | Chung Il-hyung |
| Succeeded by | Song Yo-chan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 September 1898 Ryongchon County, North Pyongan Province, Korean Empire |
| Died | 8 August 1980 (aged 81) Hyochang-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul, South Korea |
| Spouse(s) | Min Gyeong-ran (민경란; 閔景蘭) |
| Children | Three sons |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Republic of China South Korea |
| Branch/service |  National Revolutionary Army Republic of Korea Army |
| Years of service | 1920–1951 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General Lieutenant General |
| Commands | Northeast Security Command Capital Division I Corps |
| Battles/wars | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 김홍일 |
| Hanja | 金弘壹 |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Hongil |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Hong'il |
Kim Hong-il (Korean: 김홍일; 23 September 1898 – 8 August 1980) was a Korean independence activist and a general of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Korean War, who later became a diplomat and politician in South Korea. Born in North Pyongan, he did his early schooling in China and Korea, and had a brief career as a teacher before his connections with the nascent Korean independence movement led to his imprisonment. He fled into exile in China in 1918, and served in the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army from 1926 to 1948, following which he moved to the newly independent South Korea to join the Republic of Korea Army. He commanded South Korea's I Corps during the first year of the Korean War, and was then sent to Taipei as South Korea's ambassador to the Republic of China, which by then had retreated to Taiwan. His assignment there ultimately lasted nine years. He returned to South Korea in 1960 following the April Revolution which ended the rule of Syngman Rhee, and served briefly as Minister of Foreign Affairs under the Park Chung Hee junta. He ran for the National Assembly, first unsuccessfully in 1960 and 1963, and was then elected in 1967 and became a major figure in the opposition New Democratic Party.
Being one of the most experienced and high-ranked among the officer corps that commanded the early Republic of Korea Army, he was nicknamed the "Five-star General".