Kim Won-bong (13 August 1898-1958) was a Korean independence leader and anarchist who served as Deputy Commander of the Korean Liberation Army from 1941 to 1945 during World War II.
Biography[]
Kim Won-bong was born in Miryang, Korean Empire (now in South Korea) on 13 August 1898. In February 1919, he entered the Shinheung Military Academy, and he dropped out of the academy after six months, organizing the underground Heroic Corps. He joined the Chinese Whampoa Military Academy in 1926, and he helped in organizing the Korean National Revolutionary Party, which was formed in Shanghai in 1935. During World War II, Kim served as deputy commander of the Korean Liberation Army, and he returned to Korea after its liberation at the end of the war. He attended a meeting with Kim Gu, Kim Kyu-sik, and Pak Hon-yong after the liberation, and he decided to move to North Korea, where he appealed to Kim Il-sung to reunify Korea. He was purged in 1958, and he committed suicide by cyanide poisoning.