TITLE:
Kim Hyong Jik’s Idea of “Jiwon” (Aim High) and the Korean National Association
AUTHORS:
Knox Kwon
KEYWORDS:
Kim Hyong Jik; Jiwon; Korean National Association; Korea; Choson; Nationalism; Kim Il Sung; Independence Movement; Liberation
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
11,
2013
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to examine the
life and activities of Kim Hyong Jik—father of Kim Il Sung—and the guiding principle of“Jiwon”created by him to help lead the anti-Japanese liberation
movement. Jiwon’ of Kim Hyong Jik who waged undaunted struggle for national
liberation in spite of the hideous repression under the occupation of Japanese
imperialists. Even today in the 21st century I put emphasis on Kim Hyong Jik’s“Jiwon”because this idea enables us to recover the identity
of the Korean History.“Jiwon”helps us recover the identity of the Korean
nation because at its core lies love for the country, nation and people, which
has been the traditional spirit inherent to the Korean nation. Today the North
and the South of Korea maintain different stands for their respective political
systems and ideals. Nevertheless,Koreahas one and the same
identity. That is the nationalist spirit inherent to the Korean nation. I hold
we should keep in mind that“Jiwon”reflected this anti-Japanese nationalist
spirit which identifies the Korean history. I deem it essential to recover this
nationalist spirit in the history of division, in which the North and South
have remained divided with different systems and ideals.Through the activities of the Korean
National Association, Kim Hyong Jik’s“Jiwon”was not simply a
theory for its own sake, but a practical crystallization in history. In view of
his anti-Japanese revolutionary movement and his activities as a patriotic
educationist, I deem it necessary to evaluate Kim Hyong Jik as a historical
figure who put forward a historical idea and put it into reality.