Kim Chung-seon
Nokdong Seowon
Korean name
Hangul
김충선
Hanja
金忠善
Revised RomanizationGim Chung-seon
McCune–ReischauerKim Ch'ungsŏn
Art name
Hangul
모하당
Hanja
Revised RomanizationMohadang
McCune–ReischauerMohadang
Courtesy name
Hangul
선지
Hanja
Revised RomanizationSeonji
McCune–ReischauerSŏnji

Kim Chung-seon (Korean: 김충선; 1571–1642), also known by his birth name Sayaka (沙也可)[lower-alpha 1] and art name Mohadang (모하당), was a Japanese general who defected to Korea during the Japanese invasion.[lower-alpha 2]

After his defection, Kim served in the Joseon army, contributing to Korean victories over Japanese forces in the battles of Dongnae and Ulsan. Thereafter he was granted his Korean name, on the recommendations of Gwon Yul and others, and was made part of the Gimhae Kim lineage.

Kim continued his military service after the end of the Japanese invasions in 1598, working for 10 years on securing the northern border. He fought the rebellion of Yi Gwal in 1624, personally capturing Yi's lieutenant Seo A-ji (서아지 / 徐牙之). In 1636, he participated in the defense against the Second Manchu invasion of Korea, credited with the death of some 500 Qing troops at the battle of Ssangnyeong.

After Joseon's surrender to the Manchus, Kim retired from military life, moving to Daegu where he married the daughter of the mok (목; 牧) administrative district commander Jang Chun-jeom (장춘점 / 張春點). They settled in present-day Urok-ri, Gachang-myeon, Dalseong-gun. Kim devoted himself to Confucian ethics, promulgating gahun (family principles) and hyangyak (village creed).

The Nokdong Seowon in Urok-ri was erected in his memory in 1789. This seowon was abolished in 1864 as part of the regent Daewon-gun's general campaign against seowon, but was reestablished in 1914 under the Japanese colonial regime. The seowon remains a popular destination for Japanese tourists in Daegu.[1]

During the Japanese colonial era in the 20th century, Japanese officials and scholars tried to deny Kim’s existence. Some scholars visited the village and personally investigated the records handed down in his family. However, they did not recognize him as Japanese. Rather, they considered him “half Korean and half Japanese” or just a fictional figure.

In 1930, Hidetaka Nakamura of the Japanese colonial government’s Korean History Compilation Committee conducted an investigation and confirmed that Kim Chung-seon was indeed a Japanese defector. Recently, a monument in memory of Kim was built in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.[2]

Kim Chung-seon is the founder of one of the Korean clans, the Urok Kim clan.[3] Kim's 6th-generation descendants compiled his collected works, which exist in two editions.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ On some websites (such as Korea JoongAng Daily), the pronunciation of Kim Chung-seon's original name (i.e. his Japanese name) is Sayaga (with the letter G in place of K)
  2. ↑ The reason why Sayaga/Sayaka or Kim Chung-seon defected from Japan to Korea was due to the fact that he doesn't want to kill the innocent people of Joseon, in addition to having always revered the culture of Joseon and China.
  1. ↑ Daegu Tourist Information Center. "Nokdong Seowon". Daegutour.or.kr. Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-02-03.
  2. ↑ "「沙也可」日韓国際シンポジウム: 一語一絵 過去ログ".
  3. ↑ Jin Guanglin [in Japanese] (2014). "A Comparison of the Korean and Japanese Approaches to Foreign Family Names" (PDF). Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia. 5: 24 – via Society for Cultural Interaction in East Asia.
  4. ↑ "Live up to Your Name - Cast (Korean Drama, 2017, 명불허전)".
  5. ↑ RPM9 전자신문엔터테인먼트: (ET-ENT 인터뷰) 배우 다케다 히로미츠(Takeda Hiromitsu)! 한국을 정말 사랑하는 아티스트

References and further reading

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