Provisional Government President Kim Goo’s photo of’Liberal Forces Open Inspection Ceremony’

A rare photo was found in Shanghai, China, shortly after Paik-beom Kim Gu (金九, 1876-1949), in Shanghai, China, as the president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, who was the commander of the military, openly inspecting the Korean Liberation Army in a crowd welcome.

Yonhap News reports the arrival of President Kim at Shanghai Changwan Airport on November 5, 1945 in the 11th issue of the magazine’Seungri’ (勝利), which is held by the Shanghai Library, which has the largest number of modern publications in China. I found two pictures of it.

Kim Gu, who had stayed in Chongqing, where the Provisional Government was in the time of liberation, arrived in Shanghai on November 5, 1945 on an aircraft provided by the Chinese government, and left for Seoul on November 23 on an aircraft provided by the US military.

Seungri, a magazine published in commemoration of the end of World War II due to the surrender of Japan, is greeted in an orderly manner with a photo of President Kim with a welcome bouquet on his neck at the’Shanghai’s Photo Corner’ in Issue 11 Photographs of the members of the Liberation Army were also included.

Of particular note is the photograph of the Liberation Army lined up in front of the head of the Provisional Government and the commander-in-chief of the military at the time.

Another photograph of President Kim’s welcoming appearance upon arriving at Shanghai Airport at the time was already widely known as being included in the Baekbeom Journal published in Korea. However, it is confirmed for the first time that members of the Liberation Army at that time lined up and held a welcome event.

In this photo, dozens of members of the Liberation Army are standing horizontally and holding two large national flags high to greet President Kim.

It seems likely that these are elite agents who were put in preparation for the’Eagle Project’, a secret domestic vacuum operation.

Independence Memorial Director Han Si-joon, an authority in the field of Liberation Army research, told Yonhap News and talked with Yonhap News, “This is a new photo that has not been found in the academic world so far.” The photographs taken are very rare, and it is very likely that this was the first time the Liberation Army was openly inspected, especially in the presence of a large crowd.”

The welcome ceremony for President Kim’s arrival in Shanghai attracted thousands of people, including Koreans and Chinese.

In Baek Beom Ilji, Kim Gu said, “The airfield was welcomed by friends, both men and women, and the airfield was Hong-gu New Park.” “When entering the city, more than 6,000 compatriots living in Shanghai were 6 in the morning. He wrote that the poem was lined up and said he was looking forward to my coming, so he stopped in the car and went out.”

As President Kim himself wrote, many Chinese as well as Koreans attended the welcome ceremony at the time.

Modern history expert Su Zi Liang, a professor at the Shanghai Normal University, met with Yonhap News and said, “Kim Koo, who had been anti-Japanese activities in Shanghai for a long time, received help by interacting with many Chinese friends.” “At the time, a grand welcome event could be held at the Shanghai airfield. What was there shows that the Chinese society regarded Kim Gu as the representative leader of the Korean people.”

Except for the new photos discovered this time, there has been only one photo on record showing President Kim’s inspection of the Liberation Army.

President Kim, in cooperation with the US intelligence service Office of Strategic Service (OSS), sought a final check on the preparations for Operation Eagles, just before liberation, on August 7, 1945, in Zhongnan Mountain, a suburb of Xian, Shaanxi Province, China. I found a secret training base inside.

There is a photo left of about 10 members of the Liberation Army who were training at the time, taking the national flags of South Korea, the United States, and the Republic of China alongside the Taegeukgi, the Stars and Stripes, and the Cheongcheonbaek Ilgi.

However, scholars said that at the time the inspection was carried out quietly in a deep mountain to check the operation that was in secret, and that it was very different from the public inspection event held in Shanghai, which was a global metropolis representing Asia at the time, attended by thousands of people. Point out.

Director Han said, “I think I was deeply impressed by Mr. Kim Gu, who openedly inspected the Liberation Army, the army of Lim Jeong, when he arrived in Shanghai, where he had been engaged in anti-Japanese activities for a long time immediately after liberation.”

In fact, Mr. Kim said in Baek Beom Ilji, “The place where I greeted (to the crowd) was the place where Dr. Yoon Bong-gil blew up the Japanese enemy Shirakawa 13 years ago. When I heard this, I was impressed with the new memories of that day 13 years ago. “He said.

Shin Joo-baek, head of the Korea Independence Movement History Institute, said, “The Liberation Army in front of Kim Gu is a rare scene.” It shows that Kim Goo was an important entity in the context of “.

In addition, this public inspection photograph taken on November 5, 1945, after liberation, shows that the Liberation Army continued to operate in China, maintaining orderly ties in China even after liberation.

“Even after liberation, the Liberation Army advanced to various parts of China such as Nanjing, Beijing, Kaifeng, Tianjin, etc., and for a while, together with the Chiang Kai-shek army, they accepted the surrender of Japanese troops, incorporated Korean soldiers in the Japanese army into the Liberation Army, and helped Koreans return in order. “It can’t be said that the photo found this time is not necessarily the last photo, but it can be seen as the last photo of the Liberation Army’s public activities in China,” he said.

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