Kim Suk-won (general)

Kim Suk-won
Kim Suk-won in 1955
Born	(1893-09-29)29 September 1893 Seoul, Korea
Died	6 August 1978(1978-08-06) (aged 84) Seoul, Korea
Allegiance	Empire of Japan/Republic of Korea
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army Republic of Korea Army
Years of service	1925–1945 1945–1950, 1952–1956
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	Second Sino-Japanese War World War II Korean War

Kim Suk-won (29 September 1893 – 6 August 1978) was a major general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He was the third-highest ranking ethnic Korean in the Japanese Army behind Lt. General Hong Sa-ik and Korean Crown Prince Euimin.

Born in Seoul, Kim was sent to Japan for studies in 1909 just before the Empire of Korea was annexed by Japan.

Kim entered the 27th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1913. At that time, there were several students from Korea enrolled at the military academy. Many of those who opposed the annexation had already left to join in the movements for Korean independence; others followed the advice of Ji Cheong-cheon, who argued that they should stay and learn military skills from the Japanese before joining the independence movements. However, Kim saw the annexation of Korea as an opportunity for advancement, and a chance to prove his loyalty to Japan. Following his 1915 graduation, Kim was assigned to the IJA 4th Division, based in Osaka. In 1917, Kim was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant.

During the 1931 invasion of Manchuria, Kim was captain of a mechanised artillery division, which had a distinguished combat record. After the 1937 outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Kim was further promoted to major, and assigned to the IJA 20th Division based outside of Seoul, which was a singular indication of the trust that he had attained within the Japanese military. In May 1937, Kim led the 74th Infantry Regiment (based in Hamhung and commanded by Kim Ik Uk) on a mission to eradicate Kim Il Sung's bandits in the border area around Baekdu Mountain. However, his force of about 2,000 men walked into a trap set by Kim Il Sung at Chiensan Pass, some distance north of Hyesanjin and Kim Il Sung's ten heavy machine guns mowed down Kim Suk Won's Japanese troops. Kim escaped the encounter with only 200 survivors.