Independence activist, linguist, and Yan'an faction leader who served as the first head of state of the DPRK
On the day the People's Assembly adopted the new DPRK flag in July 1948, Kim Tu-bong personally lowered the Taegeukgi and raised its replacement. Barely a year earlier, he had been the man passionately explaining the old flag's philosophical meaning to a skeptical Soviet general.
A Hangul linguist trained under Chu Sigyŏng who led the Korean Independence League in Yan'an. Became the DPRK's first head of state in 1948, though real power lay with Kim Il Sung. Purged and vanished in the 1958 August Faction Incident.
Career timeline
- 1908–1916Studied Hangul under Chu Sigyŏng; helped compile MalMoi dictionary
- 1919Joined March First Movement, then exiled to Shanghai provisional government
- 1920–1930sCombined communist activism with linguistic research in Shanghai
- 1942–1945Founded Korean Independence League in Yan'an; led the Yan'an faction
- 1946.02–08Chairman of the New People's Party of Korea
- 1946.08–1949.06Chairman of the Workers' Party of North Korea Central Committee
- 1948.09–1957.09Chairman of the SPA Standing Committee — first head of state of the DPRK
- 1957–1958Dismissed from all posts over August Faction Incident; disappeared
Yan'an faction leader who drove the 1946 New People's Party merger and was purged in the August Faction Incident
At the plenum of 30 August 1956, Ch'oe criticized Kim Il Sung to his face, alongside the Soviet-Korean Pak Ch'ang-ok, over his concentration of personal power. It escalated into the 'August Faction Incident', after which the Yan'an faction was imprisoned or placed under surveillance.
An independence activist and communist, he served as a directing member of the Korean Volunteer Corps, an instructor at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political College, and vice-chairman of the North China Korean Independence League. After liberation he was vice-chairman of the Korean New People's Party, a standing and political committee member of the Workers' Party of North Korea, finance minister and deputy premier. After criticizing Kim Il Sung at the August 1956 plenum, he was purged and imprisoned, and is reported to have died in custody. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives 1896–1957, English Wikipedia 1896–1960, and a Soviet document a birth year of 1898. His exact life dates and circumstances of death are disputed.
Career timeline
- 1923Returned home; joined the Korean Labour Mutual Aid Society and the Korean Communist Youth League
- 1928–1935Arrested in the 'Third Communist Party Incident', imprisoned six years, released 1935
- 1936Fled to China and joined the Korean National Revolutionary Party
- 1938Organized the Korean Youth Vanguard League, became a directing member of the Korean Volunteer Corps, and moved to Yan'an late that year as an instructor at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political College
- 1942Founded the North China Korean Independence League; central standing committee member and secretary
- 1945Vice-chairman of the North China Korean Independence League
- 1946.02Vice-chairman of the Korean New People's Party (chairman: Kim Tu-bong)
- 1946.08The merger with the Korean Communist Party formed the Workers' Party of North Korea; standing committee and political committee member
- 1947.02Head of the People's Inspection Bureau of the North Korean People's Committee
- 1948.04Took part in the North-South negotiations
- 1948–1952Minister of Finance
- 1952–1953Deputy premier
- 1953.02Deputy premier and finance minister
- 1955Minister of State Inspection
- 1956.08Criticized Kim Il Sung at the August plenum; the September plenum decided to restore him to the Central Committee
- 1957.09Expelled, purged and imprisoned in Pyongyang. Accounts differ on whether he died in 1957 or 1960.
