Regarding 'Fake Independence Merit Suspicions'... Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs: "Kim Won-woong, President of Gwangbokhoe, Parents Are Genuine Independence Patriots"

Public Verification Committee: "No Reason to Change Existing Honors"
Janganhoe President Lee Hyeongjin: "Please Rightly Establish the Honor of the Liberation Army and the History of the Independence Movement"

Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs announced on the 21st that it will "maintain the status of independence merit" for the parents of Kim Won-woong, President of the Liberation Association, whose independence movement records were recently suspected of being falsified.

On the 21st, the Ministry stated, "After investigating the various recent allegations to uncover the substantive truth, we judged that there is no reason to change the existing commendation."

They added, "We reviewed the materials related to the independence movement at the time and consulted experts on the Liberation Army," and explained, "Based on this, the Independence Merit Verification Committee held a meeting and resolved that there is no problem with the existing commendation."

The three main allegations the verification committee focused on were: △the suspicion that the merits of Kim Won-woong’s father, Kim Geun-soo, and mother, Jeon Wol-seon, were fabricated △the suspicion that independence activist Kim Geun-soo was a different person from Kim Won-woong’s father △the suspicion that the mother stole the merits of her sister, who actually participated in the independence movement.

First, regarding the suspicion of fabricated merits of Kim Won-woong’s father and mother, the committee said, "Although there were minor errors in the merit records of Kim Geun-soo and Jeon Wol-seon, who were active under the names Kim Seok (Wang-seok) and Jeon Wol-soon (Jeon Hee) during the independence movement, there is no problem with their independence movement merits in the broader context."

As evidence, considering records such as the 'Foreign Affairs Monthly Report' (1944) and the 'Register of Korean Provisional Government Employees and Korean Residents' (1945), they stated, "There is no doubt that Kim Seok or Wang-seok and Jeon Wol-soon or Jeon Hee participated in the independence movement through the Joseon Volunteer Army and the Korean Liberation Army." They also judged that, given the frequent use of aliases by independence activists at the time and the supporting materials obtained, there is no reason to overturn the existing results.

The committee also confirmed that there was no issue with the identity of Kim Geun-soo. They judged that Kim Geun-soo, who was awarded in 1963, was alive at the time and was indeed Kim Won-woong’s father, and some notations of 'deceased' were presumed to be 'administrative errors.'

Furthermore, they denied the claim that "Kim Won-woong’s mother, Jeon Wol-seon, stole the merits of her sister, who was the actual independence activist," stating, "Considering the circumstances of the time, it is highly likely that the family register was inaccurately recorded, and judging from the sister Jeon Wol-soon’s residence and childbirth period, she was distant from the independence movement."

Lee Hyeong-jin, president of the descendants' association "Janganhoe" of the 2nd Brigade of the Korean Liberation Army, held a press conference on May 12 in front of the Liberation Hall in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, revealing the organization of the Liberation Army and the lists by brigades regarding the parents of Kim Won-woong, president of the Liberation Association, and claiming it to be a "fake commendation." Photo by Yonhap News.

Meanwhile, on the 6th of this month, Lee Hyung-jin, president of the Jang-anhoe, a group of descendants of the 2nd Unit of the Liberation Army and a member of the Liberation Association, announced that he filed complaints with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) against Kim Won-woong for 'fabrication of parents’ Liberation Army records, public fraud, and defamation of a deceased person’s honor,' and against Hwang Ki-chul, head of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, for 'concealment and aiding of fabricated Liberation Army merit records.'

Lee appealed, "Please strictly investigate and punish Kim Won-woong, who manipulated history and insulted the history of the independence movement, and the head of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs who neglected, condoned, and colluded by not correcting the false facts," and urged, "Please restore the honor of the Liberation Army and the history of the independence movement."

In response, on the 6th, Kim Won-woong rebutted in a CBS radio interview, "After meeting the children of my aunt Jeon Wol-soon, they said, 'Our mother never participated in the independence movement,'" and added, "It seems my mother used one of her aliases as her sister’s name."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.