Kang Kon

Korean military leader (1918–1950)

Kang Kon


Chief of the General Staff
Kang Kon
In office February 1948 – September 1950
Leader	Kim Il Sung

Personal details
Born	(1918-06-23)23 June 1918 Sangju, Keishōhoku-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan
Died	8 September 1950(1950-09-08) (aged 32)
Citizenship	North Korean
Nationality	Korean
Military service
Allegiance	Korean People's Army
Years of service	1945–1950
Commands	Chief of the general staff
Battles/wars	Korean independence movement Pacification of Manchukuo Chinese Civil War World War II Pacific War Korean War Operation Pokpoong †

Kang Kon (Korean: 강건, Hanja: 姜健; June 23, 1918 – September 8, 1950) was a Korean military leader active in Manchuria and the Korean peninsula as well as a politician during the years leading up to the Korean War and during the first stages of the Korean War in 1950.

Biography

Kang (born Kang Shin-tae)^[1] was born in Sangju, Keishōhoku-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan (now North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea),^[2] on June 23, 1918,^[3] and at the young age of 16 began his involvement in national liberation and military ventures. He moved to Jilin Province in Manchuria as a child and grew up there. As a teenager, he was actively involved in recruiting anti-Japanese guerrillas for his long-time friend, Kim Il Sung, and is remembered as being unusually tall and often towering over others.^[4] Before his leadership roles in the Korean War, Kang joined the anti-Japanese struggle in Manchuria in 1932, and later fled into Soviet territory in the early 1940s, where, by the end of World War II was an officer in the 88th Independent Brigade in the Red Army, consisting of both Korean and Chinese soldiers.^[5] Lieutenant General Kang led the North Korean Army offensive during the opening stages of the Korean War until he was killed by a land mine on September 8, 1950.^[6]

Pre-Korean War

Like many of the others who served in high ranking positions under Kim Il Sung, Kang had served with Kim in Manchuria fighting against the Japanese. While in Manchuria he organized and commanded the Kiring peace Preservation Army.^[7] Even though Kang (and other Koreans fighting in Manchuria) had better military credentials than Kim, Kim was encouraged to take the reins of the new communist country because of ability to cultivate the Russians.^[8]

In the summer of 1946, Kang returned from Soviet Russia to North Korea to help establish the Korean People's Army and by 1948 he was appointed the Chief of the General Staff Department, and was an important figure in the planning of the South Korean invasion with the help of Russian war strategists^[9] and was selected to lead the invasion.^[10] He was a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and a member of the Supreme People's Assembly.

Kang was known as a ruthless soldier, as was reflected in the armies he commanded; they were aggressive, insensitive to risk, and eager for a victory by August 15, as Kim Il Sung demanded.^[11]

Korean War

General Kang Kon spearheaded the North Korean People's Army operations southeast towards Pusan. His military endeavors were successful and had pushed the South Korean and UN forces down to the Pusan Perimeter, and on the morning of August 4, 1950, the North Korean's were ready to strike their final blow, and capture the last UN controlled area on the Peninsula.^[12] On August 4, the morning that began the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, General Kang was injured when his makeshift command post (an abandoned meat-packaging plant, selected for its thick concrete walls, originally constructed for refrigeration) was struck by a 500-pound bomb. The blast killed three people and wounded eight, one of whom was Kang. He had been in the radio room checking messages at the time of the explosion and suffered a head injury and a broken forearm.^[13]

Death

On September 8, 1950, General Kang and several others were killed by a land mine in Andong, Gyeongbuk, not far from his hometown.^[14] He was awarded "Hero of the Republic"^[15] and two days after his death, Kim Il Sung held a funeral for his fallen, long-time comrade in Pyongyang.^[16]

Legacy

In 1968 Kim Il Sung built a statue for Kang, and there is a North Korean military school named after him, Kang Kon Military Academy.^[17]

References

^ Millett, Allan R. The War For Korea, 1950–1951 Lawrence Kansas, 2010. University Press of Kansas. p. 51.
^ Paul Edwards (2003). The Korean War: A Historical Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. p. 126. ISBN 9780810866089.
^ Suh, Dae-sook, Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. Chinchester, New York. 1988, Columbia University Press. p. 356.
^ Spurr, Russell. Enter the Dragon, China's Undeclared War Against the U.S. in Korea, 1950–51. New York, NY. 1988. p. 8.
^ N.A. North Korean Korean Leaders During the Korean War. http://www.paulnoll.com/Korea/War/NK-General-Kang-Kon.html. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
^ Kim, Young Sik. Eye Witness: A North Korean Remembers. http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war10_YoungSKim.htm. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
^ Scalapino, Robert A. Lee, Chong Sik. Communism in Korea: The Society.Berkeley, California. University of California Press. 1972. p. 925.
^ Millett, Allan R. The War For Korea, 1950–1951 Lawrence Kansas, 2010. University Press of Kansas. p. 51.
^ N.A. North Korean Korean Leaders During the Korean War. http://www.paulnoll.com/Korea/War/NK-General-Kang-Kon.html. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
^ Millett, Allan R. The War For Korea, 1950–1951 Lawrence Kansas, 2010. University Press of Kansas. p. 51
^ Millett, Allan R. The War For Korea, 1950–1951 Lawrence Kansas, 2010. University Press of Kansas. p. 190.
^ Spurr, Russell. Enter the Dragon, China's Undeclared War Against the U.S. in Korea, 1950–51. New York, NY. 1988. p. 8.
^ Spurr, Russell. Enter the Dragon, China's Undeclared War Against the U.S. in Korea, 1950–51. New York, NY. 1988. p. 8.
^ Kim, Young Sik. Eye Witness: A North Korean Remembers. http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war10_YoungSKim.htm. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
^ N.A. North Korean Korean Leaders During the Korean War. http://www.paulnoll.com/Korea/War/NK-General-Kang-Kon.html. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
^ Kim, Young Sik. Eye Witness: A North Korean Remembers. http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war10_YoungSKim.htm. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
^ Suh, Dae-sook, Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. Chinchester, New York. 1988, Columbia University Press. p. 356.