Kim Chwajin

Kim Chwajin (Korean: 김좌진; Hanja: 金佐鎭; 24 November 1889 – 24 January 1930), also known by his art name Paegya, was a Korean military officer, independence activist, and anarchist. Born into a noble family in the kingdom of Joseon, Kim was educated at the military academy of the newly-founded Korean Empire shortly before the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910. After spending three years in prison for freeing his family's slaves, he joined the Korean independence movement and went to Manchuria to fight against the Empire of Japan. While in Manchuria, Kim established the Northern Military Administration Office in 1919 and trained Korean soldiers in guerrilla warfare before going on to lead the Korean Independence Army to victory in the Battle of Cheongsanri.

In 1920, Kim co-founded the Korean Independence Corps and went to Siberia, but was forced back to Manchuria following the Free City Incident. He was subsequently influenced by anarchism and in 1925 established the New People's Administration, which Kim intended to follow egalitarian and libertarian principles. Following a split in the Administration, in 1929 he joined with young socialists and anarchists to establish the Korean People's Association in Manchuria, a self-governing federation of agricultural cooperatives. In 1930, he was assassinated by a young member of the Communist Party of Korea. Kim is considered a national hero in modern-day South Korea and has been compared to the Ukrainian anarchist Nestor Makhno.