Kim Chwa-chin (An Alternate East Asia)

Kim Chwa-chin or Kim Chwa-jin (December 16, 1889 – June 24, 1980), sometimes called the "Asian Charles de Gaulle" or the "Asian Eisenhower"), played an important role in the defense and military strategy of Korea in World War II. Kim Chwa-chin was a Marshall or Five Star General (Wonsu) in the Korean Army where he was the Supreme Commander of the Southern Front, Commander of the First Korean Army (FKA). He was responsible for the planning of the morale-boosting Second Battle of Salsu, the strategic bombing of Japanese industrial centers and naval shipyards in 1942, the Battle of Seoul, the Battle of Tsuhima and Iki Island. He collaborated with American General Douglas MacArthur proposing his plans for the Kyushu Campaign with and the Shikoku campaign. He is often considered the greatest Korean Military leader along with Yi Sun-sin, Yun Ung-Nyeol, Eulji Mundeok, and Choe U.

After his Presidency before the war he served as the Chief of Staff of the Korean Military before leaving to create the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction and successfully running for President in 1952.

Kim has been ranked by the public as the second-greatest Korean president (behind Kim Gu) but he still remains a controversial figure in modern Korean political discourse and among the Korean populace in general for his undemocratic ways. While some credit him for sustaining the Miracle on the Han River, which reshaped and modernized Korea, others criticize his authoritarian way of ruling the country and for prioritizing economic growth and contrived social order at the expense of civil liberties. He also turned Korea into the world's fifth nuclear power after France in February 1961. The Korean Economic Miracle continued for another three decades after his Presidency, and as his hand pointed successors would continue keeping a choke hold on the Korean Government and the Presidency including his own son Kim Du-han in 1978 to 1983, people began to protests and call for fair democratic elections. Many figures arrested during his semi-democratic junta would later become President of Korea themselves.

Early Life and Education
Kim was born to a wealthy family of the Andong Kim lineage in Hongseong County, Chungcheong province. His father was Kim Hyeong-gyu. When Kim was 18, he released 50 families of slaves when he publicly burned the slave registry and provided each family with enough land to live on. This was the first emancipation of slaves in modern Korea. In 1902, Kim Hyeong-gyu moved to Seoul with the family to help establish schools he returned to HyangrI to establish a school named Namyeon School, to collect his wealth and provide 90 houses for school operation.

He also organized branches of the Korea Association and the Association for the Performing Arts in Hongseong to lead the movement for the enlightenment of patriotism. It was during this time that Heyong-gyu began to very much instill the values of patriotism and fighting for Korea and what is right for Korea into Chwa-chin. Kim Chwa-chin was described as a child as intelligent, strategic, tactful, egotistical, and somewhat arrogant. Being a good school student from a wealthy family Kim Chwa-chin passed the entrance exam to attend high school and graduated third in his class in 1907 despite some behavioral issues. In order to instill discipline into Chwa-chin, Kim Heyong-yu convinced Chwa-chin to attend the Korean Imperial Military Academy in 1907 after he graduated High School. During his childhood years he often described admiration for his country's rapid modernization and the nationalist code and Silhak philosophy.

When Kim Chwa-chin joined the Korean Imperial Military Academy he soon discovered that he had a very good talent for military leadership, strategic military planning and skills as an officer. During his years at the academy Kim Chwa-chin went from an opinionated rambunctious youth to an orderly, disciplined, mature beyond his years military cadet. He graduated on 14 Jun 1910 at the top of his class and was commissioned as a Sowi (Second Lieutenant). During his time at the academy he befriended Ji Choeng-cheon (Class of 1909) and Hong Sai-ik (Class of 1911), the classes of 1909 to 1912 would become known as "The classes that will save Korea". His graduation from the Imperial Korean Military Academy would prove to be perfect timing for rapid advancement because it occurred just 40 days before the Japanese invaded Korea beginning the First Koryo-Manchurian War.

Service in the Koryo-Manchurian War (1910-1913)
When Kim Chwa-chin first became an Second Lieutenant on 14 June 1910, where he was placed in charge of a platoon of just 20 men at the Gyeongryeong Base. Kim Chwa-chin began training his unit to adopt a mentality of obedience, loyalty, familialism, and seeing eachother as a family unit combined with sacrificing one's needs with the needs of a whole. Kim Chwa-chin had an uncle who was killed in the Manchurian campaign and knew what it took to win a battle and the mentality needed to fight.