House of Kim

House of Kim
Royal house
Parent family	Donghae Kim Clan
Country	Menghe
Founded	November 4, 1867 (1867-11-04)
Founder	Kim Ryung-sŏng
Final ruler	Kim Myŏng-hwan
Titles	Emperor of Menghe
Style(s)	His Imperial Majesty

The House of Kim, also known as the Kim dynasty, was the royal family that ruled part or all of Menghe between 1867 and 1945, spanning just under 80 years but covering three systems of government.

The Kim dynasty first came to power under Kim Ryung-sŏng, the leading military commander of the Donghae region, who launched a rebellion against the Myŏn dynasty in 1865 and had himself crowned Emperor in 1867 after taking the historical capital city of Junggyŏng. The Treaty of Junggyŏng, signed on 2 August 1901, established the Federative Republic of Menghe but preserved a ceremonial role for the Menghean monarch, then Kim Dae-wŏn. In 1927, Kwon Chong-hoon seized power in a military coup under the pretense of restoring the Kim dynasty to direct power, establishing the Greater Menghean Empire. Kim Myŏng-hwan, the last reigning Kim monarch, forced Kwon out of power in 1937 and led Menghe more directly than his predecessor.

Kim Myŏng-hwan committed suicide following Menghe's surrender in the Pan-Septentrion War. In recognition of the defeat, none of his children were formally crowned Emperor, though Crown Prince Kim Yŏng-sŏk oversaw the surrender process as prince regent. Members of the House of Kim were purged from political office under the Allied occupation, and both the Republic of Menghe and the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe forbade members of the House of Kim from holding any kind of political office. As a consequence of the Sangwŏn Agreement, however, this restriction did not apply to the Menghean People's Army, which trained several Kim descendants as military officers.

Today, under the Socialist Republic of Menghe, members of the House of Kim no longer face additional surveillance or restrictions on serving in political office, but they also lack official recognition as a ruling monarchy. Some have gained influence as minor celebrities, but most have sought to avoid gaining excessive publicity.

History

Kim Ryung-sŏng (1867-1882)

Kim Ryung-sŏng, born 14 May 1811, was a military commander in the late years of the Myŏn dynasty. In 1858, he was appointed Chief Commander of the Donghae Region, giving him control over troops and warships all along the eastern coast of the country. A veteran of the Brothel War against Sylva, he harbored strong anti-Western feelings, and urged the Myŏn rulers to expel foreigners from the country and tax the merchant and scholar classes more heavily in order to support a larger and more disciplined military.

In 1865, Kim Ryung-sŏng launched an armed rebellion against the Myŏn dynasty, quickly seizing major cities across the Central Donghae region with the help of his loyal subordinate commanders. In 1867, Kim's forces broke into the Meng River basin and swept rapidly inland. The Imperial capital at Junggyŏng fell on 24 October 1867, with the last Myŏn emperor committing suicide in the palace garden and most of his surviving family put to death. On 4 November of that year, Kim Ryung-sŏng proclaimed the formation of the Sinyi (or "New Yi") Dynasty, a reference to the Yi dynasty, Menghe's golden age. He also crowned himself Emperor, adopting the era name Gwangmu (광무 / 光武), or "Brilliant Warrior."

Sinyi forces rapidly fanned out through the northeastern third of the country, but they failed to push far into the Chŏllo plain, which was held by the Namyang Government. This marked the beginning of the Three States Period, with the Kim dynasty ruling the State of Sinyi.

Kim Ryung-sŏng entered power as a staunch traditionalist, and at the beginning of his reign he categorically opposed all things Western, even instructing his servants to systematically smash all the Western-style clocks which Myŏn emperors had received as gifts and installed in the Vermillion Palace. He also disapproved of the use of gunpowder weapons in the armed forces, believing that swords, spears, and arrows encouraged a greater degree of bravery and heroism. Yet after the Western-equipped Rebel-Suppressing Army of the Namyang Government repeatedly gained ground in the 1870s, Kim Ryung-sŏng relented, authorizing the construction of a railroad in 1875 and permitting his commanders to raise a larger number of Western-equipped troops. He died in his sleep in 1882, at the age of 71.

Kim Hyŏn-sik (1882-1897)

Kim Hyŏn-sik, born 9 April 1841, was the second of Kim Ryung-sŏng's sons and his favorite for the throne. At the age of 25, he was appointed to command a detachment of troops in his father's breakthrough campaign toward the west, and established a reputation as a diligent commander. He subsequently led Sinyi forces in several skirmishes against the Namyang Rebel-Suppressing Army in the early 1870s.

Compared to his father, Kim Hyŏn-sik took a more pragmatic attitude toward Westernization, believing from his own battlefield experience that the Sinyi dynasty could not win if it insisted on using traditional military equipment. He was among the major court advocates for the Junggyŏng-Kimsŏng railroad approved in 1875, and the leading advocate for Western modernization of the troops. Some historians credit him with shifting his father's attitude in the early 1870s.

After inheriting the throne in 1882, Kim Hyŏn-sik, crowning himself the Sunchi Emperor, launched an even more rapid program of political and economic modernization. In 1884 he moved the capital city from Junggyŏng to Kimsŏng, which he renamed Donggyŏng, or "Eastern Capital." Junggyŏng, located near the center of the Upper Meng River Basin, had long symbolized the center of the country; Donggyŏng, a port city facing Dayashina, symbolized a more open and outward-looking attitude. In 1885, Kim Hyŏn-sik personally approved a new style of Western-inspired military uniform for new Sinyi forces, which would be raised by universal two-year rather than ad-hoc indefinite conscription, and from 1887 onward he wore a Western-style uniform when attending to all but the most ceremonial court affairs. In 1886 he instituted universal primary education, much of it among nationalist lines.

Kim Hyŏn-sik's health began to worsen the early 1890s, and in 1896 he was often absent from court meetings. On 28 October 1897, he finally succumbed to tuberculosis. This news, coming just two months after the Sinyi navy's decisive defeat at the Battle of Baksallam Bay and just nine days after Sinyi forces aborted a failed offensive toward Sangha, delivered a serious blow to Sinyi morale.

Kim Dae-wŏn (1897-1933)

Kim Dae-wŏn was Kim Hyŏn-sik's fifth son, and also his most politically inexperienced. Compared to his two predecessors, Kim Dae-wŏn had no battlefield experience, and had mostly stayed out of politics during his time as a prince. Most historians regard his succession as the work of entrenched officials and regional notables, who wanted to prevent a more radical reformer from ascending to the throne and continuing the disruption of the Sunchi Emperor's Westernizing reforms.

Adopting the reign name Hongchang when he ascended to the throne in 1897, Kim Dae-wŏn soon confirmed his reputation as a poor leader. He meddled in the Sinyi Imperial Army's chain of command for the remaining two years of the war with Namyang, contributing to the collpapse of Sinyi forces, the fall of Hwasŏng and Sapo, and the arrival of General Im Dong-yŏn's troops at the southern gates of Junggyŏng. Concerned about the risk of a military mutiny, the symbolic significance of losing the former capital, and rumored plans of a Dayashinese intervention, Sinyi court officials convinced Kim Dae-wŏn to accept a ceasefire which would set the country on track for reunification under the Namyang Government. Kim Dae-wŏn agreed, and on 8 July 1899, a Sinyi delegation arrived in Junggyŏng to sign the ceasefire.

Two years later, on 2 August 1901, Kim Dae-wŏn signed the Treaty of Junggyŏng, which formally merged Namyang and Sinyi possessions into the Federative Republic of Menghe. Under the treaty's power-sharing terms, the office of Emperor of Menghe would still exist, but its powers would be purely symbolic and ceremonial, with all actual political authority vested in a Prime Minister. Kim Dae-wŏn, still disintered in politics and smarting from the stress and humiliation of leading a losing country, happily agreed to these terms, as did his court advisors, who preferred to leave power in the hands of a post they could contest directly. In recognition of the momentous treaty, Kim Dae-wŏn changed his reign name to Yŏngtong, or "Eternal Unification." In a further rebuke of the monarchy, the Federal calendar counted years in the post-1901 era not as "Year of Yŏngtong," but as "Year of Gonghwa," i.e., of the Republic. This practice persists to the present day.

For his long reign under the Federative Republic, Kim Dae-wŏn was content to remain out of politics, even trying to send substitutes when called forward to officiate over important state ceremonies. With the Prime Minister of Menghe now taking up official residence in the Donggwangsan palace complex, Kim Dae-wŏn relocated the imperial household back to the Summer Palace in Junggyŏng, where his lavish banquets and parties became a frequent topic of lurid rumor and an occasional topic of media criticism. In time, he came to symbolize the corruption and lax discipline of the Federal Republic era.

Kim Myŏng-hwan (1927-1945)

On 18 February 1927, a squadron of ships of the Menghean Federal Navy sailed up the Kimhae Sea off the coast of Donggyŏng and fired a salvo of blank artillery rounds over the city. This marked the signal for two brigades of Menghean marines, deployed into the city the night before, to storm the Parliament building and the Donggwangsan palace. Aboard the lead ship was Fleet Admiral Kwon Chong-hoon, along with the young Prince Kim Myŏng-hwan. Army conspirators in Junggyŏng surrounded the Summer Palace the same day, and invoked a clause of the 1904 Constitution which permitted a sitting Emperor to abdicate the throne if he judged that he was no longer fit of body and mind. According to some reports, the Army troops in Junggyŏng were prepared to shoot, but the Yŏngtong Emperor abdicated without resistance. As soon as this information was confirmed via telegram, Kwon Chong-hoon had Kim Myŏng-hwan crowned Emperor in Donggyŏng, with the reign name Donghyi or "Eastern Light."

At the time of this coup, Kim Myŏng-hwan was just 23 years old, and not even eligible to vote in the Federative Republic's elections. He was among the youngest of Kim Dae-wŏn's adult sons, and also among the least publicly known, having entered the Federal Army in 1921 and trained as a Navy officer. Kwon regarded him as both old enough to look the part of a ruler, and young enough to be easy to control. The Imperial Charter, promulgated in the evening of 18 February 1927 but drafted by Kwon and his co-conspirators beforehand, gave supreme political power to the Emperor, but established a Council of Ministers led by a Premier to advise the Emperor and implement his directives. In return for his early enthronement, Kim Myŏng-hwan appointed Kwon as Premier, and approved Kwon's string of ministerial appointments. By midnight, the newly-formed Greater Menghean Empire had become a one-man dictatorship with Kwon Chong-hoon at the helm and Kim Myŏng-hwan as the royal figurehead.

For the first several years after the coup, Kim Myŏng-hwan was largely content with this arrangement, making speeches and public appearances as Menghe's prestigious head of state but otherwise allowing Kwon to make all important political decisions. In time, however, Kwon's ambitions grew beyond Menghe itself. On 7 December 1932, at Kwon's orders, a Menghean expeditionary force entered Dzhungestan to expel Themiclesian troops and restore Batzorig Khan to power, the first Menghean involvement in the Pan-Septentrion War. Kim Myŏng-hwan publicly endorsed the war, but privately criticized Kwon's decision to pursue the retreating enemy into Themiclesian territory. On 7 May 1935, Kwon escalated hostilities further by declaring war on Sylva and attacking Altagracia and Innominada. This drew an even stronger rebuke from Kim Myŏng-hwan, who accused Kwon of behaving erratically and risking a sustained war with a coalition of stronger Western powers.

The final straw came on 23 September 1937, when Kwon Chong-hoon ordered Menghean troops to cross into the neighboring Sultanate of Nersia to repel the Maverican invasion force that had entered it earlier that year. This move provoked the Maverican Confederation to declare a full-scale war against Menghe four days later on the 27th. Criticizing this move as a reckless escalation, Kim Myŏng-hwan finally intervened on 3 October, invoking his power under the Imperial Charter to dismiss Kwon from office. In doing so, he was backed by a small cadre of other top Army and Navy officers, who also felt that Kwon's behavior had become erratic and reckless. The deposed Premier was shipped to his family residence in Jangryŏng Province and placed under house arrest; in 1938, he died under suspicious circumstances.

Though he came into direct power to oppose Kwon's erratic warmongering, Kim Myŏng-hwan did not seek peace with Maverica, and on 10 June 1938 he escalated even further by joining Dayashina in its war against Anglia and Lechernt. Kim Myŏng-hwan signed off on all high-level political decisions, but delegated most military decision-making to his general staff, and delegated the finer points of domestic policy to a succession of increasingly short-serving Premiers. His final act came on 13 November 1945, when he ordered the Council of Ministers to offer an unconditional ceasefire agreement to the Allied powers. After receiving confirmation that the Allies had accepted the ceasefire, Kim Myŏng-hwan committed suicide at 1:32 AM on 15 November. In symbolic recognition of the finality of Menghe's defeat, he appointed no successor; instead, Premier Gu Hyo-sŏng served as regent overseeing the surrender process and the handover of Menghe's administrative organs to the Occupation Authority.

List of Kim monarchs

Personal name	Era name	Portrait	Lifespan	Period of reign
Kim Ryung-sŏng 킴륭성 金隆成	Gwangmu 광무 光武		1811-1882 71 years	1867-1882 15 years
Kim Hyŏn-sik 킴형식 金賢植	Sunchi 순치 順治		1841-1897 56 years	1882-1897 15 years
Kim Dae-wŏn 킴대원 金大源	1897-1901: Hongchang 홍창 洪昌 1901-1933: Yŏngtong 영통 永統		1869-1942 73 years	1897-1927 30 years
Kim Myŏng-hwan 킴명환 金明桓	Donghyi 동희 東熙		1903-1945 42 years	1927-1945 18 years