Ministry reviews revoking independence medal awarded to 'emperor of Chinese cinema' Kim Deok-rin

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said it will reinvestigate and review whether to revoke a founding merit decoration it awarded to the late Kim Deok-rin this Liberation Day, after allegations emerged that he had participated in entertainment activities for North Korean troops during the Korean War.

A ministry official said Tuesday that Kim's reported participation in a "Resist America, Aid Korea" troop entertainment delegation in October 1952, during the Korean War, "was not discussed during the merit investigation and verification process."

The official added that the ministry "plans to conduct a reinvestigation into Kim Deok-rin's activities and then refer the matter to the Merit Review Committee for deliberation on whether to revoke the decoration."

The ministry said it had broadly reviewed Kim's independence movement record and activities, drawing on not only its own archives but also primary source materials from related institutions — including the National Archives of Korea, the National Institute of Korean History, the Independence Hall of Korea, the National Assembly Library and the National Library of Korea — but had not uncovered the flaw in question.

In a press release on Aug. 13, the ministry described Kim, known by the stage name Kim Yeom, as a nephew-in-law of Kim Kyu-sik, foreign minister of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and said he was celebrated in China as the "emperor of cinema." The ministry said the award would allow Korea's independence movement history to be "illuminated more fully by honoring a cultural figure who had not received proper recognition."