Son Won-il

Korean spelling
Hangeul	손원일
Hanja	孫 元 一
Revised Romanization	Son Wonil
McCune- Reischauer	Son Wŏnil
See also : Korean name

Son Won-il (born May 5, 1909 in Namp'o ; † February 15, 1980 ) was a South Korean politician and Vice Admiral . He is considered the founder of the naval forces of South Korea and was temporarily the country's defense minister .

Career

Son Won-il graduated from a Chinese university in navigation and continued his studies in Germany with the help of a Chinese scholarship . After the liberation of Korea from the Japanese occupation forces on August 15, 1945, the Association for Maritime Affairs ( English Maritime Affairs Association ) was founded under his leadership , which was converted into the Marine Defense Group on November 11, 1945 . Shortly thereafter, it was converted again to the Korean Coast Guard, before the Coast Guard was officially renamed the Republic of Korea Navy on August 15, 1948 . Son Won-il became the first Chief of Naval Operations on September 5, 1948 and has since been considered the "founder" of the South Korean naval force. He held the post until 1952, when he retired as Vice Admiral . From 1952 to 1956 he was Minister of Defense and from 1957 to 1960 he was the first South Korean ambassador to Germany . Several positions in the private sector and politics followed.

In his honor, the South Korean Navy named the entire submarine class 214 after his name, as did the first submarine of this class, which entered active service on December 27, 2007.

Web links

• Biography on the side of the Navy

predecessor	Office	successor
	5th Minister of Defense of the Republic of Korea 1953-1956

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Son is the family name here, Won-il is the first name.