Koh Se-kai

Koh Se-kai (; born July 7, 1934) is a Taiwanese historian, politician, and diplomat. He was a major leader of the Taiwan independence movement. In 2004, Koh was appointed to be the Republic of China’s top representative to Japan. By June 2008, Koh had retired.

Early life

Family Koh was born in Changhua City, Japanese Taiwan. His grandfather, Koh Chia-chung, was a member of the Taiwanese Cultural Association who was arrested and persecuted by Japanese authorities in 1923. His father, Koh Nai-pang, was a prominent lawyer who graduated from the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University and from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo. His mother, Hung Chin-chueh, was a physician who graduated from Tokyo Women's Medical College and practiced medicine in Caotun, Nantou, after returning to Taiwan. Koh Se-kai's uncle was Koh Nai-chang, a well-known left-wing political activist who studied at Moscow Sun Yat-sen University.

Education After attending the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University, Koh graduated from National Taiwan University with a B.A. in political science in 1957. He then was awarded a scholarship in 1959 by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture to pursue graduate studies in Japan. He earned a master's degree in political science from Waseda University in 1962 and a Ph.D. in law from the University of Tokyo in 1968.