Won Hong-gu or Won Hong Koo (, 8 April 1888 - 3 October 1970) was an ornithologist, professor and a member of the Supreme People's Assembly (parliament) in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). He was the first to establish the names of local birds in the Korean language and to publish a major ornithological monograph for the region. He was also a specialist on small mammals. He was separated from his children during the liberation of Korea from Japanese rule and its separation. Unknown to him, due to the political barriers between South and North Korea, his son Won Pyong-oh also became an eminent ornithologist in South Korea. The two learned of each other's existence after the war through a migrating starling that had been ringed by the son and recovered by the father. Biography Hong-gu was born in Pusan, North Saksu, and graduated from Suwon Agricultural high school in 1910. He went to Japan where he studied at the Kagoshima Agriculture University for eleven years. In 1920 he became a teacher of natural science and biology at Songdo Gobo in Gaeseong. He studied birds extensively from 1929 to 1941 across Korea and published numerous papers. In 1940 he was a principal of Dukcheon Public Agricultural School in Pyeongnamand and later at the Kangseo Agricultural School. When the liberation from Japanese occupation began he and his wife decided to flee. A daughter lived in the American controlled southern zone while three sons lived in the Soviet-controlled northern zone including the youngest Won Pyong-oh who was studying. A second son Hin who was studying small mammals in Mongolia was shot dead in August 1945 by the Chinese Army who mistook him for a Japanese operative. In 1946 Won and his wife moved to Pyongyang where he became head of the biology department at the newly founded Kim Il Sung University. He was not treated favourably due to the fact that his sons had "fled" to South Korea. A former student of his, Jong Jun-thaek, however became Vice Premier of the North Korean state and helped in protecting the reputation of his teacher and advancing his career. In 1962, the North Korean Academy of Sciences was founded and Won Hong-Gu was appointed Director of the Zoological Institute of the Academy. He then transferred the specimens in his personal collection to the institute although many had been damaged. With the