Koreans in the Soviet Union

154 Pages·1987·2.376 MB·English

by  University of Hawaii at Manoa

Paper 12
Koreans
in the Soviet Union
The Center for Korean Studies
was established in 1972 to coor­
dinate and develop the resources
for the study of Korea at the Uni­
versity of Hawaii. Its goals are to
enhance the quality and perfor­
mance of University faculty with
interests in Korean studies; de­
velop comprehensive and balanced
academic programs relating to Korea; stimulate research
and publications on Korea; and coordinate the resources of
the University with^those of the Hawaii community and
other institutions, organizations, and individual scholars
engaged in the study of Korea. Reflecting the diversity of
academic disciplines represented by its affiliated faculty and
staff, the Center especially seeks to further interdisciplinary
and intercultural studies.
Koreans
in the
Soviet Union
DAE-SOOK SUH
Editor
Papers of the Center for Korean Studies
No. 12
A joint publication of the Center for Korean Studies and
the Soviet Union in the Pacific-Asian Region Program of the
University of Hawaii
Copyright © 1987 by the Center for Korean Studies
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 86-72108
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Koreans in the Soviet Union.
(Occasional paper; 12)
Includes index.
1. Koreans—Soviet Union—History. 2. Koreans—
Soviet Union—Political activity. 3. Korea—History—
Autonomy and independence movements. 4. Soviet Union—
Relations—Korea. 5. Korea—Relations—Soviet Union.
I. Suh, Dae-Sook, 1931- . II. Series: Occasional
papers (University of Hawaii at Manoa. Center for
Korean Studies)
DK34.K67K67 1987 947'.004957 86-72108
ISBN 0-8248-1155-0 Paper
ISBN 0-8248-1126-7 Cloth
Printed in the United States of America
TO THE MEMORY OF
Chöng-hüi Paek

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
A Note on Transliteration xv
The Korean Movement in the Russian Maritime Province,
1905-1922 Teruyuki Hara 1
Koreans in the Soviet Far East, 1917-1937 Haruki Wada 24
Soviet Koreans and Their Culture in the USSR Youn-Cha
Shin Chey 60
Korean Minorities in Soviet Central Asia and Kazakhstan
Hidesuke Kimura 85
Soviet Koreans and North Korea Dae-Sook Suh 101
Contributors 129
Papers of the Center for Korean Studies 130
Index 131
vii

Preface
On the banks of the Amur River in Khabarovsk, a small
museum displays artifacts and relics depicting local history
and the history of the Russian Maritime Province. Among the
displays is one reflecting the role played by Koreans in Siberia
during the turbulent years of the Russian Revolution. It is a
photograph of a Korean armed contingent, and shows a group
of about eighty soldiers who had fought on the side of the Bol­
sheviks. This Korean contingent was one of many minority
groups that fought for Bolshevik victory during the Revolution.
The caption indicates that this particular group was led by a
Korean commander named Yi Yong. The photograph shows the
Korean contingent carrying both the Soviet Red Flag and the
Korean national flag, which today is the national flag of South
Korea.
It is a bit strange to see the Korean national flag together
with the Red flag, because in the divided Korea of today, North
Korea and South Korea hoist different national flags. It is parti­
cularly strange because the fervor of anticommunism is now
strong under the same South Korean banner. However, this
photograph illustrates with great accuracy the history of many
Koreans who migrated to Russia prior to the Revolution and
fought for the cause of communism in Siberia, in the hope of
eventually attaining the liberation of Korea from the Japanese.
There is a street in Khabarovsk named after a Soviet Korean,
Kim Yu Chen Street, and there are monuments in remote areas
IX
X PREFACE
of Siberia extolling the contributions of unknown and long-
forgotten Koreans in the Soviet Union.
Under closer scrutiny, the commander Yi Yong can be iden­
tified. Like many of his compatriots, Yi was one of those who
fled Korea after Japanese annexation in 1910, vowing to fight to
regain Korean independence. Unlike many of his compatriots,
however, Yi came from a prominent Korean family. Yi Yong
was a son of the famous Korean emissary Yi Chun, who was
secretly sent to the Hague Peace Conference in 1907 by King
Kojong to plead the Korean case against Japan. After graduating
from high school in Seoul, young Yi Yong was trained in the
military arts in Zhejiang Province in China before joining the
Bolsheviks in Siberia. Yi was eventually arrested and jailed by
the Japanese, but was released when Japan was defeated after
World War II. Yi Yong returned to Korea and joined the North
Korean Communist government as Minister of City Manage­
ment (1948-51), Minister of Justice (1951-53), and Minister
without Portfolio (1953-55).
This photograph represents only a smajl part of the various
activities of Koreans in the Soviet Union. Koreans have migrated
to Russia, for both economic and political reasons, ever since the
latter half of the nineteenth century, and more than half a mil­
lion of their descendants still live in the Soviet Union in a vast
region stretching from the Russian Maritime Province to Cen­
tral Asia.
This volume is an effort to study Koreans in the Soviet
Union. The five articles compiled here are selected from essays
presented at a conference on Koreans in the Soviet Union which
was sponsored by the Center for Korean Studies of the Uni­
versity of Hawaii and held in Tokyo in 1983. Because the subject
is so vast, this is but an introductory inquiry into the life and
history of Koreans in the Soviet Union. Although many of the
participants in the conference visited the Soviet Korean com­
munities in both the Russian Maritime Province and Central
Asia, this work is not a travelogue. Nor is this an ethnographic
study based on field research in the area. There are already a
number of excellent ethnographic studies by Soviet scholars
such as R. Sh. Dzharylgasinova and lu. V. Ivanova. Because each
scholar dealt with different aspects of the same subject, some