Koreans Becoming a Soviet People 95example of Sovietization).^65 The aforementioned factors solidified the iden-
tification of the Soviet Koreans with their state. In this section, we shall see
how Korean collective farms and fishing artels became a hotbed for world
revolution, internationalism, and anti- Japanese imperialism.
On October 11, 1923, the first trial of a Korean for espionage ended in
a guilty verdict. Chan Kuk San was found to have spied for the Japa nese
during the Intervention. He worked for the Japa nese authorities in the RFE
for three years and was paid seventy- three rubles per month. He was a mar-
ket trader in the cities of Nikolsk- Ussuriisk and Khabarovsk who reported
to the Japa nese military staff the movements and activities of the Rus sian
Army and partisans in the cities. At San’s sentencing, it was stated: “He will
not be shot, but will receive a jail term of ten years. We are showing him
amnesty through a ten- year sentence in isolation, and all of his properties
will be confiscated.”^66 It should be noted that Japa nese forces in fact were
the co- rulers of the RFE from 1918 to 1922. They carried out any and all
geopo l itic al and espionage operations during this time, infiltrating every
population segment in the RFE.
In January 1924, the Korean youth were the first to take advantage of
the benefits by joining the vari ous communist cells and participating in re-
cruiting others to the Bolshevik cause. The vari ous nationalities also began
to participate jointly in socialist campaigns. Rus sians and Korean commu-
nists from vari ous cells united in Nikolsk- Ussuriisk to teach politics (po liti-
cal literacy) and the Rus sian alphabet to a wide stratum of Koreans peasants
and farmers. In Nikolsk- Ussuriisk, five Korean cells (rural areas) were
maintained along with five Korean Red “clubs” in the city. This work was
paid for by the agricultural collectives (Korean) through a tax campaign.
The tax campaign collected 90 percent of its target.^67 The vari ous cells
worked together to teach Koreans po liti cal literacy as well as the Rus sian
alphabet in order to eradicate illiteracy. The tutors for the Korean Komso-
moltsy were Rus sians of the RKSM from the city of Komosomolskoe Ro-
zhdestvo.^68 A survey found that among the Soviet youth organ izations in
the Primore, 71 percent were Rus sian, 27 percent Korean, 1 percent Chi-
nese, plus fifteen total Giliaks (Siberian natives). Among the Chinese,
there was only one youth cell and one group of Pioneers.^69 Of the nation-
alities listed, only the Koreans and Rus sians had developed significant
Komsomoltsy (Young Communists) that were proportional to their popu-
lation size.
In 1924, at a guberniia (regional) Korean Section meeting, Chair-
man Nikolai Kigai and Secretary Lavrentii Kan stated: “Korean cells among
the Pioneers and youth are doing very well. In the Vladivostok uezd [ad-
ministrative area], we have unofficially 31 branches of Pioneers and 605