Koreans Becoming a Soviet People 105Arsenev’s recommendation, then, was to resettle the Chinese and Ko-
reans b ecause he saw both groups, in representing economic and po liti cal
threats, as “alien to Soviet internationalism”— although he also rejected in-
ternationalism. He revived the supposed threat of the “yellow peril,” stating:
“Our colonization is a type of weak wedge on the edge of the primordial
land of the yellow peoples. On our borders looms over us one- third of the
world’s population totalling 600 million of the yellow races.”^108
Yet the crux of Arsenev’s argument targeted race and the supposed
immutable qualities of East Asians. He recommended that the Dalkrai
leadership resettle or deport Soviet Chinese and Koreans (without regard to
their social class) in order to defend the country; yet they were the epitome
of the proletariat and the peasantry. He also relapsed into a tsarist- like dis-
course while employing old tropes and the “zero- sum” mentality of “Rus sian
resources for Rus sians” to order to gain support. This “white paper” is one of
the clearest examples of a Soviet primordialist view about the Soviet Kore-
ans and whether or not they could be assimilated into the Soviet state.
It is unclear on which exact date Arsenev gave his report (the “Doklad”)
except that it took place in 1928. However, on November 19, 1928, the
Dalkrai Bureau was convened in order to decide and issue resolutions on
several issues, one of which was “The Question of the Resettlement of the
Korean Population.” This resolution gives us a fairly accurate view of who may
have been in attendance for Arsenev’s report. This “question” was separate
from Arsenev’s report and touched upon partial Korean resettlement/de-
portation and not “total” deportation. On November 19, 1928, two Koreans
were in attendance as members or candidate members of the Dalkrai Bureau,
Afanasii A. Kim and Pak- Ai. The complete list of names is as follows:
Dalkrai Bureau, November 19, 1928
In Attendance: Members of the Dalkrai Bureau— Perpechko,
Trofimov, Abramovich, Vinogradova, Chutskaev, Izmailov,
Khakhanian
Candidate Members of Dalkrai Bureau— Samsonov, Plakunov,
Flerontov, Ivanov, Kuznetsov, Maslennikov, Loktev, Pak Ae/Ai,
Mamonov
Members of Revolutionary Commission— Lideman
Members of Dalkraikom— Smorodin, Khoroshilov
Members [in Attendance] Separated according to Issue [Handled]—
Kolokolov, Alekseeva, Zizo, Poliakova, Malov, Nizhnik,
Zelnik, Boiar, Pavelev, Plaksa, Turok, Gniletskii,
Shishlchinikov, Poloznikov, Lebedev, Samsonov, Kim- Afanasii,
Simanovskii, Masloboev.^109