Koreans Becoming a Soviet People 109from October 12 to November 20, 1929.^124 Also during the Sino- Soviet
conflict, V. A. Kislitsin, a former Whites’ general, with the help of Japa nese
funding and arms, formed a regiment of Rus sians to fight against the
Soviets.^125 The Rus sian threat (reverse piedmonts) and the trope of Rus sians
as marionettes of the Japa nese Empire were vastly underdeveloped until the
Great Terror and the repression of those from Harbin (Kharbintsy).
In August 1929, Krasnoe znamia called for a stepped-up battle against
kulaks (rich peasants) in the Rus sian Far East and on Korean collective
farms. In “The Poor Defend the Victory,” which appeared on August 21, it
stated, “15 percent of the members of the agricultural Soviet [collectives]
are kulaks. In the Revision Committee, it was found that even 50 percent
were kulaks.” 126 The article clearly identified a 15 percent quota for kulaks,
implying that 15 percent was light compared to 50 percent. It proceeded to
name Korean kulaks and one priest who had already been unmasked in three
Korean kolkhozes in the Primore. This was followed by Afanasii Kim’s Au-
gust 27, 1929 article. In “A Rebuttal in the Strug gle against Opportunism,”
Kim wrote that the purge of Korean communists in 1929 required a deeper
look. He stated: “In the first place, Korean Party activism is not unique.
Fig u re 7. (Left) Pen Khva Kim (typically known as Kim Pen Khva) in Red Army uniform,
Kazan, Rus sia, around 1932. (Right) Kim as chairman of the Polar Star collective followed
by an assistant in Uzbekistan in late 1950s. Courtesy of Kim Pen Khva Museum and Emilia
Ten, Director.