118 Chapter 6of traditional Rus sian culture had already begun. The ‘Friendship of the
Peoples’ trope ( after 1934) did allow for one form of militancy, that directed
against foreign enemies.”^30
The termination of most latinization efforts by 1934 was replaced by a
formal retrenchment around the Rus sian language, people, and culture.^31
During latinization, two ele ments occurred that would resurface time and
again until the Koreans were deported. First, Li Kvar’s own published rea-
sons for the latinization of the Korean language were characteristic of
“ Great Rus sian chauvinism.” Yet, he publicly called the Korean language
“an awful orthography” and “undeveloped” in Sonbong. These statements
could have labeled Li Kvar as “anti-Party”— that is, against the CP and a
chauvinist. In addition, Li Kvar, Bulatnikov, Nikolai Pak, and others all
referred to Chinese characters as mere “hieroglyphs,” which inherently de-
fined this writing system as primitive. Korean used around two thousand
Chinese characters in its writing system. Krasnoe znamia also published an
article during the Korean and Chinese latinization campaigns in August
1931 entitled “Chinese Hieroglyphs: An Appalling Anachronism.”^32
Ieoroglify— that is, “hieroglyphs”—is in fact the Rus sian word for Chinese
characters and is loaded with preconceived bias and the idea of primitive-
ness. A better name for Chinese characters would have been “ideogram,” as
they are composed of signifiers that work together to create a new word,
meaning, or idea.^33
Second, the public dispute between Korean academicians and intel-
lectuals resulted in threats of repression or silencing one another. Fi nally, it
is worth noting that the local latinization campaign for the Korean language
attracted far greater attention than the all- union latinization campaign led
by Soviet leaders in the centers of Moscow and St. Petersburg for all of the
vari ous national languages. This helps to explain why indigenization was
understood and internalized as a program to construct and further enhance
one’s nationality and community (in this case, Korean) rather than the con-
struction of a greater, unifiying, non- national identity of “Homo Sovieticus.”
The battles among Nikolai Pak, Li Kvar, Nakson Kim, O Chang Hwan,
and o thers were regarded as “front- page” news for the Koreans and were
recounted down to the smallest details from 1928 to 1934, and perhaps be-
yond, in both Krasnoe znamia and Avangard (Sonbong). Koreans paid much
less attention to the all- union latinization campaigns because they did not
affect their nationality and national language. Thus, their leaders and intel-
lectuals w ere given pre ce dence and a far greater focus. This was also rein-
forced by the nature of korenizatsiia itself, which defined and rewarded So-
viet citizens based on their national— that is, ethnic— characteristics. It also