158 Chapter 7dated August 1939 stated that the ratio of Soviet to Japa nese citizens among
common laborers on the North Sakhalin concessions was 75 to 25. At the
time, t here were 700 Japa nese citizens working in North Sakhalin.^44 Given
the aforementioned facts, it is likely that some Soviet Koreans worked on the
North Sakhalin concessions ( after 1937) because one, some Koreans re-
mained in North Sakhalin, and two, they were continually viewed by some
as a colonizing ele ment rather than a Soviet nationality.
Raisa Nigai’s deportation was surely uncommon. She was not deported
until November– December 1937 and arrived in Kazakhstan to be welcomed
by Raikom cadres at the train station. She and her brother, Nikolai Nigai
(an NKVD agent), moved into a nice large home and spent their first year
with plenty of food, shelter, and all the comforts of Soviet cadre life. Raisa
in all likelihood had been forewarned by her brother that the Koreans would
be deported sometime in 1937. She left the Nikolsk- Ussuriisk Institute
around February 1937, three to four months prior to graduating. She was
receiving a healthy stipend, which covered tuition, room and board, and
from 30 to 50 rubles per month.^45 She returned to Shkotovo (near Vladivo-
stok) and began working in a store. As indicated earlier, her family was a
well- co nnected Soviet Korean cadre family. Raisa’s grand father, Ivan Iva-
novich, was chairman of the Lower Adimee Village on the Korean border.^46
Her brother Nikolai began working for the NKVD in 1928.^47 Raisa stated
that she continued to attend conferences and meetings related to the Korean
nationality and women’s issues throughout 1937. A question that persisted
was “Why did she leave the university when almost every thing was being
paid for and she was still interested in academic life?” She said that she left
due to insufficient funds. Her photos (Figure 12) indicate that “insufficient
funds” was not the likely reason. There are several very fash ion able pictures
that Ms. Nigai took with her friends in August 1937 in diff er ent attire
(winter and summer clothing) and some taken in late October– early No-
vember 1937. It seems more probable that she was forewarned by her brother
Nikolai that the Koreans faced impending deportation, and so she with-
drew from the university. The Korean deportation formally concluded on
November 3, 1937, although pockets of remote Koreans and Korean vil-
lages remained (e.g., Okhotsk near Magadan). Nikolai finished his work
helping to deport Koreans and then faced his own exile. Khan Chan Gol
helped repress the Korean cells in collective farms around Vladivostok ok-
rug. He met a worse fate than Nigai. Thus, Khisamutdinov was correct
when he stated that the Korean and Chinese sections of the NKVD took
part in repressing their own.^48 However, this also underscores the Koreans’
loyalty.