24 Chapter 2Hundreds of Koreans, passing through Rus sian schools, seminaries, etc.,
are being wholly transformed into Rus sian citizens. They work in Rus sian
firms and as teachers in public schools. They are also met with in vari-
ous kinds of Government institutions in the capacity of clerks and minor
officials. It is worthy of note that the Koreans who migrate with their
families into the Rus sian colonies show great partiality for Rus sian
schools.... The Koreans are distinguished by their efforts, as far as their
means allow, to live in Rus sian style and generally strive to resemble
Eu r o pe ans. Not one of the nationalities alien to us in the Amur region
shows so sincere a disposition to Rus sia as do the Koreans, and in every
case, with their aims and sympathies, they are far more competent to
become Rus sians than even the German colonists in the south of Rus sia
and the Volga governments.^75In the first excerpt, the urban, Russified Koreans requested the same rights
to become tsarist subjects as others. They were willing to serve in the Rus sian
Army to prove their allegiance(s) to Rus sia and the tsar. Their principal strat-
egy was to disprove the ste reo types by diligence and hard work. In the second
excerpt, I. Bournakoff gave a variety of examples of Russified Koreans
in everyday life in the RFE. Koreans have convinced the writer that, of all the
immigrant groups, they are the best candidates to become tsarist subjects.
However, Bournakoff left out one very impor tant factor that moti-
vated Koreans to become such ardent tsarist subjects— Japan’s colonization
of K orea in 1910. After colonization, the Japa nese language became the only
official language of Korea. Colonial policy consisted of Japanization and de-
Koreanization. Koreans were to take Japa nese names and pledge total alle-
giance to the Japa nese emperor. Japa nese colonial rule also dispossessed
Korean peasants of their land for failure to produce Western land deeds;
these properties were then transferred to Japa nese and Korean corporations
and Japa n ese colonists. Re sis tance was met with extreme brutality. Many
Korean partisans, nationalists, and in de pen dence groups were brutally sup-
pressed in Korea.^76
Despite the praise bestowed by Bournakoff, assimilation and identity
(in the case of the Koreans) functioned in a symbiotic relationship. The de-
gree of assimilation or identification as Rus sian subjects depended on one’s
own ability to assimilate Rus sian values and reciprocally, the openness of the
society to accept this person. As the Koreans found out, sometimes there
would be no negotiation, but rather exclusion and work quotas.^77 Still, they
continued to assimilate (on their part) by conversion (Orthodoxy) and by
learning Rus sian and Rus sian mores. A fter the Russo- Japanese War, the