Burnt by the Sun. The Koreans of the Russian Far East - Jon K. Chang

Intervention 45

ported their request for territorial autonomy and sent it on to the Central
Committee (CC) for further debate. However, two things occurred: the
CC found a barrier to the granting of a Korean national region due to issues
of citizenship (sizeable portions of the Koreans were not yet Soviet citizens)
and the naturalization of Koreans.^57 Thus, the issue of autonomy was “de-
ferred until an indeterminable future.” One of the lingering issues seemed
to have been a fear of Japan using the Koreans as a means to return and re-
occupy the RFE ( after 1922). However, the Entente Powers were able to
enter Rus sia and the RFE in 1918 because of Soviet regime collapse and not
as a result of “reverse piedmonts” among the diaspora nationalities.
By 1920–1922, the Korean section of the Comintern had already de-
veloped a formidably sized core of young, Russified “new Soviet men.” These
included Afanasii Kim, who was part of the Irkutsk faction, Matvei Kim, O
Ha Muk, A. A. Min, Pak Chin Sun (Ilia- Russian name), Pak Ae/Ai (the
Gubrevkom Korean section head), Khan Myon She, In Kim (the Korean
repre s en tat ion of the 5th Congress of the Comintern), and many others.^58
Socialism found loyal adherents among Koreans due to issues of class and
anti- imperialism/colonialism. In the sections that follow, I shall examine in
greater depth the identities and the lives of several Soviet Korean leaders.
Much like Lenin, Trotsky, Zinoviev, and others, the Korean socialists viewed
themselves as Bolsheviks and as “internationalists” of Korean descent whose
primary allegiance was to the CP and the Soviet Union.

THREE KOREAN “INTERNATIONALISTS” EMERGE

Several Soviet Koreans stood out during the Intervention (1918–1922).

Here, I shall discuss the lives of three Koreans who rose to prominence as

Bolsheviks during the Intervention: Aleksandra Petrovna Kim, Khan Chan

Gol, and Afanasii Arsenevich Kim. Chapter 5 will profile Andrei Khan, the

fourth “internationalist” who rose to prominence during the Intervention and

for a short time was the leading voice among Soviet Koreans in the Korean

Bureau of the Comintern. The following quote from The Politics of Korean

Nationalism describes how many Soviet Koreans saw their primary po liti cal

identity as Bolshevik and/or “internationalist”: “Some Koreans in Siberia

were more Rus sianized than others; some were second- or third- generation

residents.... Some regarded themselves either as Rus sians or as members

of the International Communist movement rather than as mere nationals of

a par tic u lar country.”^59 This is the definition of “internationalist”— that is,

socialists who defined themselves by their po liti cal beliefs and who were

willing to take socialism to any border, country, or people. We begin with