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

Korean Korenizatsiia and Its Socialist Construction 67

was in favor of the complete enfranchisement of Koreans as citizens and

their recruitment for state farms because they were productive and, simply

put, they worked in areas and cleared land where no one else wanted to go.

The old ways will not soon be eliminated. Many people still now view the

Koreans [as an object for] exploitation; as a workforce to advantageously

exploit.... The future economic development of the region would be

unthinkable without the active participation of the Koreans. We cannot

continue the Russification policies of tsarism as if [they were] natu ral. But

we can and should Sovietize the Koreans, creating for them the necessary

conditions [of Soviet life].... In the faraway places of the region, where the

Rus sian settlers are absolutely helpless, where the economy cannot depend

on renting out land and only the techniques of harvesting crops and rice

[are suitable], there the Koreans are irreplaceable.

Fi nally, Anosov took a last jab at the local Soviet leadership, stating that
“The antagonism [through exploitation] needs to be eliminated,” and that by
not deciding the Korean Question the Dalkrai Executive Committee was
producing “an unclear and imprecise future for socialist building in the re-
gion.”^71 Besides the promotion of minority rights and education, korenizatsiia
created an openness that allowed citizens and intellectuals to vent, criticize,
and openly challenge their officials (from approximately 1925 through
1934). Anosov clearly took advantage of this win dow of opportunity.

The year 1928 began with a full- scale recruitment of Koreans for voluntary
(and sometimes involuntary) resettlement to Kazakhstan. This was followed
by the recruitment and transferral of demobilized Red Army settlers from
the western and central regions of the Soviet Union to the RFE in 1930.
Together the two actions provided strong evidence that Rus sians were al-
ready the primus inter pares. In 1928, the plan was to resettle three hundred
Koreans who would receive land grants in Kazakhstan. Soviet authorities
planned to send 1,700 more in the next three years.^72 In July 1928, a state
plan revealed an intention to resettle 47,000 Koreans over several years in the
Khabarovsk region. It stated that there was not enough land in the Primore.
In 1930, 1,342 Koreans were relocated to the Khabarovsk region and Cen-
tral Asia. Of these 1,342,431 were resettled involuntarily.^73 The stated goal
for the relocations was to give Koreans opportunities for land owner ship.
Each family was to receive 700 rubles and a minimum of three hectares of
land.^74 Jews, Terek- Cossacks, and Don Cossacks were also resettled (some by
force) during the 1920s. Over 10,000 Don Cossacks were deported from the
Don and nearby regions for fighting against the Red Army as anti- Bolshevik