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Witch Hunt among the Guerrillas: The Min-Sheng-T'uan Incident*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Chong-Sik Lee
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Extract

One of the most notorious episodes in the history of the communist movement in Manchuria, and one that involved both the Chinese and the Korean Communists, was the so-called Min-sheng-t'uan incident of 1933–36. In today's North Korean régime, where some of the veterans of the Manchurian guerrilla activities hold positions of leadership, the incident is often cited as a prime example of incorrect handling of enemy infiltration of the revolutionary ranks. Many years after the incident Premier Kim Il-song stated: “The Japanese set up an anti-revolutionary organisation called the Minsaengdan and infiltrated its members into the revolutionary district in Chientao. The object of the scheme was, through this organisation, to estrange the Koreans from the Chinese and to incite the Koreans to fight among themselves. Temporarily deceived by the trick, [we] engaged in murders within our ranks and many innocent people were sacrificed.” Indeed, the incident had a grave impact upon the Korean Communists and eventually upon the communist movement in Manchuria as a whole.

Type
Recent Developments
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 26 , June 1966 , pp. 107 - 117
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1966

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References

1 Kim Il-song Sonjip (Selected Works of Kim Il-song) (Pyongyang: Korean Workers' Party Press, 1960), p. 351Google Scholar.

2 Ibid., from a speech delivered on December 28, 1955.

3 For a brief but comprehensive account of the aims behind the organisation of the Min-sheng-t'uan and its development see the report of the Japanese consul-general in Chientao to the Chief of the Asia Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, October 28, 1931, in the Archives of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, microfilmed for Library of Congress, Reel SP103, Document SP 205–5, pp. 7193–7202, and a report of the Asia Bureau in January, 1932, ibid., pp. 7648–7649.

4 Gunseibu, , Chosabu, Gunji (Military Investigation Section, Department of Defense, Manchukuo), Manshu kyosanhi no kenkyu (Study of Communist Insurgents in Manchuria) (1937), p. 113Google Scholar.

5 Under the puppet régime of Manchukuo, Chientao became a province.

6 Between May 1930 and April 1931, 3,168 Koreans were arrested as a result of the riots.

7 The East Manchuria Special Committee was under the guidance of the Manchurian Province Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

8 See Manshu kysanhi no kenkyu, p. 78.

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid., p. 80.

11 Ibid., p. 109.

12 Ibid.

13 Ch'un-ch'u, Yim, Hangil mujang shiki nil hoesang hayo (Recollecting the Period of Anti-Japanese Armed Struggle) (Pyongyang: Korean Workers' Party Press, 1960), p. 93Google Scholar.

14 Manshu kyosanhi no kenkyu, p. 113.

15 Yim, p. 93.

16 Komonbu, Manshukoku Gunji (Military Advisory Department, Manchukuo), Kokunai chian laisaku no kenkyu (Study of Countermeasures on Domestic Security) (1937), p. 165Google Scholar.

17 Ibid., p. 155.

18 Mansku kyosanhi no kenkyu, p. 114. It is interesting to note that Yim Ch'un-ch'u, the veteran of the partisan campaigns and the author of the most extensive history of the entire guerrilla operation in Manchuria, repeats the same example (pp. 96–97).

19 Manshu kyosanhi no kenkyu, p. 115.

20 Based on documents captured in August 1934, quoted in Manshu kyosanhi no kenkyu, p. 115.

21 Ibid., p. 116.

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid., p. 95.

24 Ibid., pp. 93–94.

25 Ibid.

26 Manshu kyosanhi no kenkyu, p. 116.

27 Manshu kyosanhi no kenkyu, p. 117.

28 Ibid.

29 Osaka Asahi Shinbun (Osaka Asahi News), January 11, 1934, quoted in Chosakai, Keizai (Economic Research Society) of the Southern Manchuria Railroad Company, Manshu kyosanto undo gaikan (General Survey of the Manchurian Communist Party Movement) (Dairen, 1935), p. 45Google Scholar.

30 Manshu kyosanhi no kenkyu, pp. 110–111.

31 For a monthly analysis of the communist and other guerrilla strength in Chientao between January 1935 and June 1936, see ibid. pp. 103–104.

32 Yim, p. 97.

33 Figures for total trade between North Korea and the Soviet Union are as follows (in millions of roubles):

Japan, Secretary General of the Cabinet, Chosa Geppo (Monthly Survey), 07 1965, p. 17Google Scholar.