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The Origins of the Korean Communist Movement (II)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Robert A. Scalapino  and
Chong-Sik Lee
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Extract

In the summer of 1921, the Communist world was preparing for the first major conference of Far Eastern peoples. This conference was originally scheduled for Irkutsk in the late summer or early fall of that year. It was intended as a sequel to the Baku Conference of September 1920, which had been attended mainly by delegates from the Middle East. But it was also planned as the Soviet answer to the Washington Conference, as is well known. Competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for the support of the Asian people can be dated from this time, although initially Moscow was much more aware of this fact than Washington.

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Articles
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The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , February 1961 , pp. 149 - 167
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1961

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References

1 For example, Kim Ch'an told the Japanese police that Shumiatsky and Voitinsky had requested Shigeki Kyūhei and himself to bring thirty Japanese delegates from Harbin to Irkutsk, but according to Kim, Shigeki misspent the money and hence the delegates did not come. “Preliminary Trial of Kim Ch'an (alias Kim Nak-jun),” (hereafter cited as Kim Ch'an Trial), Shisō Geppō [Thought Monthly], Vol. II, No. 2, May 1932Google Scholar, Archives of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Microfilm, ed. for the Library of Congress, henceforth cited as MFA/MF, Reel S357, pp. 1882–3.

2 Various private accounts of this Congress from Asian participants are available. The authors found the following very useful: Anonymous Chinese author (Yu-che kuan-ch'a—Observations of a Traveler), Hsin o hui hsiang-lu [Recollections of the New Russia] (1921), no place or date of publication (1924?) (Hereafter cited as A Chinese Traveler); Kanson, Arahata, Roshiya ni hairu [Entering Russia], Tokyo, 1924Google Scholar; Eizō, Kondō, Comintern no tnisshi [Secret Messenger of the Comintern], Tokyo, 1949Google Scholar; Thought Section, Prosecutor's Bureau, Higher Court, Chōsen shisō undō chōsa shiryō [Research Materials on the Korean Thought Movement], No. 2, March 1933; Seoul, “Ro Un-kyō jimmon chōsasho” [”Interrogation of Yŏ (Ryŏ) Un-hyŏng”] (hereafter cited as Yŏ Interrogation); Mosaburŏ, Suzuki, Aru shakflishugisha no hansei [Half the Life of a Certain Socialist], Tokyo, 1958Google Scholar; Tomoo, Watanabe, Katayama Sen to tomo ni [Together with Katayama Sen], Tokyo, 1955Google Scholar. The senior author also conducted interviews with Chang Kŏn-sang, Seoul, September 28, 1957, and Chang Kuo-t'ao, Hong Kong, November 27, 1957. The official English-language record is The First Congress of the Toilers of the Far East, published by the Communist International, Petrograd, 1922.

3 Ibid., p. 238.

4 Yō Interrogation, p. 34.

5 Yi Kūk-no, Kot'u sasim-nyŏn [Forty Years of Struggle], Seoul, 1947, pp. 28–31.

6 A Chinese Traveler, pp. 146–7.

7 Our Chinese author wrote that after the opening session, only 10 to 20 per cent of the delegates attended the meetings. Ibid., p. 154.

8 The First Congress of the Toilers of the Far East, pp. 3–6; 21–39.

9 Speech of Zinoviev, 2nd Session, January 23, 1922, ibid., p. 25.

10 Speech of Safarov, January 26, 1922, ibid., pp. 167–8.

11 Yŏ Interrogation, p. 34.

12 Speech of “Kor-Khan,” 9th Session, January 27, 1922, The First Congress of the Toilers of the Far East, p. 178.

13 Ibid., p. 177.

14 Speech of “Pak-Kieng,” 1st Session, January 21, 1922, ibid., p. 13.

15 Ibid., p. 12. See also Pak-Kieng's second, more lengthy speech, “The Korean Revolutionary Movement,” 2nd Session, January 23, 1922, ibid., pp. 74–98.

16 Yō Interrogation, p. 53.

17 A Chinese Traveler, pp. III–113.

18 Kiang Kang-hu (Chiang K'ang-hu), Kiang Kang-hu hsin-o yu-chi [The Record of Kiang Kang-hu't Travels in the New Russia (English title: One Year in Soviet Russia)], Shanghai, 1923, pp. 61 ff.

19 A Chinese Traveler, p. 110.

20 Yō Interrogation, p. 52.

21 Ibid., p. 48. According to Yŏ, the 200,000 yen (rubles) left by Han in Moscow from the initial payment was eventually brought back to Shanghai by Ko Ch'ang-il and Yun Hae.

22 The best account of the Verkhneudinsk conference is probably contained in the statement of Chŏng Chae-dal before the preliminary trial judge in Korean Government-General, Bureau of Legal Affairs, Chōsen dokuritsu shisô undō no hensen [Changes in the Korean Independence Thought Movement], Seoul, 1931, pp. 46–7. (Hereafter cited as Chŏng Chae-dal Statement.) The senior author also interviewed Cho Pong-am, a participant in this conference, on September 27, 1957.

23 Chŏng Chae-dal Statement, p. 47.

24 Cho Interview, September 27, 1957.

25 Katayama Sen was also appointed Commissar, representing Comintern headquarters, but he withdrew from this operation at an early point. Voitinsky also left rather quickly, returning to Shanghai. See Kim Ch'an Trial, pp. 1885–6.

26 Yŏ Interrogation, p. 55.

27 Cho Interview, September 27, 1957.

28 Kim Ch'an Trial, pp. 1891–2.

29 from the Fourth to the Fifth World Congress, Report of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, London, 1924, p. 76. In another section, the report stated: “In Korea the attempts of the Eastern Department to unite all the groups have thus far been fruitless. At present, fresh attempts are being made to build a unified Communist Party.” p. 103.

30 Ibid., p. 76.

31 See The Communist International, Between the Fifth and the Sixth World Congresses, 1924–28, London, 1928, pp. 458–63.

32 For details, see Thought Section, Prosecutor's Bureau, Keijo District Court, Chōsen Kyōsantō jiken [Korean Communist Party Incident], Seoul, no date, pp. 8 ff 80,000 yen reportedly went to Chang, Kim Myŏng-sik (Tong-A reporter), O Sang-gŭn, chairman of the Korean Youth Federation, and Ch'oi P'al-yong, manager of the Korean Student Union.

33 Tu-jŏng, Kim, “A Short History of the Korean Communist Party” in Hankyō Sōsho [Anti-Communist Series], No. 8, Tokyo, October 30, 1939, p. 107Google Scholar. For a contemporary Communist account, see Ch'oe Ch'ang-ik, “The Korean Proletarian Movement” in the work edited by the Communist Korean Historical Editorial Committee, Chōsen minzoku kaihō tōso shi [The History of the Emancipation Struggle of the Korean People (Japanese translation of the 1949 Korean original)], Kyoto, 1952, pp. 259 ff.

34 Chōsen Kyōsantō jiken, p. 10.

35 Ibid., p. 11. Kim Han of the Proletariat League, Kim Sa-guk of the Seoul Youth League, and Shin Paek-u of the Labor Mutual Assistance Society formed a triangular alliance against the Chang Tŏk-su group, accusing Chang of using the name of the proletariat movement to promote his private interests.

36 saKim Ch'an Trial, p. 1887–8.

37 Chŏng Chae-dal Statement, p. 47. The Kor-Bureau unit was organized by Ku Yŏn-gun, Hong Chūng-sik, Hong Myŏng-hi, and Pak Il-byŏng, with others joining, including Kim Chae-bong, Hong Tōk-u, Yi-Chae-sŏng, Yun Tŏk-byŏng, Won U-gwan, and Yi Chae-bok.

38 Kim Ch'an Trial, pp. 1888–9.

39 Ibid., p. 1890.

40 Chōsen Kyōsantō jiken, p. 11.

41 Those present were Kim Tu-jōn, Kim Chae-bong, Cho Pong-am, Kim Ch'an, Yu Chin-hi, Kim Sang-ju, Chu Chong-gŏn, Song Tŏk-man, Cho Tong-u, Tokko Chŏn, Chin Min-gi, Chong Un-hae, Ch'oe Wŏn-taek, Yun Tŏk-byŏng, and Hong Tōk-u. Ibid., pp. 12–13. This source gives a very detailed account of the first meeting, and all events of this period. The Kim Ch'an trial statement is also excellent. For another account, see the article by Hong Tŏk-u, one of the participants, in the April 17, 1946 issue of Chosŏn Inminbo [Korean People's News], written for the 21st anniversary of the party founding.

42 Kim Ch'an Trial, p. 1893. Chosen kjosanto jiken reverses the assignments to Cho Tong-u and Kim Ch'an (pp. 12–13).

43 The meeting was held at the home of Pak Hŏn-yŏng, with the following individuals present: Kim Ch'an, representing the KCP, Pak Hŏn-yŏeng, Kwon O-sŏl, Hong Chŭng-sik, Yim Won-gun, Kim Sang-su, Shin Ch'ō1-su, Chang Sun-myōng, Chin Pyŏng-gi, Cho Ri-hwan, Pak Kil-yang, Kim Tan-ya, Cho Pong-am, Chōng Kyōng-ch'ang, and Kim Tong-myōng. Kim Ch'an Trial, p. 1899.

44 Kim Ch'an Trial, p. 1901. The names of the students are given here.

45 For a very detailed account of this incident, see Chōsen kyōsantō jik.cn, pp. 5–6.