Minsaengdan incident

Last updated

The Minsaengdan incident, or Min-Sheng-T'uan Incident, was a series of purges occurring between 1933 and 1936 in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) arrested, expelled, and killed Koreans in Manchuria, based on the suspicion that the purged Koreans were supporting the Japanese occupiers as part of the pro-Japanese and anti-communist group, Minsaengdan. The CCP arrested and expelled over 1,000 of its Korean members and killed 500 during the purges. Korean guerilla leader and future founder of North Korea Kim Il Sung was arrested and then exonerated during the purges and his opposition to the purges became an important factor in solidifying his leadership among the guerillas opposing the Japanese occupation.

Contents

Background

The Empire of Japan had ruled Korea since the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 and formally annexed Korea in 1910. In 1931, Imperial Japan used the false flag Mukden Incident as a pre-text to invade Manchuria. [1] The Japanese incursion led to the creation of competing pro-Japanese and nationalist Korean organizations. [2] :66

After the Comintern's "one country, one party" directive of December 1928, Korean communist partisans were absorbed into the CCP. [3] :29 Following completion of the merger of Korean communists and the CCP in April 1931, more than 90% of the party members in Manchuria were Korean. [3] :29 When the CCP established a united guerilla army in the 1930s, it viewed the Korean border regions as the most promising areas of anti-Japanese resistance. [3] :29 Before the purges of the Minsaengdan incident, the majority-Korean Chinese border region of Kando (present day Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture) had been the seat of radical experiments in self-rule through the formation of soviets. [2] :65–66

Purges

One of the pro-Japanese organizations created following the invasion of Manchuria was Minsaengdan (People's Livelihood Corps), formed in February 1932 by Korean migrants to Manchuria. [3] :30 The group petitioned for Japanese authorities for a measure of self-rule in Kando (under Japanese auspices) and sought protection from both communist and Chinese authorities. [3] :30 [2] :66 Ultimately the group never received the aid it requested from Japan and dissolved in October 1932 [3] :30 following assault from the communists. [2] :66

Nonetheless, suspicions of Minsaengdan activity persisted. [3] :30 Subsequent Japanese interventions and scores of arrests sparked fears of infiltration by the Minsaengdan. [2] :66 Thus, the CCP in Manchuria had become suspicious that any Korean could secretly be a member of the pro-Japanese and anti-communist group. [3] :30 Japanese authorities had also successfully manipulated class and ethnic antagonisms, further undermining the anti-Japanese coalition of Chinese and Koreans. [2] :66–67

A series of purges resulted: over 1,000 Koreans were expelled from the CCP, including Kim Il Sung (who was arrested in late 1933 and exonerated in early 1934), and 500 were killed. [3] :30 In early 1932, the eastern Manchuria branch of the CCP launched an anti-Minsaengdan campaign of mass riots, arsons, and assassinations. [2] :67 To prove their loyalty, Korean communists pursued suspected collaborators with a particular vengeance. [2] :67 But as suspicion grew, any association with someone accused of having Minsaengdan ties came under attack, including Korean communists. [2] :67 By late 1932, the Chinese leaders of the CCP's eastern Manchuria branch began to interrogate, torture, and execute rank-and-file party members with such ties (the majority of whom were Korean). [2] :67 Even advocating for Korean independence could be viewed as siding with reactionary organizations like the Minsaengdan. [2] :67

Ultimately, the purge devastated the Kando region as a base of operations for opposing the Japanese. [2] :67 The purges killed more Korean revolutionaries and supporters than the extermination campaign waged by Japanese troops against the communists. [2] :67

During the purges of the Minsaengdan incident, Kim Il Sung sezied and burned the suspect files of the Purge Committee. [2] :65–66 Kim's memoirs - and those of the guerillas who fought alongside him - cite Kim's seizing and burning the suspect files of the Purge Committee as key to solidifying his leadership. [2] :65–66 After the destruction of the suspect files and the rehabilitation of suspects, those who had fled the purge rallied around Kim. [2] :65–66

Historical legacy

As historian Suzy Kim summarizes, Kim Il Sung "emerged from the purge as a definitive leader, not only for the bold move [of destroying the Purge Committee suspect files] but also for his compassion." [2] :65–66 Other Korean communists who escaped the purges also went on to hold leadership roles in North Korea. [4]

Given that the united Korean and Chinese guerilla forces of the late 1930s were still recovering from the Minsaengdan incident, the legacy of the purges may help explain Korean communists' insistence on autonomy after the liberation of Korea, despite the close ties maintained with Chinese communists. [3] :30

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pak Hon-yong</span> Korean independence activist (1900–1955)

Pak Hon-yong was a Korean independence activist, politician, philosopher, communist activist and one of the main leaders of the Korean communist movement during Japan's colonial rule (1910–1945). His nickname was Ijong (이정) and Ichun (이춘), his courtesy name being Togyong (덕영).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sino-Soviet relations</span> Bilateral relations

Sino-Soviet relations, or China–Soviet Union relations, refers to the diplomatic relationship between China and the various forms of Soviet Power which emerged from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to 1991, when the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army</span> 1936–1945 Chinese-Korean militia

The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army was the main anti-Japanese guerrilla army in Northeast China (Manchuria) after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Its predecessors were various anti-Japanese volunteer armies organized by locals and the Manchuria branches of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In February 1936, the CCP, in accordance with the instructions of the Communist International, issued The Declaration of the Unified Organization of Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and marked the official formation of the organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workers' Party of North Korea</span> Former communist party in North Korea

The Workers' Party of North Korea was a communist party in North Korea from 1946 to 1949 and was a predecessor of the current Workers' Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on 28–30 August 1946, by the merger of the northern branch of the Communist Party of Korea and the New People's Party of Korea. Kim Tu-bong, the leader of the New People's Party, was elected chairman of the party, while Chu Yong-ha and Kim Il Sung were elected as vice chairmen. At the time of establishment, the party is believed to have had about 366,000 members organized in around 12,000 party cells.

The Communist movement in Korea emerged as a political movement in the early 20th century. Although the movement had a minor role in pre-war politics, the division between the communist North Korea and the anti-communist South Korea came to dominate Korean political life in the post-World War II era. North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, continues to be a Jucheist state under the rule of the Workers' Party of Korea. In South Korea, the National Security Law has been used to criminalize advocacy of communism and groups suspected of alignment with North Korea. Due to the end of economic aid from the Soviet Union after its dissolution in 1991, due to the impractical ideological application of Stalinist policies in North Korea over years of economic slowdown in the 1980s and receding during the 1990s, North Korea continues to nominally uphold Communism, but has replaced Marxism-Leninism with the Juche idea. References to Communism were removed in the North Korean 1992 and 1998 constitutional revisions to make way for the personality cult of Kim's family dictatorship and the North Korean market economy reform. The Workers' Party of Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong Un later reconfirmed commitment to the establishment of a communist society, but orthodox Marxism has since been largely tabled in favor of "Socialism in our style". Officially, the DPRK still retains a command economy with complete state control of industry and agriculture. North Korea maintains collectivized farms and state-funded education and healthcare.

O Jin-u was a North Korean general and politician. He served with Kim Il Sung's partisan unit and eventually rose through the ranks of the North Korean Army. He distinguished himself during the Korean War and was a trusted adviser of Kim Il Sung until his death, also being his chief guard in 1945. Thanks to his relationship with Kim Il Sung, O Jin-u was able to enjoy wealth and fame, this lasted even under Kim Jong Il. He was the Minister of Armed Forces from May 1976 until his death in February 1995. O was considered the third-most powerful person in North Korea, after Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il, therefore making him the most powerful person that possessed no blood relations to the Kim family. He was considered by many as a hardliner and advocated strongly for North Korea's nuclear program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Il Sung</span> Leader of North Korea from 1948 to 1994

Kim Il Sung was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as Supreme Leader from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. Afterwards, he was declared eternal president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Chaek</span> North Korean general and politician (1903–1951)

Kim Chaek was a North Korean revolutionary, military general, and politician. His real name was Kim Hong-gye.

Kwalliso (Korean: 관리소) or kwan-li-so is the term for political penal labor and rehabilitation colonies in North Korea. They constitute one of three forms of political imprisonment in the country, the other two being what Washington DC based NGO Committee for Human Rights in North Korea described as "short-term detention/forced-labor centers" and "long-term prison labor camps", for misdemeanor and felony offenses respectively.

<i>Korean revolutionary opera</i>

Korean revolutionary opera (Korean: 조선혁명가극) is a tradition of revolutionary opera in North Korea inspired by Chinese Revolutionary Opera which blossomed during the Cultural Revolution. It is characterized by a highly melodramatic style and reoccurring themes of patriotism and glorification of Juche, President Kim Il Sung, and the working people, as well as a focus on socialist realist themes. Composers of North Korean revolutionary opera are employed by the North Korean government and the fundamental principles of North Korean revolutionary opera were dictated by Kim Jong Il in his speech On the Art of Opera.

The August Faction Incident, officially called the "Second Arduous March", was an attempted removal of Kim Il Sung from power by leading North Korean figures from the Soviet-Korean faction and the Yan'an faction, with support from the Soviet Union and China, at the 2nd Plenary Session of the 3rd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 1956. The attempt to remove Kim failed and the participants were arrested and later executed. Through this political struggle, Kim Il Sung quashed all opposition to him within the central party leadership.

The history of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) encompasses the period from 1949 onwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Pochonbo</span> 1937 battle in northern Korea

The Battle of Pochonbo was an event which occurred in northern Korea on 4 June 1937, when Korean and Chinese guerrillas commanded by Kim Il Sung attacked and defeated a Japanese detachment during the anti-Japanese armed struggle in Korea. The battle holds an important place in North Korea.

The Sinuiju Incident was an uprising of students and Christian leaders in the port city of Sinuiju, North Pyŏngan Province, Soviet Civil Administration on November 23, 1945. The city of Sinuiju is now in North Korea. It marked the peak of social resistance against the communist regime in the formative period of North Korea, during the Soviet occupation from 1945 to 1948.

<i>Reminiscences of the Anti-Japanese Guerillas</i> 1959 collection of memoirs of North Korean guerrillas

Reminiscences of the Anti-Japanese Guerillas is a collection of memoirs of North Korean guerillas fighting during the 1930s and 1940s in Manchuria against the Japanese. It was used as a textbook for indoctrination until it was effectively replaced by another piece of guerilla literature, Kim Il Sung's autobiography With the Century, in the 1990s. The memoirs were written in order to portray Kim Il Sung as a national liberator, and to strengthen his cult of personality. However, the memoirs are still used as a textbook in ideological workplace study sessions, as well as in other forms of indoctrination. Many of the memoirs have been adapted as movies by the North Korean film industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mu Chong</span> North Korean general (1904–1952)

Mu Chong, born Kim Mu-chong (김무정), was a Korean communist, independence activist, general and statesman of North Korea. He had been living in China for years when he joined the Chinese Communist Party fighting against the Japanese. After the liberation of Korea, he returned to North Korea and became a general in the Korean People's Army. He was an important member of the Yan'an faction, a group of pro-China communists in the North Korean government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhu Dehai</span> Chinese politician (1911–1972)

Zhu Dehai was a Korean Chinese revolutionary, educator, and politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a political commissar of the Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was the first governor of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture from 1952 to 1965. He also served as the member of the National People's Congress (NPC) for several years. He was known as a political moderate and defied orders from the during the Great Leap Forward while maintaining a close relationship with the North Korean government. During the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards stigmatized Zhu as a North Korean spy, and he was expelled from all political positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choe Hyon</span> North Korean general and politician (1907–1982)

Choe Hyon, also known as Sai Ken, was a North Korean general and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kapsan Faction Incident</span> 1967 failed resistance in North Korea

The Kapsan Faction Incident was an unsuccessful attempt to undermine the power of Kim Il Sung, the leader of North Korea, around the year 1967. The "Kapsan faction" was a group of veterans of the anti-Japanese struggle of the 1930s and 1940s that was initially close to Kim Il Sung. In the wake of the 2nd Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 1966, the faction sought to introduce economic reforms, challenge Kim Il-sung's cult of personality, and appoint its ringleader Pak Kum-chol as his successor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pang Ho-san</span> North Korean military officer

Pang Ho-san was a communist anti-Japanese activist and general of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

References

  1. The Cambridge history of Japan. John Whitney Hall, 耕造. 山村. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 1988–1999. p. 294. ISBN   0-521-22352-0. OCLC   17483588.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Kim, Suzy (2016). Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945–1950. Ithaca. ISBN   978-1-5017-0568-7. OCLC   950929415.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Armstrong, Charles K. (2003). The North Korean Revolution, 1945–1950. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN   978-0-8014-6880-3. JSTOR   10.7591/j.ctt32b4bg. OCLC   605327300.
  4. Lee, Chong-Sik (1966). "Witch Hunt among the Guerrillas: The Min-Sheng-T'uan Incident". The China Quarterly . 26 (26): 107–117. doi:10.1017/S0305741000013217. ISSN   0305-7410. JSTOR   651615. S2CID   154529732.