Soviet Koreans as Disseminators of Communism in East Asia

Shortly after Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II, the Soviet Union sought to consolidate its sphere of influence in East Asia. Whether it be in North Korea or the reclaimed half of Sakhalin Island, Soviet Koreans came to play an important role as intermediaries, seen as both (or not quite) Soviet and East Asian. In this presentation, I examine how the changing geopolitics of the mid-1940s and ’50s led the Soviet government to adopt a new view of Soviet Koreans, from “enemies of the people” to convenient tools for indoctrinating the region. Through close analysis of personal interviews and archival materials of Soviet Korean figures like Ten San Din, I also ask how Soviet Koreans themselves processed this sudden transition, especially after the traumatic mass arrests and deportations from the Russian Far East to Central Asia only a decade earlier during Stalin’s Great Purge, as well as their relations with other Koreans in North Korea and Sakhalin. My findings reveal not only tension and confusion, but also hope and solidarity during this chaotic (post)war period.