On Jan. 26, 1921, Shanghai, the Korean Provisional Government split openly. When Rhee's faction learned about Lenin's gold rubles, an open hostility toward Gen. Yi erupted. Rhee Syngman accused Kim Rip of embezzling funds to finance his sex habits. Kim Rip was assassinated and Gen. Yi parted company with the KPG. Three years later, Rhee himself was accused of embezzlements and expelled from the KPG by Kim Ku.
In March 1921, the friction between the Soviet-Koreans (Irkutsk group) and Gen. Yi's nationalists led to an open warfare in which Yi lost nearly half of his followers to Rhee's rightist group and to the Irkutsk group. Lenin decided to back the Irkutsk group and dictated that Yi's followers must take orders from the Soviet-Koreans. Thus, Lenin abandoned his long-time ally Gen. Yi and the Korean nationalists. In effect, the Soviet-Koreans sold out the Korean nationalism to foreign interests.
By April 12, 1921, the Korean military units in Manchuria were defeated in a series of battles with the Japanese and the survivors fled to Siberia. There were at least 36 independent armies; Gen. Yi regrouped them into the Greater Korea Independence Corps (Taehan Tong Lip Dang). The Corps was allied with the Soviet Army and received Soviet equipment and training. At about the same time, the Soviet-Koreans formed their own military unit - the Korean Revolutionary Military Congress - and wanted to absorb Yi's Independence Corps. Gen. Yi realized that the Soviet-Koreans worked for Lenin, not for the Korean independence, and refused to cooperate.
On June 27, 1921, the Soviet Red Army and Soviet-Koreans surrounded in a deceptive move an Independence Army corps of 7,000 men at Alekseyevsk (Siberia) and demanded that they surrender. A battle ensued and several hundred Koreans were killed. Many managed to escape. Some 1,700 captured Koreans were pressed into the Red Army and many officers were jailed or killed. Today, this infamous battle is known as the Free City Incident.
The Soviet version of this Incident differs. According to the Soviet historians, there were some 7,000 armed Koreans at the camp being reorganized into regular Soviet army organizations - divisions, regiments, battalions, companies and squads - and a modern military command structure. The Yi units refused to go along and started to sneak away. Naturally, the other armed Koreans tried to stop them from leaving and unfortunately, there were some shots fired. At any rate, the bulk of Yi's forces managed to escape to Manchuria and join the anti-Communist forces there.
Gen. Yi was much angered at this treachery of the Soviets and set out to see his old friend Lenin in person. On the way to Moscow, Gen. Yi ran into a series of mishaps and it would take him almost a year to reach Moscow. Meanwhile, Lenin had ordered an investigation of the Free City Incident but no clear picture of what had actually happened could be obtained. The best that Lenin could do was to ask both factions to work together from now on. However, these two factions would engage in assassinations and political blackmail up until the end of WW2.
On Jan. 21, 1922, the First Congress of the Toilers of the Far East convened in Moscow and 144 voting delegates from China, Japan and Korea attended - including 52 Koreans from Siberia and China. Gen. Yi Tong Whi led the Korean delegation - including Yo Un Hyon and Park Hyon Yon. The Comintern ordered the Korean factions to merge; all prisoners be released henceforth and restored to their positions prior to the Free City Incident; and the key ring leaders of the Incident be banished.
On March 28, 1922, the Uiyoldan mounted a terrorist attack on Gen. Tanaka, the main architect of the Japanese Imperialism in China and Korea. The plot involved three assassins; (1) O Song Yun with a pistol, (2) Kim Ik Sang with a bomb, and (3) Yi Chong Am with a sword. O Song Yun fired at Tanaka at which moment, a fat American woman who happened to be next to Tanaka grabbed Tanaka in terror and was hit, thus saving Tanaka's life. O ran from the scene believing that Tanaka was dead.
The second line of attack, Kim Ik Sang (not to be confused with Kim Yak San) threw a bomb at Tanaka, but a British sailor saw it coming and kicked it into the river. The third line of attack (Yi with a sword) saw that Tanaka was by now surrounded by a large crowd of Japanese police and gave up.
Kim Ik Sang was captured and executed. O Song Yun hijacked a car but ran into another car (O did not know how to drive) and was arrested. A Japanese girl smuggled a steel knife to O and he escaped after cutting out the lock on his cell door. O hid in an American friend's house for three days after which he managed to escape to Canton, from there to Germany on a forged passport; from Berlin, O travelled to Moscow and joined the Communist Party.
On April 22, 1922, the Comintern issued its final directive to Gen. Yi and the Soviet-Koreans - merge and work together, or else they would be no further financial aids. The Irkutsk and Shanghai offices were ordered closed effective immediate; all Koreans were commaned to concentrate on setting up Communist Party cells in Korea and Manchuria. The Comintern told both factions:
"You are both the same. None of you know the real facts about Socialism or Communism. You are actually engaged only in an independence movement, so make up your personal differences and unify yourselves." or get the hell out of the Revolution!
By this time Japan had agreed to evacuate her troops from Siberia and the Bolsheviks won the Civil War. The Soviets saw no further use for the Korean revolutionaries in Siberia. As a matter of fact, the Soviets did not wish to anger Japan by providing funds and sanctuaries to the Korean fighters. All Korean military groups, not part of the Red Army, were disbanded or expelled to Manchuria.
In Oct. 1922, the Uiyoldan attempted its biggest terrorist act ever, aided by German and Irish terrorists. The German terrorist Martin made 200 special bombs to blow up bridges across the Yalu and Japanese police stations in Sinuiju (N. Korea). The Irish terrorist Sao transported the bombs from Shanghai to Korea in a British merchant ship. However, the Japanese discovered the plot and arrested Sao and ten of the would-be terrorists.
On Sept. 3, 1923, Anti-Korean riots erupted in Tokyo and Japanese mobs and police killed some 800 Korean students. Over 100,000 Koreans were expelled from Japan. Kim Yak San (real name Kim Won Bong), a Uiyoldan, walked into Gen. Sato's (the top Japanese in Korea) office and threw seven grenades. But Sato somehow escaped and so did Kim Yak San. Kim Won Bong (Kim Yak San's real name) returned to S. Korea in 1945 and went north in 1946 where he held several high positions before his retirement.
In June 1924, the Korean People's Delegates Congress convened in Shanghai to form a united front against the Japanese. More than 600 delegates came from Korea, Japan, Russia and Manchuria. In the end, no consensus was reached. Its organizer Kim Rip was assassinated by Kim Ku and the 200,000 rubles Kim Rip received from Lenin in 1922 were confiscated by Kim Ku.
At about this time, the Uiyoldan (the Society) split into three factions - (1) nationalists, (2) anarchists and (3) communists. It had lost most of his terrorist commandos for not much to show for. The Uiyoldan popularity had diminished and few new recruits joined.
In 1925, the Korean Provisional Government KPG expelled its president Rhee Syngman for embezzlement and Kim Ku took over the presidency. Rhee returned to Hawaii in disgrace. The KPG split into two factions: Pro-American Christians led by Rhee and pro-military group led by Kim Ku and communists. Gen. Yi parted company with Kim Ku and returned to his home in Siberia.
In May 1925, the Manchurian warlord, Chang Tso-lin, signed an agreement with the governor-general of Korea concerning Korean nationalists in Manchuria. Chang considered that more than 90% of the Korean immigrants in Manchuria worked for the Japanese and only about 10% hostile to Japan. The Japanese considered Koreans as Japanese citizens and so did many Chinese. Chang agreed to arrest and turn over Korean nationalists to the Japanese police and Japan would pay Chang so many dollars per head. Chang's bandits would use this as a pretext to attack and plunder Korean farms throughout Manchuria. Japan was forced to station a large number of police in order to protect the pro-Japanese Koreans. In addition, Korean self-defense militias were formed.
In Dec. 1926, O Song Yun (alias Chong Kwang) returned to Canton from Moscow and took a Russian language teacher's job at Whampoa Military Academy where Chiang Kai Sek was the principal. Nearly a thousand Koreans joined Chiang Kai Sek's Northern Expedition set out to wipe out corrupt warlords and feudal systems. The Koreans hoped to stay with the Chinese Army until it reached the Yalu; and then to march on to liberate Korea.
On April 12, 1927, Chiang Kai Sek took over Kuomingtang. Chiang shed his wife and a concubine and married Soon Mei Ling on Dec. 15, 1927. Chiang Kai Sek purged communists from his army. Several thousands Korean communists were killed by Chiang. Soon after, China's civil war broke out - Chiang set up a nationalist government in Nanking and the leftists set up their own government in Wuhan. Most of the surviving Koreans joined the Wuhan faction, but the Wuhan faction would disintegrate within a few months.
Kim Chang Lim, my father, organized the Hong Wong Peasant Uprising in 1920's. Hong Won is a small-impoverished farm-fishing county situated a few miles north of Hungnam, North Korea. The farmers demanded reprieve from age-old excessive exploitation by their absentee landlords. My father read Marxist books and came to believe that the Red Flag (bul-gun kip-pal) was the only way out for the poor farmers of Korea.
The uprising failed and the villagers helped my father escape from the Japanese police. My father would hide during the day and the walk during night. He headed towards the Chinese border hoping to join the Communist forces there.
On Aug. 1, 1927, Mao Zedong led a peasant rebellion, the Autumn Harvest Uprising and formed a peasant army base at Chingkangshan. Chu Teh, a bandit general, joined Mao there. The First Division of the First Peasant Army had only 15,000 men, but it did include several hundred well-trained and bright young officers, including a number of Koreans, formerly with the Kuomingtang Army.
Mao forged a new kind of army - a people's army based on Three Duties: (1) To fight to the death against the enemy; (2) To arm the peasants, and (3) To raise money to support the army. The new Army marched toward Canton to liberate Kwantung Province. But the first battle of Mao's Army ended in defeat for Mao. Mao himself was taken prisoner but he managed to escape just a moment before his execution.
On Dec. 10, 1927, the Canton Commune Uprising attempted to overthrow Chiang Kai Sek. Korean students from Sun Yatsen University and the old Yiyoldan terrorists led by O Song Yun formed the spearhead. There were some 67 Koreans in the planning group. The leaders proclaimed:
"Comrades, tonight we put an end to the old history. Tonight we conquer the last icy mountain on our path forward."
Gen. Yeh Yung (a Chinese) was elected commander and Li Ying (a Korean) political commissar of the rebel army (later to be called Red Army.)
The Red Army took over Canton but was crushed in a few days of confusion and fighting; some 7,000 rebels were killed by Chiang's troops. The survivors (including 15 Koreans) fled to Hailufeng, the first Soviet area created in China on Sept. 9, 1927. Hailufeng had only 800 troops before the Uprising, but now, there were 2,000 men of the Fourth Division (Yeh Yung commanding), 800 men of the 2nd Division and several thousands Red Guards of Mao Zedung's peasants army.
On May 3, 1928, Hailufeng, the 1st Soviet in China, fell and a small band of 100 Korean survivors hit the road again, this time towards Leiyang, from which they hoped to escape to Hong Kong.
On May 10, 1929, Kim Il Sung was jailed for political activism while attending Yuwen Middle School in Jilin, Manchuria. Earlier he joined the South Manchurian Communist Youth Association.
In Aug. 1929, Kirin (Manchuria), the Korean Communist Party was officially dissolved and became a branch of the Chinese Communist Party.
In 1930, Kim Il Sung was released from jail and moved to Kutun, a small Korean community. Kim engaged in communist agitation and formed a guerrilla army of 18 followers.
Sept. 18, 1931 - A bomb, planted by Japanese secret agents, exploded under a Japanese-owned express train in Manchuria. The Manchurian warlord Chang Tsolin was killed and Chang's son, Chang Hsueh-liang (the "Young Marshall") swore revenge and joined forces with Chiang Kaisek. Japanese troops proceeded to occupy all Manchuria. Japan moved hordes of Japanese and Korean families to Manchuria as part of her economic occupation of China. Naturally, the Chinese people turned hostile to the Korean immigrants - the running dogs of the Japanese.
On Nov. 7, 1931, Mao Zedong was elected chairman of the Chinese Soviet Republic and expelled Russian and Comintern foreign devils from his camp.
In March 1932, Yun Pong-Gil threw a bomb at a Japanese ceremony in Hingkew Park (Shanghai) killing several Japanese officials and wounding scores of others, including the top military man in China, Gen. Shirakawa. Chinese boycott of Japanese goods would lead to the Battle of Shanghai; Japanese aircraft carriers went into action for the first time in the world's history. The League of Nations condemned Japanese aggression in Manchuria.
On Jan. 3, 1932, the Manchurian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party established the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. The United Army would bring together all communist guerrilla units, formed spontaneously since early 1920's, including the remnants of the Korean Independence Army and Kim Il Sung's partisans.
Photo: Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army partisans
On Sept. 15, 1932, Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China, was enthroned the Emperor Kang Teh of Manchukuo, a puppet government created by Japan.
In Dec. 1932, Kim Il Sung's army retreated to Mount Laohei to regroup. Kim joined forces with another Korean partisan group led by Yang Song Yong. Kim had some 90 partisans by this time.
In April 1933, a Chinese guerrilla unit led by Wu Yi Cheng wiped out a 30-men Korean guerrilla group of Yi Kwang. This incident caused a major upheaval among the Korean partisans. Many Koreans in Chinese-led units defected to the Japanese to fight the Chinese or joined Korean guerrilla units of Kim Il Sung and Chu Chin (the 2nd Army of the United Army), operating in the Jiandao region of Manchuria where Koreans made up nearly 80% of the population.
The Japanese police used this incident to their advantage and organized Minsaendang made of some 8,000 Korean collaborators. Minsaendang members performed espionage and anti-guerrilla chores for the Japanese. Local chapters of Minsaendang had various front names - such as Hyophwahoe and Hyopchohoe. It is sad to say that the great majority of the Koreans joined Minsaendang.
On Oct. 16, 1934 - The 90,000-men Chinese Red Army began their epic 6,000-mile Long March. A young general Lin Piao led the vanguard of the Red Army. Another young general Deng Hsiao Ping was deputy commander of the 12th Division. The "bandit" general, Chu Teh, was the Commander in Chief.
Chu was a people's general - he lived and dressed like a peasant soldier and shared all hardships of a foot soldier; Chu's door was open to any soldier at any time; he carried his own baggage. Some 20,000 wounded soldiers were left behind guarded by 6,000 volunteers commanded by Fang Chih Min and peasant guerrillas. Fang held off Chiang's troops for several weeks, long enough for the main body of the Red Army to escape. Fang and his staff were captured and beheaded in public.
