Chong Sang-chin

Chŏng Sang-chin (Korean: 정상진; May 5, 1918 – June 15, 2013) was a Soviet and North Korean poet, bureaucrat, academic, and military officer. He was notably the only ethnic Korean among 60 Soviet paratroopers that first liberated parts of Korea under Japanese rule during World War II. He was also known by his Russian name Yuri Danilovich Ten (Russian: Юрий Данилович Тен) or the Korean nickname derived from it Ryul (률). His name is also Cyrillized as Ten San Din (Тен Сан Дин).

For the South Korean javelin thrower, see Jung Sang-jin.
In this Korean name, the family name is Chŏng.
Chŏng Sang-chin
Юрий Данилович Тен
Chŏng (top right) and his family in 1946
First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda
In office
March 24, 1955 – September 2, 1955
Appointed byKim Il Sung
Preceded byPark Taewon
Succeeded byChang Ha-il
In office
December 1, 1953 – April 12, 1954
Appointed byKim Il Sung
Preceded byKim Kang
Succeeded byAn Mak
Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda
In office
September 2, 1948 – September 9, 1953
Appointed byKim Il Sung
Succeeded byAn Hoe-nam
Personal details
Born(1918-05-05)May 5, 1918
Vladivostok, Russian Empire
DiedJune 15, 2013(2013-06-15) (aged 95)
Moscow, Russia
CitizenshipSoviet Union
Russia
Military service
Branch/service Soviet Navy
Years of service1945–1957
Battles/warsSeishin Operation
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationJeong Sangjin
McCune–ReischauerChŏng Sangchin
Childhood name
Hangul
Nickname
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationJeong Yul
McCune–ReischauerChŏng Ryul

He stayed in North Korea on orders from the Soviet government and spent 13 years total there, serving in various roles in the North Korean government and at Kim Il Sung University. However, after Soviet-aligned Koreans were purged from the North Korean government, he returned to the Soviet Union. He then became a critic of North Korea and worked as a reporter, writer, and Korean reunification activist.

He died in Moscow on June 15, 2013, at the age of 95.

Early life

Chŏng was born in Vladivostok, Primorskaya Oblast, Russian Empire on May 5, 1918.[2][3][4][5]

His father, Chŏng Ch'i-mun,[1][lower-alpha 1] was originally from Myongchon County, North Hamgyong Province, Joseon, but went in exile to Russia after the Japanese occupation of Korea. Chŏng's father was a vocal advocate for the liberation of Korea,[6] and once said to his son:[3][lower-alpha 2]

The day will come when you must fight the Japanese. They are bitter enemies of our people. Only by fighting and defeating them can we walk on Joseon soil without shame.

Chŏng's mother was illiterate and remained so even until the 1950s.[7][4] Chŏng's father, however, was well-versed in Chinese literature. Chŏng learned to read and write from his father by the time he was five years old.[3]

A Koryo-saram settlement in the same province as Vladivostok in 1904. Many early 20th century Koryo-saram lived in conditions such as these as subsistence farmers.[1]

At the time, Vladivostok was a hub for Soviet Koreans (who are also called Koryo-saram).[2][3] As was common with Korean culture during that time, education was valued extremely highly. A Russian visiting Vladivostok reportedly observed that Koreans pursued education perhaps to a fault, as they insisted on rigorous schooling while in exile and on the brink of starvation. Chŏng initially enrolled in a Russian-language school, but after his father's furious protests, enrolled in a Korean-language school instead.[3]

In 1936, he studied literature at the Wŏndong Korean College of Education in Vladivostok.[1][8][lower-alpha 3] By this point, he was a devoted communist.[3]

Deportation to Kazakhstan
Further information: Deportation of Koreans in the Soviet Union

However, in fall 1937, his studies were interrupted when he and many Koreans in the Soviet Union were forcibly deported to Kazakhstan.[4][2][1] While on the month-long train journey, he and his friends huddled together to avoid freezing to death, and he recited poetry to them to comfort them. Tens of thousands of Koreans died on the journey. After disembarking from the train, he witnessed several Kazakh women handing out bread from the backs of donkeys.[3] In an August 2007 interview, Chŏng said of this experience:[3][lower-alpha 4]

The Kazakh people are very kind. If it weren't for them, we would have all died. Korean people should never forget their gratitude towards them.

In October 1938, his father was arrested and executed by the Soviet government. Chŏng made a point of continuing in the Korean independence movement in his father's stead, and became disillusioned with both communism and Joseph Stalin.[4][3] In total, around 2,800 Korean intellectuals were executed without trial. The location of his father's grave remains unknown as of 2007.[3]

His college reopened in Kazakhstan, and he graduated from it in 1940.[1][3] Around this time, he befriended Cho Ki-chon, who lectured on world literature at the college. Later, Cho became a landmark poet in the North Korean literary canon.[3]

Career

Chŏng then taught literature at a secondary school in Kyzylorda.[1][5][2] In 1941, he submitted his first poem to the Lenin Kichi, the Koryo-saram newspaper that he would later work for full-time in 1961. He continued submitting essays, translations, and literary criticism to the Kichi even into the late 2000s.[1][3]

World War II

In 1941, after Japan entered World War II, Chŏng eagerly made seven attempts to enlist in the Soviet Army and see active combat,[8][6] but was refused due to restrictions on Koreans joining the military.[4][3] In 1942, he became a member of the Communist Party. He was finally called to combat in March 1945, during rising tensions between Japan and the Soviet Union.[4][5][3] His mother reportedly said during his departure "Your father always regretted not being able to fight the Japanese, now you're going. I can't stand in your way."[3][lower-alpha 5]

He was sent to Vladivostok on Russky Island, as reconnaissance for the marine corps of the Soviet Pacific Fleet under the command of Viktor Leonov.[5][4][9][3] On August 9, 1945, he rejoiced when he heard the Soviet declaration of war on Japan, as he saw it as a key opportunity to liberate Korea.[4][3]

On August 11, he and 60 other paratroopers reportedly participated in the first Soviet military action in Korea during World War II: the liberation of Unggi County (later renamed Sonbong, literally "Vanguard", due to its role as the first liberated area).[3][4] He was the only ethnic Korean in that group,[1][4] which he found depressing, as it was largely a group of foreigners who was liberating his homeland.[3] He had the rank of sergeant at the time, and was often called Yura (Юра) by his fellow Russians.[4]

The liberation of Unggi was bloodless, but civilians still reportedly ran in fear of the Soviet troops. Chŏng stopped them, revealed that he was Korean, and announced their liberation. He and the civilians shed tears of joy. He later recalled this incident in a 1946 poem entitled Unggi Harbor! My Footsteps Drenched with Tears.[3]

Decades later, Kim Il Sung claimed that he and the Korean People's Army (KPA) had liberated Unggi instead of the Soviets.[4][3] Chŏng said of this claim in 2007:[3][lower-alpha 6]

In Najin, Chongjin, or let alone Unggi, I did not see a single Korean People's Army fighter, anti-Japanese guerrilla, or Communist revolutionary on the battlefield. I was the only Korean in battle. While our unit was bleeding and fighting in Chongjin, Kim Il-sung and O Paek-ryong were living comfortably in the barracks of the 88th Reconnaissance Brigade of the Soviet Army stationed in the village of Vyatskoye near Khabarovsk. [...] Before I left North Korea in the mid-1950s, Kim Il-sung didn't dare make [that claim] in front of me.

Soviet troops during the Seishin Operation (August 15, 1945)

They then fought in the Seishin Operation against the Japanese, who had retreated from Manchuria into Chongjin. Despite allegedly being severely outnumbered and losing 29 fighters, they won on August 18.[4][1][3]

Fighting lasted around 24 days, until the September 2 surrender of Japan.[4][lower-alpha 7]

Activities in North Korea

Chŏng was initially recalled to Vladivostok, but a week later was sent to Soviet-occupied Wonsan under orders from Moscow.[5][10] In October 1945, he became deputy director of education of the city.[4][1][3] Amongst his fellow Koreans, he went by the nickname "Ryul",[9] which was derived from his Russian nickname "Yura".[3]

Kim Il Sung (second from left) with Soviet officials a month after he met Chŏng for the first time (October 14, 1945)

On September 18, 1945, he was informed by command that he was to meet Kim Il Sung for the first time on the next day.[4][3][9] Chŏng was reportedly excited to meet Kim, expecting him to be a graying and physically imposing rebel, befitting his reputation as a fierce guerilla.[4][3] He was surprised to find Kim youthful, fresh-faced, and thin.[4] Kim arrived around 8 am by the Soviet boat 'Pugachev',[4][9][3][lower-alpha 8] accompanied by 60 members of the KPA. Chŏng asked Kim where he and the fighters had been during the bloodshed, and Kim gave a muted response. Chŏng then suspected that the Soviet government had intentionally held Kim back.[4]

In 1946, Chŏng and several others published a book of poetry inspired by the liberation of Korea called Eunghyang. The book, particularly due to one of its poems Dawn Map, was accused of being overly decadent and was met with censorship from Pyongyang. The author of Dawn Map then defected to the South.[3][11]

In July 1946, he was appointed deputy director of the Ministry of Education in South Hamgyong Province. Here, he met fellow author Han Sorya. Chŏng had previously read Han's writing, in which Han heaped praise upon Kim Il Sung, but in person he allegedly found Han to not know much about Kim on a personal level. But after these articles caught the eye of Kim, they quickly elevated Han to a position of prominence in the North Korean literary scene.[3]

In spring 1947, he became Vice Chairman of the North Korean Federation of Literature and Arts.[5][1] Around this time, he also met Pak Chang-ok, who had actually been two years above him back in university. He also observed and was impressed by Kim Ku and Hong Myong-hui at the North–South conference of April 1948. Chŏng admired Hong's work and character greatly, and often sought out his advice after he remained in North Korea.[3] In summer 1948, Chŏng became head of the Department of Russian Languages and Literature at Kim Il Sung University.[5]

Between September 2, 1948, and September 9, 1953, he served in the newly formed Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as the first Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda.[3] He later served as First Vice Minister between December 1, 1953, and April 12, 1954, and again between March 24, 1955, and September 2, 1955.[4] He often assisted Ho Jong-suk with her work, as she was frequently ill around this time. He also occasionally met with Kim Il Sung.[3][1]

Chong teaching a class at Kim Il Sung University, from a 1950 documentary entitled "In North Korea" (『북조선에서』)

On June 25, 1950,[lower-alpha 9] Chŏng heard Kim Il Sung's announcement of the invasion of South Korea on the radio. He was personally surprised by the announcement, and believed Kim's claim that the South had invaded the North first. At the time, he was head of artillery supply in the Korean People's Army. Shortly afterwards, he heard from friends within the North Korean government that, after receiving reluctant approval from the Soviet government, Kim had manufactured a reason to invade the South.[4][1]

Chŏng (center, holding hat) during his overseas tour (1955)

After the July 1953 armistice was signed, Chŏng spent two weeks in Seoul as the head of the North Korean effort to exchange prisoners of war. In August 1955, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the liberation of Korea, he visited the Soviet Union as part of a cultural delegation composed of 18 North Korean artists and toured various cities, including Moscow, Leningrad, Tashkent, Almaty, and Novosibirsk.[5][13]

Purge from North Korea

However, upon his return from the cultural tour in September 1955,[3] Chŏng learned via a public announcement that he and several other Soviet Koreans were to be stripped of their posts.[14] He was then appointed to the relatively unimportant role of Director of the Science Library of the DPRK Academy of Sciences.[4][1][3][13]

After the March 5, 1953 death of Joseph Stalin, Kim increased his opposition of Soviet influence in North Korea. Tensions between the pro-Kim and pro-Soviet factions grew, culminating in the failed 1957 August Faction Incident, in which Soviet- and Chinese-aligned Koreans tried to purge Kim Il Sung. Chŏng was allegedly among Kim's most distrusted Soviet Koreans around this time.[4][13] He had never abandoned his Soviet citizenship, partly out of fear that he too could one day be purged.[8][13] His mother came to visit him from Kazakhstan; she urged him to return to Kazakhstan where his family was.[4][7]

On October 22, 1955, Chŏng, Pak, and several others appeared before the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, where they were chastised by Kim Il Sung as lacking juche: "self-reliance". According to Bae Jin-yeong of the Monthly Chosun, this was the first usage of the term juche in North Korea, which later became the name of the state ideology.[3]

In October 1957, after receiving permission from Kim Il-sung to leave the country, Chŏng and thirteen Soviet Koreans left North Korea and returned to the Soviet Union.[4][5][3][13] He tried to say goodbye to Ho Jong-suk, whom he had considered a good friend, but she coldly dismissed him. In 2007, he said he would have liked to meet her again above anyone else from his time in North Korea.[3] After Chŏng and the others left North Korea, reprisals against Soviet Koreans reportedly greatly slowed.[4] Chŏng later said of his departure:[3][lower-alpha 10]

I was sad. I loved Pyongyang and I loved North Korea. I've never seen a place as beautiful as Mount Kumgang. In particular, the sunrise of Lake Samilpo, when the red sun rises from the water, ah, there's no other sunrise like it.

Later life and death

After returning, Chŏng first went to Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, where he studied journalism for four years at a Soviet government school.[3][1][7][8] He then returned to Kazakhstan, where he worked in the editorial department of the Lenin Kichi newspaper between 1961 and late 1991.[4][5][1][3][8] He wrote an editorial in the December 19, 1990, final edition of the Kichi before it changed its name to Koryo Ilbo in 1991. While he had expected the Soviet Union to one day collapse beginning in the late 1930s, he had not wanted it to happen. However, upon observing the how the Kazakhs relished their newfound independence after its collapse, he changed his mind.[3]

From 1991 to 1998, he served as president for a fund that supported repressed Soviet Koreans in North Korea.[15] From 1992, he and several other North Korean defectors founded and served as Chairman of the Foundation for North Korean Democratization and Liberation,[lower-alpha 11] which was headquartered in Tokyo. From 2001 to 2005, he was appointed by the South Korean President Kim Dae-jung to be on the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council.[5][8][15] Chŏng remained firm in his belief that North Korea would eventually democratize, and criticized its government sharply.[4][3] In 2007, he said "The Soviet Union [...] brought a tragedy more terrible than Japanese colonialism to the Korean peninsula. This is eloquently embodied by the miserable reality of North Korea".[3][lower-alpha 12]

Chŏng continued writing even until the late 2000s. He not only published poetry and literary criticism, but even travel experiences and reviews of movies and plays. In 2005, he published a book of his memoirs entitled A Swan Song from Amur Bay: Memoirs of North Korean and Soviet Literary Artists in South Korea. He moved from Almaty to Moscow in January 2009 along with his daughters.[1]

Even until 2012, Chŏng reported feeling healthy.[4] He stated he had been consistently physically active since his deportation to Kazakhstan in 1937, exercising an hour per day every morning.[4][3] He was also described by several reporters in the years before his death as surprisingly mentally sharp in his old age.[3][4]

Chŏng died in Moscow on June 15, 2013, at the age of 95.[1][8][15] He was cremated,[15] and his ashes are held in the Korean cemetery in Shcherbinka.[8]

Legacy and awards

In 2007, Chŏng said he was most proud of his role in the Seishin Operation.[3] He also reportedly played a significant role in spreading Soviet literature in North Korea.[4][3]

He received an Order of the Red Banner in August 1945,[1][8][16][17] and the Medal "For the Victory over Japan" in September 1945 from the Soviet government for his service in Korea.[4][5][8] He also received the Jubilee Medal in 1985 for his service during World War II.[5][8][15] As part of the Lenin Kichi staff, he received the Order of Friendship of Peoples award in 1988.[8]

Personal life

Chŏng was reportedly over 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) tall and physically attractive. According to a 2012 interview with Chŏng, Kim Il Sung himself complimented Chŏng on his looks.[4][18][3]

He converted to Christianity while stationed in Korea in 1945, after reading a bible translated into Korean. He was fond of Soviet culture, although critical of its totalitarian government. He highly admired authors such as Leo Tolstoy and Alexander Pushkin.[4]

He was married four times and had two daughters. He expressed regret near the end of his life for not having been more active in his children's lives.[4]

Bibliography

Poetry

Essays and Books

Notes and references

Notes
  1. Korean: 정치문
  2. 『너는 일본 놈들과 싸울 때가 올 것이다. 그놈들은 우리 민족의 철천지 원수다. 그놈들과 싸워 이겨야 조선 땅에 발을 놓기가 부끄럽지 않을 것이다」라고 말씀하셨습니다.』
  3. Korean: 원동고려사범대학; Hanja: 遠東高麗師範大學
  4. 『카자흐 사람들, 참 마음씨가 고운 사람들입니다. 그들이 아니었으면 우리들은 다 죽었을 겁니다. 우리 민족은 그 고마움을 결코 잊어서는 안 됩니다』
  5. 『아버지가 늘 일본 놈들과 싸우지 못하는 것을 안타까워하시더니, 네가 이렇게 싸우러 나가게 됐구나. 나는 너의 길을 막지 못하겠다』
  6. 『나는 웅기는 물론, 나진·청진에서 단 한 사람의 인민혁명군도, 항일투사도, 혁명가도 戰場(전장)에서 보지 못했습니다. 전투에 참전한 조선인은 나 한 사람뿐이었소. 우리 부대가 피를 흘리며 청진에서 싸우고 있을 때, 金日成이나 오백룡은 하바로프스크 인근 왜트스코예 마을에 주둔한 소련군 88정찰여단 막사에서 편하게 지내고 있었습니다. [...] 내가 북한에 있던 1950년대 중반까지 金日成은 「내가 이끄는 조선인민혁명군 부대가 북한을 해방시켰다」는 얘기는 감히 꺼내지 못했습니다』
  7. By this point, his rank was senior sergeant.[3]
  8. Kim introduced himself as Kim Sŏng-ju 김성주, which was his name by birth. This confused Chŏng, who knew Kim by Kim Il Sung, and caused him to wonder if he was meeting the wrong person.[9][3]
  9. In Chŏng's 2012 interview with Chen,[4] Chŏng reportedly recalls the announcement of the invasion as June 24, but unless he's referring to some internal broadcast, the first public announcement was on June 25.[12]
  10. 『슬펐습니다. 저는 평양을 사랑했고, 북한을 사랑했습니다. 저는 금강산처럼 아름다운 곳을 보지 못했습니다. 특히 붉은 해가 물속에서 쑥 올라오는 삼일포의 일출, 아, 그런 일출경은 세계 어디에도 없을 것입니다』
  11. 조선민주통일구국전선
  12. 『소련은 [...] 일본 식민 통치자들보다 더 무서운 참극을 전체 한반도 인민들에게 가져다 주었습니다. 이는 북한의 비참한 현실이 웅변으로 보여 주고 있습니다』
  13. 응향; 응향
  14. 웅기항! 눈물에 젖은 나의 발자취
  15. 시인과 현실
  16. 로멘찌즘에 대하여
  17. 아무르 만에서 부르는 백조의 노래: 북한과 소련의 문학 예술인들 회상기

References
  1. Encyclopedia Overseas.
  2. Chang (1995), pp. 1.
  3. Bae (2007).
  4. Chen (2012).
  5. Encyclopedia Cultural (2004).
  6. Kim (2020), pp. 100.
  7. Kim (2020), pp. 104.
  8. Shin.
  9. Jeong (2009).
  10. Kim (2020), pp. 101–102.
  11. Oh (2018).
  12. Appleman (1961), pp. 21.
  13. Kim (2020), pp. 102.
  14. Kim (2020), pp. 102–104.
  15. Kim (2020), pp. 105.
  16. Kim (2020), pp. 101.
  17. Gelb (1995), pp. 406–407.
  18. Kim (2020), pp. 99.

Sources
  • Chang, Hak-Pong (1995), "Chong, Sang-jin", 피 와 눈물 로써 씨여진 [i.e. 쓰여진] 우리들 의 력사 (Biographies of Soviet Korean leaders: History written by our blood and tears) (in Korean), Library of Congress, p. 15, retrieved April 18, 2023
  • Bae, Jin-yeong (August 2007), "어진「양반」洪命熹, 가난한 인민들 안타까워한 崔承喜,「순수문학가」로 몰려 고민하던 李泰俊… 홍명희의 병간호 받다 숨진 李光洙" [The lost "Yangban" Hong Myeong-hui, Choe Seung-hui who felt sorry for poor civilians, Lee Tae-jun who worried about being remembered as a "pure writer"... Lee Gwang-soo, who died being nursed by Hong Myeong-hui], Monthly Chosun (in Korean), retrieved April 18, 2023
  • Chen, Valentin (May 2012), "ТЕН САН ДИН: "Я ВЫПОЛНИЛ ЗАВЕЩАНИЕ СВОЕГО ОТЦА"" [Chong Sang-chin: "I did my father's will"], Arirang.ru (in Russian), retrieved April 18, 2023
  • "고려사람 인물은행" [Character Bank of Koryo-saram], 문화원형백과 고려사람 (Encyclopedia of Cultural Archetypes: Koryo-saram) (in Korean), 문화원형 디지털콘텐츠 (Cultural Archetypes Digital Content), retrieved April 18, 2023
  • Appleman, Roy E. (1961), South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu, ISBN 9781782660811, retrieved April 18, 2023
  • "정상진" [Chŏng Sang-chin], Encyclopedia of Overseas Korean Culture (in Korean), retrieved April 18, 2023
  • Oh, Seong-ho (2018), "북한 정권 수립기의 검열 문제에 대하여 -'『응향』 사건'을 중심으로-" [A Study on the censorship of early North Korean polity], 배달말 (Badalmal) (in Korean), vol. 63, pp. 431–468, retrieved April 18, 2023
  • Jeong, Byeong-seon (June 21, 2009), "[Why] "나도 북침인 줄 알고 6·25 참전했어"" [[Why] "I too thought North Korea was being invaded during the Korean War and fought for it"], The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean), retrieved April 18, 2023
  • Shin, Dmitry, "ТЕН Сан Дин" [Chŏng Sang-chin], Arirang.ru (in Russian), retrieved April 18, 2023
  • Kim, German (2020), По заданию партии и зову сердца: cоветские корейцы в Cеверной Корее [By Order of the Party and the Heart: Soviet Koreans in North Korea] (in Russian), Moscow, pp. 98–105, ISBN 9786010441323, retrieved April 18, 2023{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Gelb, Michael (1995), "An Early Soviet Ethnic Deportation: The Far-Eastern Koreans", The Russian Review, 54 (3): 389–412, doi:10.2307/131438, ISSN 0036-0341, JSTOR 131438
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