Pioneer of Korean communism who fused the Bolshevik revolution with national liberation against Japanese rule
On his deathbed he declared: 'I die without seeing the Korean revolution succeed. Comrades, you must establish a Korean Soviet Republic.'
A pioneer of Korean communism who transformed from a Korean Empire army officer into a socialist revolutionary, becoming the first to fuse Marxism with the Korean national liberation struggle. He founded the Korean Socialist Party in 1918, served as prime minister of the Korean Provisional Government where he championed armed resistance, and after breaking with Syngman Rhee led the Korean Communist Party (Shanghai faction) in pursuit of combining national liberation with class revolution.
Career Timeline
- 1895–1902Graduated from Imperial Military Academy; army major and Ganghwa garrison commander
- 1906–1911Co-founded New People's Association; founded Bochang School; jailed in 105-Man Incident
- 1913–1917Exiled to Primorsky Krai and Manchuria; established military academy, trained independence forces
- 1918Founded Korean Socialist Party in Khabarovsk; chairman
- 1919–1921Prime Minister of the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai
- 1921Founded Korean Communist Party (Shanghai faction)
- 1922–1935Comintern liaison; Far East Korean director of MOPR
Related historical events
The Korean Socialist Party: Asia's First Socialist Party
The Korean Socialist Party (Hanin Sahoedang), founded on 11 May 1918 (28 April by the Russian old calendar) in Khabarovsk with Yi Dong-hwi as its chairman, was not only Korea's first socialist party but the first organized socialist party in all of Asia, predating both the Chinese Communist Party (1921) and the Japanese Communist Party (1922).
The immediate catalyst was the Korean Political Exiles' Conference held in Khabarovsk in March 1918. There, Yi proposed "organizing a proletarian party of Korea, like the Bolshevik Party, to steer the national liberation movement toward Bolshevism." The proposal split the attendees into two factions. The Right group, led by Yi Dong-nyeong, favored forming a purely nationalist armed organization called Gwanguidan while merely seeking material support from the Soviet government. The Left majority (Yi Dong-hwi, Kim Alexandra, Yu Dong-yeol, Park Ae, Kim Rip, and others) argued for full alignment with Bolshevism and close solidarity with Soviet forces. This Left faction became the founders of the Korean Socialist Party.
The party's inaugural leadership included Chairman Yi Dong-hwi, Vice-Chairman Park Ae (Park Madavey), Propaganda Chief Jeon Il, Secretary Park Jin-sun, and Communications Officer Kim Rip. The party adopted a platform centered on solidarity with Soviet Russia and an anti-Japanese, anti-imperialist socialist line. With support from the Far East People's Committee, it published its organ Jayujong (The Bell of Freedom) and established a military academy under Yu Dong-yeol to train independence army officers.
The party immediately engaged in armed struggle. When the Czechoslovak Legion launched an anti-Bolshevik uprising in Vladivostok in late June 1918, the Korean Socialist Party organized a 100-strong Korean Red Guard (Hanin Jeokwidae), which fought alongside the Red Army in the Ussuri River battle against Kalmikov's White forces, who were backed by Japanese troops. Over half the Red Guards fell in battle; Kim Alexandra, captured by the Whites, was executed. The Ussuri battle stands as the first armed engagement by Koreans in Russia.
After the March First Movement of 1919, the party dispatched Park Jin-sun, Park Ae, and Yi Han-yeong as a delegation to Moscow, where they secured the Korean Socialist Party's admission to the Comintern and obtained substantial funding for the independence struggle. When Yi Dong-hwi joined the Shanghai Provisional Government as prime minister, the party's center of activity shifted to Shanghai, and in 1921 it was reorganized into the Korean Communist Party (Shanghai faction). The Korean Socialist Party was the origin point of the Korean communist movement and the first organized attempt to fuse Marxism with the Korean national liberation struggle: an undertaking that holds a distinct place in the history of Korean independence.