Ch'oe Ch'ang-ik
최창익 (崔昌益)
Yan'an faction leader who drove the 1946 New People's Party merger and was purged in the August Faction Incident
At the plenum of 30 August 1956, Ch'oe criticized Kim Il Sung to his face, alongside the Soviet-Korean Pak Ch'ang-ok, over his concentration of personal power. It escalated into the 'August Faction Incident', after which the Yan'an faction was imprisoned or placed under surveillance.
An independence activist and communist, he served as a directing member of the Korean Volunteer Corps, an instructor at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political College, and vice-chairman of the North China Korean Independence League. After liberation he was vice-chairman of the Korean New People's Party, a standing and political committee member of the Workers' Party of North Korea, finance minister and deputy premier. After criticizing Kim Il Sung at the August 1956 plenum, he was purged and imprisoned, and is reported to have died in custody. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives 1896–1957, English Wikipedia 1896–1960, and a Soviet document a birth year of 1898. His exact life dates and circumstances of death are disputed.
Career timeline
- 1923Returned home; joined the Korean Labour Mutual Aid Society and the Korean Communist Youth League
- 1928–1935Arrested in the 'Third Communist Party Incident', imprisoned six years, released 1935
- 1936Fled to China and joined the Korean National Revolutionary Party
- 1938Organized the Korean Youth Vanguard League, became a directing member of the Korean Volunteer Corps, and moved to Yan'an late that year as an instructor at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political College
- 1942Founded the North China Korean Independence League; central standing committee member and secretary
- 1945Vice-chairman of the North China Korean Independence League
- 1946.2Vice-chairman of the Korean New People's Party (chairman: Kim Tu-bong)
- 1946.8The merger with the Korean Communist Party formed the Workers' Party of North Korea; standing committee and political committee member
- 1947.2Head of the People's Inspection Bureau of the North Korean People's Committee
- 1948.4Took part in the North-South negotiations
- 1948–1952Minister of Finance
- 1952–1953Deputy premier
- 1953.2Deputy premier and finance minister
- 1955Minister of State Inspection
- 1956.8Criticized Kim Il Sung at the August plenum; the September plenum decided to restore him to the Central Committee
- 1957.9Expelled, purged and imprisoned in Pyongyang. Accounts differ on whether he died in 1957 or 1960.