Anarchism in Korea
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Anarchism in Korea dates back to the Korean independence movement in Korea under Japanese rule (1910-1945). Korean anarchists federated across their end of the continent, including forming groups on the Japanese mainland and in Manchuria, but their efforts were perforated by regional and world wars.
History
During the
Gestation period
Japan's occupation of Korea in 1910 encouraged a national liberation movement whose more radical proponents gravitated towards anarchism.[3] Following the 1919 independence struggle led by the March 1st Movement, following and during which 7,500 people were killed, a large number of Koreans emigrated to Manchuria, forming independent communities there.
In 1923,
Organizational period
Sin Chaeho joined other Korean anarchists in creating the Eastern Anarchist Federation (EAF) while he was in exile in 1927. The EAF had members across China, Japan, and Vietnam.[5] Anarcho-syndicalists were also active in organizing trade unions in Busan.[6]
Manchuria, in particular, became the breeding ground for the new anarchist movement of Korea, as the short-lived Korean People's Association in Manchuria (KPAM), which was an autonomous anarchist zone in Manchuria, close to the Korean border, declared its formation in 1929. The KPAM was organized on the principles of federalism, a gift economy and mutual aid, and is still regarded as one of the most important developments in Korean anarchism.[7]
Post-war period
Following the end of
Modern analysis
Many different groups and individuals have discussed the characteristics of early Korean anarchism, and whether it diverged from what these groups regard as the anarchist ideal, specifically the nationalist and racially motivated tendencies present within groups as well as individuals within the movement.[9] There has been critique from, among others, Dongyoun Hwang and Henry Em, that the traditional Western conception of anarchist ideology is in the way of a full understanding of the group's aims, as well as the belief that many Western anarchists attempt to romanticize the group and its aims.[10][11] This modern understanding of a multifaceted Korean anarchism, that is not strictly based on the works of traditional anarchist theorists, but also on national independence from the Japanese, is echoed in the contemporary quote from the Korean-Chinese anarchist Sim Yongcheol:
"Korean anarchists, since they were slaves who lost their country, had to rely with affection on nationalism and patriotism and thus had difficulties in practice in discerning which was their main idea and which was their secondary idea. The reason was due to that their enemy was the only one – Japanese imperialism. My life is one that has drifted along with this kind of contradiction inside."[12]
See also
- Korean People's Association in Manchuria
- Communism in Korea
- Ha Ki-rak
- Kim Chwa-chin
- March 1st Movement
- Pak Yol
References
- ^ Marshall 1993, p. 527.
- ^ Marshall 1993, pp. 527–528.
- ^ Hwang 2010.
- ^ Graham 2013, p. 539.
- ^ a b Graham 2013, p. 540.
- ^ "Anarchism's Global Proletarian Praxis". The Anarchist Library. Archived from the original on 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ MacSimoin 2005, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Graham 2013, pp. 540–541.
- ^ Graham 2013, p. 1.
- ^ Graham 2013, p. 2.
- ^ Hwang 2016, p. 312.
- ^ Graham 2013, pp. 4–5.
Bibliography
- Crump, John (1996). "Anarchism and Nationalism in East Asia". OCLC 843017149.
- Em, Henry H. (1999). "Nationalism, Post-Nationalism, and Shin Ch'ae-ho" (PDF). OCLC 781625770.[permanent dead link]
- OCLC 824655763.
- Hwang, Dongyoun (2010). "Korean Anarchism Before 1945: A regional and transnational approach". In Hirsch, Steven; van der Walt, Lucien (eds.). Anarchism and Syndicalism in the Colonial and Postcolonial World, 1870–1940. Studies in Global Social History. Vol. 6. OCLC 1200925424. Archivedfrom the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
- Hwang, Dongyoun (2016). Anarchism in Korea: Independence, Transnationalism, and the Question of National Development, 1919-1984 (PDF). OCLC 1039293708. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- OCLC 1042028128.
- MacSimoin, Alan (2005) [1997]. The Korean Anarchist Movement (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- Park, Sonyoung (2018). "Anarchism and Culture in Colonial Korea: Minjung Revolution, Mutual Aid, and the Appeal of Nature". OCLC 7954136715.
Further reading
- Every, Eric; Sumione, Lucky; Veerapan-Lewis, Leila (22 January 2014). "The Story of the Korean Anarchists and the Anarchist Revolution in Manchuria, 1929–1931". OCLC 1112074027. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- Gu, Seung-hoe (2022). Tigers Unchained: 100 Years of Korean Anarchism. OCLC 1252411373.
- Kim, Jeong-tak (15 April 2022). "[김정탁의 인문지리기행] 산과 물의 선계, 한국의 아나키즘을 키우다" [[Kim Jeong-tak's Human Geography Tour] The realm of mountains and water, fostering anarchism in Korea]. The JoongAng (in Korean). Retrieved 21 October 2022.
External links
- Korean Anarchism History from the Anarchy Archives. Transcript of a talk given by Alan MacSimoin to the Workers Solidarity Movementin 1991.
- "Non-Western Anarchisms : Rethinking the Global Context" by Jason Adams.