Anarchism in Korea
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[edit] History
In the 2,000 years of Korean history there arose movements fighting for peasants rights and for national independence. Within these movements there were tendencies that may be seen as forerunners of modern anarchism, in the same way as we might view the Diggers in the English revolution.
In 1894 Japan invaded, under the pretext of protecting Korea from China. The struggle for national independance became central to all radical political activity.
The modern anarchist movement in Korea began to take form among the exiles who fled to China after the 1919 independence struggle, and students & workers who went to Japan. This struggle, the 3.1 Movement within which anarchists were prominent, involved 2 million people; 1,500 demonstrations were held; 7,500 were killed; 16,000 wounded and more than 700 homes and 47 churches destroyed.
In the period up to the close of World War II the Korean Anarchist Federation has identified three stages.
[edit] The Gestation Period (1920s)
The first stage covered the first half of the 1920s and is described by the KAF as the gestation period.
In the early years of this century as the Japanese ruling class started their imperialist drive into other Asian countries they also ruthlessly cracked down on any opposition at home. Japanese anarchists were to the forefront in anti-imperialist agitation. In 1910 Kotoku Shusui, a leading Japanese anarchist, was executed for treason. The Commoners Newspaper was rallying opposition to the Russia-Japan war and to the occupation of Korea. With the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917, the rice riot of 1918 and the mass uprising in Korea in 1919, the Japanese ruling class was worried.
Following the bloody suppression of the 3.1 Movement and the rise in the level of class struggle in Japan itself, the Japanese bosses blamed anarchists and Koreans for the Tokyo earthquake of 1923. More than 6,000 Korean workers in Japan were hunted down with clubs and bamboo spears. All known Japanese and Korean anarchists were arrested. Park Yeol and his wife Kaneko Fumiko, Korean anarchists, veterans of the independence struggle and organisers of the Tokyo "Black Workers Society", were sentenced to death. Many others were jailed. The charge of causing an earthquake may have been a bit embarrassing to sections of the ruling class so the sentences were commuted to life in prison. The Japanese authorities announced that Kaneko had hung herself in her solitary confinement cell at a prison in Utsunomiya and Park was not released until the end of WWll. Many of the Koreans jailed in what became known as "the High Treason case" went on to become leading activists in the anarchist movement in their own country.
The Korean Anarchist Federation in China was formed in April 1924. and published the "Korean Revolution Manifesto". It was militantly anti-imperialist "we declare that the burglar politics of Japan is the enemy for our nation's existence and that it is our proper right to overthrow the imperialist Japan by a revolutionary means". It went on to stress the need to do more than merely exchange rulers, pointing out the difference between a political revolution and a social revolution. It had no doubts about the role of anarchists; it laid emphasis on the leading role of the anarchists in a revolutionary situation. The Federation began to produce papers like Recapture and Justice Bulletin.
By 1928 the spread of libertarian politics allowed the Korean Anarchists to organise the Eastern Anarchist Federation with comrades from China, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan - which published a bulletin, Dong- Bang (The East). The "Manifesto" was adopted by the Eastern Federation as its formal programme.
[edit] Korean Anarchist Federation Grows (1925-1930)
The second stage which covered the years 1925-30 was dominated by the organisation of the movement. Armed with the theory of anarchist revolution set out in the "Manifesto" and practical experiences drawn from the 3.1 movement, the workers organisations in Japan and "the High Treason case" groups were organised in Seoul, Taegu, Pyongyang and other areas. By November 1929 there had been a huge growth and the Korean Anarchist Communist Federation was formed as a national organisation. As part of the anti Japanese resistance it was a totally underground body. This should not lead anyone into thinking that it was small or lacking in widespread support.
In Kiho province the daily newspaper Dong-a Ilbo reported in October 1925 that ten members of the League of Black Flag had been jailed for one year each. The following year the same paper reported that five young workers were jailed for putting out a manifesto very similar in style and content to the "Korean Revolution Manifesto". In 1929 Dong -a Ilbo tells of a secret society of anarchists organised by Lee Eun-Song which had one hundred members in the town of Icheon in Kwangwon province. In that year it transpired that the entire membership of the Chunju Artists Movement Society were all anarchists, such were the names and fronts used to throw the Japanese police off the scent. In response to this the death penalty was brought in for organising societies with the aim of "changing the national structure".
In Taegu, a League of Truth and Fraternity was set up in 1925 by exiles who returned from Japan. The Revolutionists League also came into being and both were in regular contact with the Tokyo Black Youth Society. I have also come across anarchist groups in Anui, Mesan, the Changwon Black Friend League, the Jeju Island Mutual Aid group. The last mentioned used their remoteness from central government to organise co-ops of farmers and artisans, even a peasants' band. Needless to say, the organisers quickly found they were not that remote and saw the inside of a prison cell.
In Kwanseo and Kwanbul province I have found mention of at least eight more groups. Almost all the groups around the country were involved in a mixture of producing leaflets & papers, oranising trade unions and engaging in resistance to the occupation.
By this time we know that most areas could boast of an active group. There were also organisations in Manchuria and amongst exiles in China and Japan.
[edit] Conflict and Repression (1929-1945)
The next stage was the fighting period which ran up to 1945.
Among the two million Koreans in Manchuria the KAF in Manchuria was able to sink deep roots immediately after its formation in 1929. The Federation's main organiser, Kim Jong-Jin, drew up a plan which he put to the anti-Japanese guerillas. It covered voluntary collectives for farmers, free education up to age 18 with adult education for those older and arms training for all responsible adults. Discussions followed and eventually an anarchist plan was agreed which was described as being "according to the free federation principle based upon the spontaneous free will of man".
The difficulty that was not really addressed was how to deal with the Stalinists who were also organising in this region and were slandering the anarchists and others as "tyrants". The young anarchists around Yu- Rim wanted to fight ideology with ideology and demonstrate the superiority of their ideas. The older anti-Japanese guerillas around Kim Jwa-Jin (sometimes called the Korean Makhno) thought it was enough to state their support for anarchism but that they could ignore the Stalinists until national independence was won because only then would real politics come to the forefront. Not a lot different from the stages theory put forward by elements in Sinn Fein!
[edit] Autonomous Shinmin Region (1929-1931)
The apex of Korean anarchism came in late 1929 outside the actual borders of the country, in Manchuria. Over two million Korean immigrants lived within Manchuria at the time when the Korean Anarchist Communist Federation (KACF) declared the Shinmin province autonomous and under the administration of the Korean People’s Association. The decentralized, federative structure the association adopted consisted of village councils, district councils and area councils, all of which operated in a cooperative manner to deal with agriculture, education, finance and other vital issues. KACF sections in China, Korea, Japan and elsewhere devoted all their energies towards the success of the Shinmin Rebellion, most of them actually relocating there. Dealing simultaneously with Stalinist Russia’s attempts to overthrow the Shinmin autonomous region and Japan’s imperialist attempts to claim the region for itself, the Korean anarchists had been crushed by 1931.
On January 20th the anarchist general Kim Jwa-Jin was assassinated while doing repair work on the rice mill I just mentioned. The killer escaped but his handler was caught and executed.
At a meeting in June in Peking of the KAFC it was decided to divert all resources outside Korea itself to Manchuria and most KAFC members moved to the anarchist zone in northern Manchuria. It should be noted that women comrades were active as agitators and arms smugglers.
From late 1930 onwards the Japanese were attacking in waves from the South and the stalinists, supported by the USSR, from the North. In early 1931 the stalinists sent assassination and kidnapping teams into the anarchist zone to murder leading activists. They believed that if they wiped out the KAFM the KAPM would wither and die. By the summer of 1931 many leading anarchists were dead and the war on two fronts was devastating the region. It was decided to go underground. Anarchist Shimin was no more.
There is much more to be said about activity in China and Japan as well as in Korea both in the years up to the close of the second world war, about their attitude towards the partition of their country, and about their position today. It would take too much time to deal with it all. What should be very clear is that anarchism in Asia has a very real history. We need more information to properly assess its political development, achievements and failings. In the meantime we can draw strength from the knowledge that anarchism was, and can be again, a major force in the region.
[edit] Post World War II
At the end of World War Two, the Japanese pulled out a couple months before the US & Russia could occupy Korea. In that time workers' started taking over the factories, peasants the land & self-managed communes were set up. In Seoul a provisional Korean government was set up, but it's power was weak and mostly limited to the capital. There was quite a bit of freedom in these few months. It was very close to anarchy, despite the fact that the Korean anarchist movement had been mostly wiped out after its' defeat in their Manchurian guerilla war.
Eventually the United States troops have replaced the Japanese occupying forces. While still being under occupation, the end of Japanese rule provided space for anarchists and leftists to organize in their communities. It also allowed political dissidents living in exile to return, such as anarchist Yu Rim.
About 60 anarchists gathered in Jong-No and established the Free Society Builders League and the Farmers and Labourers League. The groups discussed and promoted ideas of ways in which people can organize around the principles of independence and mutual aid.
In April, 1946, anarchists from the Free Society Builders League, the [[Korean Anarchist General Federation, the Black Friend League' and the [[League of truth and fraternity' gathered in Anui, South Kyeungsang Province. At the conference, anarchists discussed the best way to promote their principles in the current political climate.
Out of this came two gernal tendencies- One was to engage in the political arena in hopes of moving the country closer to anarchist principles and avoiding marginalization. The other sought to create social movements to challenge the state. One of the most influential people in the latter movement was Lee Mun-Chang.
Much of Mun-Chang's work was with the Farm Volunteers Association. The group came out of the 1960 student rebellions. Students were eager for change. From this desire came the Farm Volunteers Association, whose goal was to was to make a village or town independent by manufacturing goods and then selling their products in the city. At this period of time the country was not industrialized and many people were still living in rural areas.
The students would travel to villages discuss anarchist and radical politics with villagers as well as help the people gain more autonomy. One group held community workshops and secured tools for people to begin light industrial work to make their own products for their own use and source of revenue.
The movement, however, faced many challenges, particularly repression from the military dictatorship of Lee Seung-man. The authoritarian climate coupled with increased industrialization of the country eventually led to the demise of the Farm Volunteers Association.
[edit] Contemporary Anarchism (1990s-present)
It wasn't until the internet and representative democracy came to Korea in the 1990s that anarchism was again a force in the country. The new generation of anarchists in general look quite different from their predecessors. Many present-day anarchists dismiss much of the anarchist work done in the early twentieth century as simply being nationalist. There is a distinct gap between the old anti-imperialists and newer generation of activists.
The new anarchist movement has been characterized by protests and demonstrations inspired by the global justice movement and influenced by anarchist activity taking place in the United States and Europe.
More long-term work that is happening includes the Freeschool for International Solidarity The freeschool aims to open education to anyone interested in both teaching and studying, hopefully breaking down the rigid traditional confucian-based approach to education. It offers a wide variety of classes including english language through punk rock lyrics and human rights issues in korea. A lot of work has gone into this project. From its inception language barriers have been crossed, group dynamics and collective process debated. there are weekly meetings to thinktank new classes and direction and organise the logistics.
The school offers an alternative space for learning in opposition to the elitist and largely inaccessible education system in the country. Additionally, the school has been able to bridge some of the gaps between the old guard and newer anarchists. Lee Mun-chang of the older generation has volunteered with the free school, networking with youth, sharing insights and stories from Korea's anarchist history and promoting more dialog between the older anarchist academics and young activists.
Anarchists in Korea are also involved in the strong militant labor movement, growing feminist movement, work against compulsory military service and other progressive causes.
[edit] Daechuri Autonomous Village
The farmers of Daechuri and Doduri have long been resisting the Korean government's attempts to force their eviction in order to make way for the expansion of the "Camp Humphreys" (K-6) US Military Base. Finally in December of 2005 the Korean government declared the lands the property of the government under "imminent domain." Everyone who remained in their homes was guilty of trespassing on federal property.
On February 7th, 2006 the farmers marched to the local government office, declared that Daechuri and Doduri were autonomous from Korea, renounced their citizenship and burned their residency cards. Currently, Daechuri and Doduri receive no provincial funding and, on official records, have ceased to exist. They have since been organizing the daily life and the defense of their land and community through general councils, independently of the local government.
The Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) has designated the village of Daechuri and surrounding areas as a miltary protected zone in its latest attempt to seize land slated to be property of the United States military. In an attempt to control the escalating chaos that ensued when it sent troops and riot police to evict residents and activists, the MND was conducting door to door searches and arresting people on sight. Road blockades of sand bags and police buses have been placed around the village to prevent anyone from entering or exiting. At least 400 people have been injured and 524 arrested since Thursday. The three days of violence has prompted criticism of the police force's conduct during the eviction.
- History up to 1930 taken from "The Korean Anarchist Movement," a talk given by Alan MacSimoin to the Workers' Solidarity Movement, Dublin Branch in September 1991.
- History from WW II on was adapted from Anarchy in the R.K. by Eleven Greenstones.
