A Little-known Page in the History of the Korean Liberation Movement

Historiography of the Democratic People Republic of Korea and, consequently, Soviet and Russian historiography, had for a long time been silent on the undisputable fact that Kim Il-sung and his guerilla force spent a major part of World War II in the Soviet Far East. This topic was open to discussion only when the eighth volume of Kim Il-sung's memories << In the Whirlpool of the Century >> was published in 1998. Kim Il-sung's guerilla force moved to the Soviet Far East during the fall of 1940. In 1942-1945 it was a part of the 88th special rifle brigade of the Far Eastern Front, specially organized from Chinese and Korean guerilla groups, with the participation from Soviet citizen of Chinese, Korean, Nanay, etc. origin, for reconnaissance and subversive missions in the Japan-occupied territories of Manchuria and Korea. The paper discusses the formation, military and political training and activities of the Korean battalion of the 88th brigade, its activities and role in the Korean liberation, cooperation with Soviet military and political structures, as well as the Korean guerillas' comeback to assist the Soviet administration and the nascent national statehood. The author's task is to estimate the objectivity of Kim Il-sung's narrative about those events and to redefine the importance of the topic for the adequate historiography of World War II in the Far East, the history of liberation of Korea and Soviet-Korean relations.