고려총국 내지부의 조직화와 노농운동

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe the organization and activities of the Domestic Branch of the Korean Bureau in 1923-24, with a particular focus on the Farmer-Labour Movement. The Domestic Branch of the Korean Bureau was the domestic organization of the Korean General Bureau, created in March 1923 to oversee the socialist movement in colonial Korea and to take charge of the formation of the new Communist Party. After its establishment in March 1923, the Domestic Branch of Korean Bureau organized itself by establishing cell groups in Seoul and other provinces. Two characteristics can be seen in the organization of the Domestic Branch of Korean Bureau. The first is that organizing activities were concentrated in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The second is that the main targets of the organizing work were local farmer-labor organizations. These features may have been influenced by the Comintern Decision of December 1922, which directed that the socialist movement in colonial Korea should be based on the domestic working class. The Domestic Branch of the Korean Bureau used the networks it had gained through its organizing activities to attempt to form a nationwide federation of farmers’ organizations, the Chosun Farmer-Labour General Confederation, in September 1923, but it failed due to strong pressure from the colonial power. After the failed attempt to form the ‘Chosun Farmer-Labour General Confederation’, the Domestic Branch of the Korean Bureau promoted the formation of a federation centered on farmer-labour organizations in the southern provinces from January 1924. At this time, the Domestic Branch of the Korean Bureau advocated the ‘South Chosun Unity Theory’ centered on the southern provinces. Through the ‘South Chosun Unity Theory’, the Domestic Branch of the Korean Bureau sought to block the influence of the Seoul Communist Group and develop a movement centered on the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, which was their main base of power. The Domestic Branch of the Korean Bureau’s ‘South Chosun Unity Theory’ was also influenced by their organizational unity policy, their relationship with the Comintern, and their movement theory, which emphasized the issue of sharecropping. The Domestic Branch of the Korean Bureau held the founding congress of the South Korean Farmer-Labour Confederation on March 8, 1924, at the Daegu Labor Mutual Aid Society Hall based on the South Korean Unity Theory. One of the important decisions made at the founding congress of the South Chosun Farmer-Labour Confederation was to unite farmer organizations across the country. At the founding meeting of the South Chosun Farmer-Labour Confederation, the ‘South Chosun Unity Theory’ was raised by officials from the Goryeo General Bureau. The South Chosun Farmer-Labour Confederation immediately formed a bargaining committee for the unification of farmers’ organizations across the country after the founding meeting and put strong pressure on the Seoul Communist Group.