1930년대 후반 동북항일연군의 활동과 在滿韓人 －동북항일연군의 (한·중)민족연합적 성격 再論－

Abstract

The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army(東北抗日聯軍, NEAJUA) was established in mid-1936, building upon the foundation of the Northeast People’s Revolutionary Army(NEPRA). This preceding organization was formed in 1933 under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party to counter Japan’s invasion of Manchuria, China’s northeastern region. The united front drew a considerable number of Korean participants, amplifying the collaborative resistance movement against Japanese aggression by both the Korean and Chinese communities. Historically, both Chinese academia and political arenas recognized the army as a joint effort of the two ethnicities, underlining the substantial contributions made by notable Korean personalities from Manchuria, such as Kim Il-sung and Choi Yong-kun. Yet, from the early 2000s, alternative interpretations began to surface within the Chinese scholarly circles. Notably, Professor Hao Jiangdong of East China Normal University has critiqued the prevailing narrative as a political distortion. In a related vein, Shen Zhihua, an authority on Sino-North Korean ties, has recently portrayed the activities of Koreans in Manchuria during the 1930s and 40s as endeavors of the Chaoxianzu(Korean ethnic group in China), framing it as a precursor to the formation of the Zhonghua(中華) ethnic concept. Further research from Yanbian also contests the long-standing “Dual Mission Thesis,” suggesting that Koreans in Manchuria at the time were primarily contributing to the Chinese revolution and the emancipation of the Zhonghua ethnicity, thereby challenging the idea that they concurrently aimed for Korean independence and revolution. Nevertheless, these shifting perspectives within Chinese scholarship necessitate a meticulous re-examination. The contribution of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and its Korean members to the resistance movements of the late 1930s to early 1940s ought to be fully recognized and incorporated into Korean historical narratives, the chronicles of the Korean independence movement, and, on a larger scale, the Korean diaspora’s story. Despite the prolific body of recent research emerging from Chinese academia on this topic, there exists a disconcerting void in Korean scholarship in this domain. As such, there’s an imperative need for the Korean academic community to intensify its research and pedagogical endeavors concerning the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and Koreans in Manchuria.