Koryo Saram: The Unreliable People with Meredith Woo
Friday, 12:30, Campbell Hall 160
Directors: Y. David Chung, Matt Dibble
Writer: Japhet Asher
Cinematographer: Matt Dibble
Running Time: 60 min
Beginning in the 1860s, Koreans migrated to Russian territory due to harsh economic conditions and famine back home. By 1900, 60,000 Koreans were settled in Russia near Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. The Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 brought a new wave of refugees, and by the early 1930s, 180,000 Koreans were settled in Far East Russia.
Established in Russia with collective farms; fishing villages; and Korean-language newspapers, theaters, and schools, Korean émigrés were appointed to the highest levels of the regional Communist party and government. Many Koreans fought alongside the Communists, hoping it would lead to the liberation of Korea from Japan. Then, in 1937, Stalin began a campaign of massive ethnic cleansing. The riveting story of the Koreans, known as “Koryo Saram,” (the Soviet Korean phrase for Korean person) during the Great Terror is the central focus of this one-hour film.
All 180,000 Koreans were packed into crowded cattle cars to make the 3,700-mile journey to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. This highly organized, monthlong deportation is vividly brought to life though the memories of firsthand survivors.
Forced to close their schools and stop speaking their language, and facing severe limitations on movement and travel, these Koreans assimilated into the Russian Communist state without resistance, and were quite successful establishing their collective farms. After the death of Stalin in 1953, Koreans were allowed to leave their collective farms and many began to move to the large urban areas to begin lives in professional or administrative fields. How these Koreans integrated with Soviet society while maintaining their traditional identity is a fascinating testament to the power of cultural heritage.
Producer Meredith Jung-En Woo is the dean of U.Va.’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
