Han Duk-su (; February 18, 1907 – February 21, 2001) was a North Korean activist who founded the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (

Chongryon The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan,
" ''

) in 1955. His activism started when he moved to

Atami is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 36,865 in 21,593 households

in 1933 and advocated for the rights of

Zainichi Koreans () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

who were forced to work on the

Tanna Tunnel is a railroad tunnel in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan operated by JR Central’s Tōkaidō Main Line. This 7.8 km long tunnel shortened the trunk route between Tokyo and Kobe by omitting a detour round the mountains between Atami and Numazu. H ...

in Japan. However, he was arrested for this a year later, being sentenced to two years in prison.

Early life

Han Duk-su was born on February 18, 1907 in the

Korean Empire The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910. Dur ...

as the eldest son of Han Gi Man and Jang Nae Gok. After attending

Keisung High School Keisung Academy () is a co-educational independent day and boarding school for grades 10–12, located in Daegu, South Korea. History Origins Keisung Academy was established in 1906 by missionary James E. Adams. Campus facilities Academic fa ...

for four years, Han left Korea to study in Japan in 1927, wishing to become a vocalist, but was unable to pass the entrance exam for a music school. Two years later, he instead entered the Department of Social Sciences at

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. The university's name is derived from the Ja ...

in Tokyo and worked as a newspaper deliveryman before dropping out. Afterwards, he turned his attention to the labor movement, and in 1931, he joined the Tokyo branch of the general trade union under the

National Trade Union Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Activism

Imprisonments

In August 1933, Han moved to

Atami is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 36,865 in 21,593 households

and became a standing member of the Higashizu Labor Union. In September 1934, he was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison with a three-year stay of execution on the charge of having organized a labor dispute among his fellow Korean laborers, who had been under forced labor at the construction site of the

. Despite repeated arrests and imprisonments, Han still advocated for Korean rights before the country gained independence from the empire of Japan on August 15, 1945.

Formation of Chongryon

After September 1945, he served as a representative of a Kantō district association of Koreans and a member of the preparatory committee for Chongryon, which was founded in October 1945 and formed on May 25, 1955. After the end of the Pacific War, he led the formation of the Korean Association in the Kantō region and oversaw the formation of the

League of Koreans in Japan The , abbreviated as , was an organization for Zainichi Koreans that operated between October 1945 and 1949. Before Chōren, there had been no legal Korean-run organizations for residents since the 1920s. Background From 1910 to 1945, Korea ...

(Chōren) in October 1945, serving as chairman of the Kanakawa Prefecture headquarters and central headquarters, and later serving as Director General. He was elected director of the general affairs bureau, and later director of the cultural and educational affairs bureau, of Chongryon, as well as the co-chairman of Chongryon in 1947.

Further activism

In December 1949, after Chōren was ordered to be disbanded by the Japanese government, Han was appointed as the head of the National Countermeasures Department of the Japanese Communist Party, and in 1951, he opened the Nine Wolseobang (九月書房) to sell publications donated by the propaganda department of North Korea's Workers' Party of Korea and use the proceeds to develop the Korean Zainichi movement. Additionally, Han served the Fatherland Front Central Committee as its member since 1949, and as a member of its chairmen's group from 1957 until his death in February 2001. He strived to reorganize the Korean compatriots' movement in Japan following

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

's ''

Juche ''Juche'', officially the ''Juche'' idea, is a component of Ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea#Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party o ...

''-oriented line after 1952, including re-publishment of the magazine ''

Choson Sinbo The , also known by the name of its English edition ''The People's Korea'', is a newspaper based in Japan, published in both Korean and Japanese. The name literally means 'Korea Newspaper'. It is published by the General Association of Korea ...

'' and resumption of the work of the Korean News Agency based in Tokyo. In 1952, Han established the Korean Studies Research Institute, using it to promote ideological and cultural struggle by publishing the periodical ''Joseon Problems Research''. In May 1958, at the 4th General Convention of Chongryon, along with the exclusion of the non-mainstream faction, the chairmanship was disbanded and the single chairman/vice chairman system was introduced, and he was elected as chairman. Under this system, a large organizational system was built covering national education, culture, the arts, publishing, reporting, finance, and the economy. Additionally, he was appointed dean of

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...

in 1968, and although there was an uproar around 1970 when Vice-Chairman

Kim Pyong-sik Kim Pyong-sik (; February 10, 1919 – July 21, 1999) was a North Korean politician who served as Vice President of North Korea and chairman of the Korean Social Democratic Party. History He was born in Zenranan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan. Ki ...

openly rebelled against him, he managed to resolve it and held the position of chairman of Chongryon until his death in 2001. He was elected as a central committee member at the founding convention of the Democratic Front for Fatherland Unification held in Pyongyang in June 1949 and has consistently maintained a pro-North Korean stance ever since. At the second congress in December 1957, he was elected as a member of the standing committee and as one of the seven members of the chairmanship. In 1967, he was elected as a delegate to the

4th Supreme People's Assembly The 4th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) was elected 1967 North Korean parliamentary election, on 25 November 1967 and convened for its first session on 14–16 December 1967. It was replaced on 25 December 1972 by the 5th Supreme People's Assembly ...

, and in 1972, he succeeded

Paek Nam-un Paek Nam-un (; 11 February 1894 – 12 June 1979) was a Korean economist, educator, and political activist during the Japanese colonial period and later a politician in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. As a professor of economics a ...

as chairman and served until 1986.

Later life

By the early 1990s, Chongryon employees were paid very modest salaries, barely getting by with their rental payments. Meanwhile, Han and his family were living a life of luxury, occupying a massive mansion in a neighborhood in Tokyo that was staffed with domestic workers, bodyguards, personal assistants, academic tutors for the children, chefs, and chauffeurs. His younger daughters had a limousine transport them between the residence and their school.

Death

On February 21, 2001, Han Duk-su died in Tokyo, Japan from pneumonia. Afterwards, a funeral committee was appointed with

So Man-sul So Man-sul (; 17 April 1927 – 19 February 2012) was the chairman of the Central Standing Committee of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan ( Chongryon), as well as a member of the Supreme People's Assembly of North ...

as its chairman and

Ho Jong-man Ho Jong-man (born February 22, 1935 in Goseong County) is a North Korean politician who served as the third chairman of Chongryon, an association of North Korean residents in Japan. Formerly vice-chairman of the association since July 1993, he ...

as vice chairman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Duk-su Zainichi Korean politicians People from North Gyeongsang Province 1907 births 2001 deaths Members of Chongryon