The colonial history has been a topic for scientific research for Russian and foreign orientalists in the 20th and 21th centuries. At present some of the historical events and processes, the liberation movement in the Asian colonies for instance, are being revised and reviewed. At the same time a search for new sources, documents and information is becoming one of the priorities in historical science. This is true about Korean liberation studies in the former USSR and Russia. Soviet and Russian orientalists carried out a number of significant works on the topic. However, as many scholars say themselves, these publications need revision. Furthermore, formerly in their publications Soviet researchers were obliged to follow the concepts of the official North-Korean historiography, which was to serve the cult of Kim Il- Sung and the “Chuchhe” doctrine and misinterpreted historical events, those related to the 1920-s and the 1930-s particularly. As a result some misinterpreted conceptions, missing and unexplained data about Korea’s liberation movement appeared. Hence there was a necessity to broaden the scientific source of research, a need for new information and data. The article is devoted to Korean colonial history, particularly to the Korean struggle for independence during the first 25 years of Japanese colonial governance. The author seeks to find out the way national liberation and communist movement are depicted in the conceptions of Soviet and Russian orientalists. Korean struggle against Japanese colonial rule has been reflected in special editions for official use of the Japanese colonial administration. These books were written in Japanese by the General-Governor’s office, police and court and were used by senior Japanese officials. They prove to be an original source of scientific research concerning forms and methods of Japanese governance in the colony, general situation on the Korean Peninsula before WWII. These Japanese publications also provide important data that shed light on Korea’s struggle for independence. The author makes an attempt to compare, where possible, the conceptions of Russian orientalists concerning national liberation and communist movement in Korea in the late 1910-s, 1920-s and early 1930-s with the interpretation given in the above mentioned Japanese publications.

Ovchinnikova Liubov Vsevolodovna, Candidate of Sciences (History), Associate Professor, Department of Japanese, Philology, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation, e-mail: lovchin@yandex.ru

Ovchinnikova L.V. Korean National Liberation and Communist Movement in Korea (Late 1910-s, 1920-s and Early 1930-s). Concepts of Russian Orientalists. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Political Science and Religion Studies, 2021, vol. 38, pp. 73-81. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2021.38.73 (in Russian)

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