The Svobodny incident (Korean: 자유시 참변; Hanja: 自由市慘變), also known as the Jayu City incident (자유시 사기변; 自由市事庋變) and the Heukha incident (흑하사변; 黑河事變), occurred on June 28, 1921, in Svobodny (Russian for "free") in the Far East Republic (currently Amur Oblast, Russia) where the Korean exiled independence fighters who refused to accept command of the Red Army were surrounded and suppressed.
Names
The Koreans who lived there called it "Free City." It is also called the Jayu City Incident, the Heukha Incident, and the Black River Incident, between independent army units and the Russian Red Army. Free City is a village called 'Alekseyevsk' located on the Zeya River in Russia, and is currently called 'Svobodny.' It is also called the 'Heihe Incident,' named after the Chinese border city of Heihe, where the Zeya River flows and joins the Heilongjiang River.
Background
To avoid the Japanese army, which carried out a large-scale suppression of the independence army, independent army units in Manchuria gathered together into the Korean Independence Corps to establish an anti-Japanese base. In March 1921, units began moving and crossing the border, but in the process, many units remained in Manchuria, and some moved to the Maritime Province. The independence fighters who moved to Russia received help with military training from Korean unit commanders from the Red Army and signed a military agreement with the Soviet government to acquire weapons. In response, Japan launched a robust diplomatic offensive and demanded that the Soviet government disarm the independence army.
The Russian Civil War and associated conflicts were still going in the. In the far east, factions of the White movement still continued, and, the Far East Republic had been established. This, combined with the Czechoslovak Legion's rebellion and foreign military intervention, led to a chaotic situation in the Maritime Provinces. Japan, which was supporting the White army, dispatched troops to Siberia in April 1918 and attempted to eliminate the Korean armed units fighting for independence in the Maritime Provinces, which additionally had a notable component in the Korean Communist Party, (due to exile diaspora members who had arrived from Russia and China)..
The Korean Independence Army cooperated with the Red Army. On March 12, 1920, in the Nikolaevsk Incident, the Independence Army and the Red Army united to repel the Japanese Army and the White Army. On the night of April 4–5, 1920, the Japanese army attacked all Bolshevik organizations and Korean-populated areas, including Shinhanchon, in Vladivostok. As a result of this incident, the Bolshevik organization and the Red Army in Vladivostok retreated to the north to avoid the Japanese army, and the Korean armed units in the Maritime Provinces were also forced to move their base.
They headed to the Free City of the Far Eastern Republic, where the Bolshevik forces were strong. Ohamuk's Freedom Battalion, belonging to the Far Eastern Republic, was there. Communist Korean armed units began to gather one after another in Svobodnt. Representative Korean armed units in the Maritime Provinces included the Nihman Army and the Davan Army.
The Bolshevik government commanded the Korean independence forces stationed in Svobodny to disarm on June 22, 1921, killing or taking prisoner the resisting independence forces. This incident was a disaster caused by the Sakhalin Volunteer Army's encirclement and attack by the Soviet Red Army. Meanwhile, Japan had continued to demand the disbandment of the Korean Independence Army.
Therefore, the Soviet government, seeking Japanese withdrawal fem the ‘Far East’, wished to simultaneously avoid friction with Japan by absorbing the Korean Independence Army into the Red Army.
In addition, it was an incident against a complex background due to the political conflict between the Irkutsk and the Shanghai Factions of the Korean Communist Party which formed a large bloc within the independence army.
Prelude
Japan, which suffered a crushing defeat by the independence army in the Battle of Fengwudong and the Battle of Cheongsanri in 1920, mobilized 50,000 troops and launched a large-scale operation to suppress the Korean independence army. The Japanese military invaded Gando in retaliation. To justify this retaliation, they bribed the Ma Jeok-dan to incite the Hunchun Incident. They deployed troops to Gando, and the independence forces suffered a crushing defeat. Afterwards, the Japanese military carried out retaliatory operations in the form of massacre of civilians. As the situation turned dangerous, the independence army, which was dispersed into various organizations such as Seo Il, the Northern Military Administration Office led by Kim Jwa-jin, Ji Cheong-cheon's Korean Independence Corps, and Hong Beom-do's Korean Independence Army gathered at Mt. Mirsan.
At that time, the Soviet Union was in the midst of a civil war following the revolution, and the conflict between the Red Army, led by the Bolsheviks, and the White Army of counter-revolutionaries was intensifying. The Japanese army dispatched troops to Siberia under the pretext of supporting the White Army, and in April 1920, attacked Korean residential areas, including Shinhanchon in Vladivostok. By the end of the autumn, the Japanese had pulled two divisions into the rebellious region, whose punitive campaign turned into genocide. In this situation, the Korean Independence Army joined the Red Army and then moved to the Maritime Provinces as the Red Army retreated. The Korean armed forces in the Maritime Provinces gathered in Free City to avoid Japan's pursuit as the Bolshevik forces strengthened. The Soviet Union was making it clear that it would not spare any support for the independence of weak nations. In the face of the inevitable defeat, the Korean partisans began to retreat along the Russian border to the north and cross it in the Iman area, beyond which the territories of the Bolsheviks formed. Others even reached Amur. They integrated and reorganized ten units of the Independence Army and the Korean Independence Corps with 3,500 troops and divided them into three battalions in December 1920. It became the Unification Corps of the 5th Independence Army, but military support from a third country was necessary because it was poorly armed.
Korean Independence Corps marches to Free City
The leaders of the Korean Independence Corps also crossed the Soman border into Siberia in January 1921. At this time, Kim Jwa-jin opposed going to the Soviet Union. His opposition was because he could not trust communists, and he decided it would be wise to stand up again in Gando, where many Koreans lived, even if it was difficult. In this situation, the Korean Independence Corps moved east again and gathered at Iman (Dalneretsensk) in the Maritime Provinces to establish a safe zone. The Independence Corps that entered Siberia divided its units. At that time, battles continued throughout the Soviet Union between the White Army and the Red Army. The Red Army intended to absorb the independence army and send it into battle with the White Army. The Korean Independence Army was also aware of such purposes. Still, due to the extreme cold and hunger at the time and poor armament and supplies, it had no choice but to accept military support from the Communist Party. As a result, the Independence Army received equipment from the enemy, including 15 artillery, 500 machine guns, and 3,000 rifles. From mid-January to mid-March 1921, Korean armed forces from Siberia and Gando gathered in Jayu City, and the Korean armed forces in the Gando area consisted of the general military unit of Choi Jin-dong and Heo Wook, the Nationalist Army of Choi Jin-dong and Jeong Il-mu, and Hong Beom- do. There was the independence army led by Lee Cheong-cheon and the military junta army led by Kim Jwa-jin and Seo Il, and the volunteer troops in the Noryeong area included the Iman Army, Dabang Army, Nihang Army, Freedom Battalion, and Independence Unit army.
Factional conflict
The armed Korean groups gathered in Free City was primarily the nationalist Korean Independence Corps and the communist armed groups of the Maritime Provinces and Siberia. Since the Comintern supported the Korean Independence Corps, the initiative was taken by communist-affiliated Korean armed units.
However, the socialist armed units that gathered in Free City in late March 1921 were the Shanghai Faction of the Korean Communist Party. Their armed units included the Shanghai faction and Korean Independence Army units from Jiandao. They were supported by the Far East Republic of the Russian Communist Party. The Comintern's Oriental Secretariat supported the Irkutsk faction. The two sides clashed over command of Korean armed units in Russia. Meanwhile, many Korean Independence units that moved to Free City were affiliated with the Sakhalin Volunteer Army.
Park Il-ya's Nihang Unit represented the Shanghai faction of the Korean Communist Party, while Oh Ha-muk's Freedom Battalion represented the Irkutsk faction of the Korean Communist Party. Before Korea's Provisional Government was integrated into the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, there were three provisional governments: the Korean National Assembly in the Maritime Provinces, the Hanseong Government in Seoul, and the Provisional Government in Shanghai. The Shanghai faction supported the Shanghai Provisional Government, and the Irkutsk faction supported the Maritime Province Korean National Assembly.
Since the Free City was part of the Far Eastern Republic and the Free Battalion was a unit of the Far Eastern Republic, the Korean armed units had to be incorporated into the Freedom Battalion of the Irkutsk faction. Pak Il-ya refused to be incorporated into the Freedom Battalion and reported this to the Korean Ministry of the Far East Republic. At that time, the Shanghai faction dominated the Korean section of the Far East Republic. They unilaterally dispatched Park Chang-eun and Grigoryev without consulting with the Korean National Assembly or the Freedom Battalion. They attempted to take the initiative in consultation with the Far Eastern Republic. Park Il-ya attempted to reorganize the Nihang Army into the Sakhalin Volunteer Army and place all Korean armed units under it.
However, Park Chang-eun and his party, who arrived in Free City in mid-February 1921, failed to exercise their commanding authority and resigned as commander-in-chief. The Korean People's Department appointed Grigoryev regiment commander and Park Il-ya, the military administration committee chairman. The two immediately began managing the military. Park Il-ya moved the Nihang Army and Davan Army, which had been incorporated into the Freedom Battalion, to Masanov. In addition, the Korean Independence Corps, mainly composed of independence fighters from Gando, was also forcibly expelled from Free City. The Freedom Battalion refused to comply until the end, so its officers were arrested and disarmed by the Nihang Army and the Davan Army. The Freedom Battalion was downgraded and forcibly incorporated into the local garrison of the Far Eastern Republic. In this way, the Shanghai faction and Park Il-ya commanded the Korean Independence Army units gathered in Free City.
Disarmament
Oh Ha-muk, who led the Freedom Battalion, could not remain still. He went to the Oriental Secretariat of the Comintern (Third International) in Irkutsk and negotiated for them to have command of the Korean armed forces. The Comintern had sufficient power because it was controlling the Far Eastern republics. The Oriental Affairs Department of the Comintern sided with the Irkutsk faction and Ohamuk. The Eastern Secretariat transferred the jurisdiction of the Korean Independence Corps in Russia from the Far East Republic to the Oriental Secretariat of the Comintern. The situation developed in favor of the Korean Revolutionary Army Council.