Jeon Eunju
Yanbian University

Received May 30, 2024; Revised version received July 30, 2024; Accepted August 20, 2024

Abstract

This study explores how Korean communities in Northeast China perceived liberation in the aftermath of Japan’s 1945 defeat, focusing on representations in Korean poetry from the period. Rather than viewing liberation solely as the end of colonial rule, the research frames it as a process of “finding one’s place”—a complex experience involving both ethnic and economic restoration. The findings suggest that liberation for Koreans unfolded along two main axes: ethnic liberation, marked by the recovery of sovereignty from Japanese colonial rule, and economic liberation, marked by the Chinese Communist Party’s land reform policies. Ethnic liberation evoked feelings of joy and relief, but it also brought fear and uncertainty. Though Koreans were freed from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule, they now faced hostility from local Han Chinese, the threat of banditry, and the Kuomintang’s expulsion policies—challenges that forced them into new struggles for survival amid the dilemma of repatriation and permanent resettlement. In contrast, economic liberation— enabled by Communist land redistribution—allowed many Koreans to move from tenant farming to land ownership. This transformation was not merely economic but also symbolic, catalyzing a shift in identity from “Korean diaspora” to “Chinese Koreans” and establishment of a new social status within China.

Key Words : liberation, Korean diaspora, repatriation, Chinese Koreans, land reform