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.

The League of Koreans in Japan (Chae Ilbon Chosŏnin Yŏnmaeng; abbreviated as Choryon 朝連) was officially established on October 15, 1945. In its early days, ideological divisions between left- and right-leaning factions were not yet overt. However, internal struggles for leadership eventually pushed the organization toward alignment with communist forces, leading to its support for the North Korean regime. Although Choryon’s founding congress nominally promoted unity across ideological lines, figures such as Kim Chon-hae—known for his anti-Japanese resistance—found it impossible to reconcile with individuals linked to pro- Japanese collaboration. Within a year of Korea’s liberation, the community of Koreans residents in Japan had become so deeply polarized that even joint commemoration of the March First Independence Movement became unfeasible. This division only deepened during the Cold War, especially after the establishment of separate governments in North and South Korea. Each faction within the community of Korean residents effectively became a conduit for advancing the unification policies of the respective authoritarian regime it supported.