The Formation Process of Soviet Koreans' Transnational Identity as New Soviet Citizens from the 1920s to the 1930s1: The Physical Cultural Activities in Primorye as Recorded in the Soviet Korean Newspaper Sunbong (Avant Garde)2

Abstract

As a multiethnic country, the early Soviet regime had to create a transnational identity, and it did so by arming Soviet citizens with socialism as a means to integrate the diverse ethnic groups in the country. Physical cultural activities were used as one of the tools to create this transnational identity. These early Soviet policies affected the local ethnic minority of Soviet Korean people in Primorye, USSR. As a communist party organ, the Soviet Korean newspaper Sunbong (Avant Garde) was the primary source used to observe the Soviet Koreans' Sovietization from 1923 to 1937 (from the birth of the USSR to the Soviet Korean Deportation). According to Sunbong, Soviet Korean physical cultural activities are classified into four main types: (i) socialist education for youth; (ii) national defense; (iii) health and hygiene; and (iv) presenting the new Soviet Korean Dano physical culture day. Therefore, Soviet Koreans focused on physical cultural activities to form a transnational identity – these activities served as a barometer of Sovietization and internationalization while simultaneously presenting and maintaining the Soviet Koreans' ethnic identity.