International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

Anarchism , accepted by Korean radicals in the early 1920s as an idea for independence from Japanese colonial rule since 1910, was one of the most important currents in the Korean independence movement. While their immediate goal was to “retake” independence through direct action, motivated by national consciousness, the ultimate goal of Korean anarchists was to achieve a social revolution bent on anarchist principles. Anarchism offered them an alternative to Bolshevism and social Darwinism with its promise of human progress through mutual aid, and hope for a new society with its universal messages of freedom, no compulsory power, and spontaneous alliance. The circulations of anarchist ideas as well as anarchists themselves in East Asia were of significance in the rise of Korean anarchism in the 1920s, in the sense that it was basically a product of interactions among anarchists in the area, through which Korean anarchists were imbued with national consciousness and shared transnational concerns with other anarchists as a result of mutual influence and inspiration. Transnationalism, like nationalism, was a main force in the rise of Korean anarchism, which may explain why Korean anarchists preferred political independence to social revolution, without which, they believed, no significant political changes could even be made ( Hwang 2007 ). After 1920 anarchist groups and organizations ... log in or subscribe to read full text