​The Comintern’s Theory of National Revolutionary Movements and its Projection to the Korean Communist Movement in the Early 1920s

Author: ​Lee, Hee-eul

Page: 171-224

​Comintern emphasized the vanguard role of the Communist Party to secure support from mass organizations at its Second World Congress in 1920. Furthermore, by formulating the Theory of National Revolutionary Movement, Comintern sought to project this framework onto the Korean Communist movement. Previous researches has generally characterized the nature of the early Korean Communist movement as an effort to establish a national united front, finding its theoretical origins in the Comintern’s “anti-imperialist national united front” slogan. Some researches have further contended that the political opinions of the Lee Dong-hwi faction was recognized by the Comintern as the most appropriate course of action. Paradoxically, however, the Comintern officially recognized Chosun Communist Party—founded under the auspices of the Voitinsky faction(the Communist group originating from the Comintern’s Eastern Department and the Bolsheviks Siberian Bureau’s Department of Oriental Peoples) rather than the Lee Dong-hwi faction—as its formal branch. To elucidate the causes of this decision, this paper examines the Theses on the National ​Revolutionary Movement within the context of the Comintern’s Second World Congress and its projection onto the Korean Communist movement.​

​​The Second World Congress of the Comintern formulated the Theory of National Revolutionary Movement while broadly emphasizing the pivotal role of the Communist Party. This theory was predicated upon the prohibition of merging proletarian movements with revolutionary movements in underdeveloped countries and the maintenance of the unconditional independence of the Communist Party. Specifically, it proposed a framework centered on the Communist Party that involved the “incorporation and revolutionization of peasant movements in colonial and underdeveloped countries,” subsequently “maximizing revolutionary currents within the national movement” through strategic linkages. Based on this premise, the Comintern consistently demanded the application of these theses to Korean Communist groups through the Resolution on the Korean Question. While the Comintern occasionally critiqued the Eastern Department and Voitinsky, it simultaneously took measures to ensure the latter retained hegemony over the Communist movement within colonial Korea. Given that the majority of the Voitinsky faction possessed prior experience as Bolsheviks, they prioritized the direct mobilization of the masses to link the activity with the Communist movement. Consequently, in 1926, the Comintern officially recognized Chosun Communist Party, led by the Voitinsky faction, as its authorized section.​