Koryo
Saram
The
Koreans of Kazakhstan and the Survival of a Culture
A film by Y. David Chung
in
collaboration with Matt Dibble (principle cameraman and
editor)
Executive
Producer Meredith Woo-Cumings, Director of the Korean
Studies Program, University of Michigan
Historical Consultant - German Kim, Director of Korean
Studies, Kazakh National University named
after Al-Farabi
Hill
at Ushtobe, Kazakhstan, a small railway stop where many
thousands of Koreans were deported
In 1937, the Soviet Regime under Stalin deported 180,000 Koreans
from the Russian Far East (near Vladisvostock in the Primorsk
and Khabarask provinces) to Kazakhstan. Today
100,000 Koreans remain and live among the many different
groups of people that make up the modern Kazakh population. Largely
isolated from the outside, these Koreans (or Koryo Saram
as they are called) maintained their language and culture
in a fascinating blend of Korean, Russian and Kazakh
traditions. Their
story of the brutal forced deportation, survival in the
open steppe country and development of successful collective
farms during the Soviet era is a story unknown outside
Kazakhstan. It
is a fascinating and at times tragic account of the legacy
of Stalin's policy of mass movements of people and the
degradation of ethnic culture. Today, as Kazakhstan strives to build a national identity from it's
multi-ethnic society, the history of the Korean Kazakhs
stands out as a example of cultural survival that mirrors
the struggles of many ethnic groups as they face rapid
changes in the West.
Left – a Korean family living in Far East Russia. Right A rare photograph showing Mikhail
Kim, a leader of the Korean community in Far East Russia
at the First PeopleÕs Congress in Moscow. Kim
is seated next to Molotov and in front of Joseph Stalin. Kim was later imprisoned and purged. His family was deported to Kazakhstan.
This film is structured around the interviews of several key Korean
Kazakhs and related documents, photographs, archival film
and new video.
Mikhail Kim's daughter, Dekabrina Kim, who is eighty years old and
lives in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She
has an excellent memory of life in Vladisvostock, the deportation
and the early days in Kazakhstan. Dekabrina
Kim went on to a successful career as a medical doctor. She became the chief medical officer in her province. Above are two early photos of Ms. Kim
and scene from our film where Ms. Kim is in her kitchen.
The train station at Ushtobe, a town in South East Kazakhstan, where
many Koreans were deported. Ushtobe
is known as the Korean capital. 34,000 Koreans were deported here and later established collective
farms. Below: Matt Dibble and David Chung filming
the train platform where thousands of Koreans were dropped
off. They
also filmed along a portion of the route of the trains
during the 1937 deportation.
Map showing the Russian Far East provinces in relation to Kazakhstan
and the probable route of the trains during deportation.
Yun Sergei Yunis one of the best known Korean Kazakhs. He was deported to Ushtobe in the open
steppe country in1937. Yun
was one of many Koreans who had to dig holes in the ground
to survive the first several wintersat Ushtobe. During
the Great Patriotic War (WW II), Yun served 3 years in
the slave- labor army at Karaganda Yun returned to Ushtobe
after the war and became one the leaders of a Korean kolhoz
(collective farm). Later he earned the Order of Lenin and other medals for outstanding
production during the Virgin Lands Program.
From Left: A young couple of Korean heritage
on their wedding day. Although,
many Koreans have intermarried with Kazakhs, Russians and
other groups, they still maintain strong identity with
Korean culture. The wedding was filled with many traditional
Korean elements. Center:
An eighty year old Kurdish woman whose family was deported
to Kazakhstan. She was assigned to work in a Korean
collective farm for more than 30 years. She
speaks fluent Korean. Right:
Olga Tsoi, an artist and art teacher living in Almaty,
one of the more than fifty Korean Kazakhs we interviewed
for the film.
•
Through the use of interviews, historical
and personal photographs, archival footage and new video
of the current scene in Kazakhstan, this film will show
how a culture survived the tragic Stalinist doctrine which
Robert Conquest calls, "nation killing" . It testament to the strength of ethnic
culture in an era when the mass movements of people force
the development of new hybrid identities.
from
Left: Meredith Woo-Cumings, Zarina Akisheva & Matt
Dibble, German Kim & Y. David Chung
Project
Personnel
David
Chung is a filmmaker and media artist who has exhibited
widely throughout the country and internationally. Chung
began his career collaborating as an artist on documentary
films. His film graphics credits include Surveillance,
No Place to Hid (HBO), American Journey (PBS), Gardens
of Paradise (PBS), The Forgotten People (PBS), Soldiers
in Hiding (HBO) and Peace on Borrowed Time (ABC). In
1996, he won the Best of Show Award with Matt Dibble
for directing Turtle Boat Head at the Rosebud Film
and Video Awards. He
received a National Endowment for the Arts Individual
Fellowship in 1995. Chung
is Associate Professor at the University of Michigan
with the School of Art and Design and the Korean Studies
Program.
Matt Dibble has worked in the field of documentary
production since 1984. He first studied film at the Rhode
Island School of Design, and histraining as a visual artist
greatly influences his approach to his work. He founded
Dockyard to create original programming for television,
as well as media installations for exhibitions. He has
collaborated with dozens of producers on award winning
programs as an editor and cameraman, and has tackled a
wide range of documentary topics. He co-wrote and edited "The
Mystery of Chaco Canyon," a one-hour show about the
astronomically-aligned architecture of the ancient Pueblo
Indians that aired nationally on PBS. "Rising Waters" explored
the impact of global warming on the islands and communities
of the South Pacific. Currently, Matt Dibble is working
with producer Andrea Torrice on "New Metropolis," a
Ford Foundation-funded 2-part program for PBS on the history
and politics of suburban sprawl.
Meredith Woo-Cumings is Professor of Political Science
and Director of the Korean Studies Program at the University
of Michigan. Her teaching and research interests include
International Political Economy, East Asian Politics, and
U.S.-East Asian relations. Before joining the University
of Michigan, she taught at Northwestern University, Columbia
University and Colgate University. In 1996 she was appointed
by President Clinton to serve on the Presidential Commission
on U.S.-Pacific Trade and Investment Policy.
German Kim is one of the
worldÕs leading experts on ethnic nationalities in Central
Asia. He has written and edited a large number of books
and published more than 150 papers, originally in his native
Russian, but translated into Kazakh, English, Korean, German
and Japanese. Of those there are two books that are particularly
noteworthy, on the history of the Korean Diaspora. These
are monumental works, and when the third volume is completed,
they will be recognized as standard texts on the subject.
Kim is Professor at the Kazakh National university named
after Al-Farabi and he is the Head of the Department of
Korean Studies.
Zarina Akisheva is a graduate
of the Foreign Languages Institute in Moscow, and is a
brilliant translator and interpreter of Russian and English.
• For further information about this project please contact
Kristy Demas at the University of Michigan Korean Studies
Program, kdemas@umich.edu or (734) 764-1825
or Y. David Chung davchung@umich.edu
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