{"id":28017,"date":"2014-08-11T18:04:44","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T09:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.dailynk.com\/en\/?p=28017"},"modified":"2026-04-05T12:42:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T03:42:45","slug":"north-korean-history-through-the-l","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korean History through the Lens of Soviet Power"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">The Soviet Union ruled the northern region<br \/>\nof Korea for three years, from 1945 to 1948. Communist North Korea was to a<br \/>\nlarge extent shaped by the decisions of the Soviet bureaucrats in charge of the<br \/>\ncountry. Despite significant changes since, politically the nation remains a<br \/>\nlargely Stalinist state. This article seeks to introduce the top-ranking Soviet<br \/>\nGenerals who formerly ruled North Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">On August 9, 1945, the USSR attacked Imperial<br \/>\nJapan; two days later, the first troops landed in Korea. The 25th Army of the<br \/>\nFirst Far Eastern Front, under the command of Colonel General Ivan Chistyakov,<br \/>\nwas responsible for the occupation of the northern part of the peninsula.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><b><span lang=\"EN-US\">Ivan<br \/>\nMikhailovich Chistyakov (\u0418\u0432\u0430\u043d \u041c\u0438\u0445\u0430\u0439\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447 \u0427\u0438\u0441\u0442\u044f\u043a\u043e\u0432)<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">Colonel<br \/>\nGeneral, commanding officer of the 25th Army (to April 1947)<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">In theory, it was Chistyakov who was put in<br \/>\ncharge of northern Korea in 1945; in practice, however, after the Japanese army<br \/>\nsurrendered Chistyakov distanced himself from politics, relegating northern<br \/>\nKorea affairs to his subordinates. He did make one decision which had a<br \/>\ntremendous impact on North Korean history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">In late August 1945, Chistyakov was<br \/>\nsummoned by his commander, &nbsp;Marshal<br \/>\nKirill Meretskov. Meretskov ordered him to choose the location for the &nbsp;25th Army headquarters: Pyongyang or Hamheung.<br \/>\nChistyakov chose Pyongyang, which is why it remains the capital of North Korea<br \/>\ntoday.&nbsp; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">The Taedong river, origin of the Taedong<br \/>\nRiver Culture, is oft-touted by North Korean propaganda as \u201cone of the world&#8217;s<br \/>\nfive ancient cultures\u201d together with the Thebes , Babylon , Mohenjo-Daro, and<br \/>\nYinxu. Had Chistyakov responded differently to Meretskov, it is quite possible<br \/>\nthat the \u201cTaedong river culture\u201d would be meaningless, leading North Korea to<br \/>\ninstead promote &nbsp;\u201cSongchon river culture,\u201d<br \/>\nafter the river in Hamhung. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><b><span lang=\"EN-US\">Terentiy<br \/>\nFomich Shtykov (\u0422\u0435\u0440\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0438\u0439 \u0424\u043e\u043c\u0438\u0447 \u0428\u0442\u044b\u043a\u043e\u0432)<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">Colonel<br \/>\nGeneral, the political officer of the 1st Far Eastern Front, Soviet ambassador<br \/>\nto North Korea (from September 1948) <o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Shtykov, who carried the same rank as<br \/>\nChistyakov, was the de facto leader of &nbsp;North Korea from 1945 to 1950, shaping its<br \/>\npolitics, economy, and education system; he even edited the initial draft of<br \/>\nNorth Korea\u2019s constitution and formed the nation\u2019s first cabinet of ministers.<br \/>\nContemporary politicians like Kim Il-sung, Kim Tu Bong, and Pak Hon Yong merely<br \/>\nfollowed Shtykov\u2019s orders at the time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Shtykov also bears much of the<br \/>\nresponsibility in starting the Korean War. Although the idea to invade the<br \/>\nSouth originated with Kim Il Sung and Pak Hon Yong, the plan\u2019s unwavering<br \/>\nsupport from Shtykov was one of if not the most predominant factor in<br \/>\npersuading Stalin to approve the attack.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">The war did not progress as Shtykov<br \/>\npredicted: the North Korean Army failed to take control of the peninsula and<br \/>\nafter much of the North Korean territory fell to the UN counteroffensive,<br \/>\nShtykov was recalled to Moscow. His punishment was surprisingly mild; after a<br \/>\ndemotion to Lieutenant General he was later discharged from active service.<br \/>\nShtykov remained a part of the Soviet elite but never returned to Korea after<br \/>\n1950.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><b><span lang=\"EN-US\">Nikolai<br \/>\nGeorgiyevich Lebedev (\u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u0439 \u0413\u0435\u043e\u0440\u0433\u0438\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447 \u041b\u0435\u0431\u0435\u0434\u0435\u0432)<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">Major<br \/>\nGeneral, the political officer of the 25th Army<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">General Lebedev was responsible for<br \/>\ntraining Kim Il Sung, and according to his memoirs, it was he who brought the<br \/>\nyoung Kim to the famous meeting where the future Great Leader made his first<br \/>\npublic speech.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Nikolai Lebedev is also the man who coined<br \/>\nthe official name of North Korea, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea. He<br \/>\ndeemed that as the &nbsp;North Korean political<br \/>\nsystem was officially known as \u201cthe people\u2019s republic\u201d it was logical to refer<br \/>\nto it as the \u201cDemocratic People\u2019s Republic\u201d. Most would agree that asserting<br \/>\nthree times a nation is ruled by the people [democratic and republic also<br \/>\ndefined as such] is excessive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">In his later years, the retired General<br \/>\nLebedev spoke in a number of interviews where he discussed &nbsp;North Korea\u2019s formative years and his role in<br \/>\nthem. &nbsp;The interviews were surprisingly<br \/>\nobjective and Lebedev tried neither to whitewash neither himself nor the USSR.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><b><span lang=\"EN-US\">Andrei<br \/>\nAlekseevich Romanenko (\u0410\u043d\u0434\u0440\u0435\u0439 \u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0435\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447 \u0420\u043e\u043c\u0430\u043d\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e)<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">Major<br \/>\nGeneral, head of the Soviet Civil Administration<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Romanenko was Shtykov\u2019s subordinate and the<br \/>\nhead of the \u201cSoviet Civil Administration\u201d [SCA], the organization functioning<br \/>\nas a North Korean protogrovernment from&nbsp; October<br \/>\n3, 1945, which despite its name was comprised solely of military officers. In<br \/>\norder to create the illusion of a democracy in North Korea, the Soviets<br \/>\norganized an \u201cofficial\u201d Korean government as well, known as &nbsp;the \u201cProvisional People\u2019s Committee for North<br \/>\nKorea.\u201d This body had no autonomy and only signed laws prepared by the SCA, led<br \/>\nby Romanenko. One such example was the land reform of 1946, which stripped<br \/>\nlandlords and wealthy farmers of their land to redistribute it to poorer<br \/>\nfarmers on lease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><b><span lang=\"EN-US\">Gennadiy<br \/>\nPetrovich Korotkov (\u0413\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0430\u0434\u0438\u0439 \u041f\u0435\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447 \u041a\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0442\u043a\u043e\u0432)<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">Lieutenant<br \/>\nGeneral, commanding officer of the 25th Army (from April 1947 to April 1948)<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Korotkov assumed the command of the 25th<br \/>\nArmy in April 1947 and akin to Chistyakov, he vehemently tried to avoid<br \/>\npolitical entanglements. &nbsp;He succeeded; to<br \/>\nthe author\u2019s knowledge Korotkov was not charged with any major decisions<br \/>\nregarding the North, these choices falling under Shtykov, who outranked<br \/>\nKorotkov. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">***<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">North Korean official viewpoints of events<br \/>\nsurrounding the mid-1940s is presented in Kim Il Sung\u2019s memoir \u201cWith the<br \/>\nCentury\u201d. This book offers a distorted view of historical events, molding them<br \/>\nto fit with North Korean state ideology. Kim Il Sung allegedly remembers how prior<br \/>\nto the Soviet-Japanese war he visited Moscow and met with Zhdanov, Meretskov<br \/>\nand other high-ranking officials, discussing plans to defeat Imperial Japan.<br \/>\nKim goes so far to claim the rejection of &nbsp;Zhdanov\u2019s offer of \u201cassistance to the Korean<br \/>\npeople in their struggle to rebuild after liberation\u201d. Shtykov, Chistyakov,<br \/>\nLebedev appear in the work but are presented as mere assistants to Kim\u2019s cause.<br \/>\nHe declares in the text,, \u201cThe liberation of Korea was achieved by the force of<br \/>\nthe Koreans themselves,\u201d namely himself the Korean People\u2019s Revolutionary Army.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">These events, of course, never occurred as<br \/>\npresented in \u201cWith the Century.\u201d In the summer of 1945, Kim Il-sung was a<br \/>\ncaptain of the Soviet Army and did not fight in the Soviet-Japanese war. The<br \/>\nKorean People\u2019s Revolutionary Army never even existed. This begs the question: why<br \/>\nwould Kim bother mentioning Soviet assistance at all? Would not it be wiser to<br \/>\njust erase it from history altogether? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><a name=\"h.gjdgxs\"><\/a><span lang=\"EN-US\">The answer seems to be<br \/>\nthat semi-truth is usually more plausible than a complete lie. Some in North<br \/>\nKorea still recall Soviet presence immediately following Japan\u2019s surrender; to<br \/>\ndeny it would incite rumors and diminish the credibility and legitimacy of the<br \/>\nregime. Hence, Soviets came to be portrayed as assistant forces to Kim Il Sung<br \/>\nin the defeat of the Empire of Japan, with the real work done by the<br \/>\nIron-Willed Brilliant Commander himself; therefore, it is right to give him<br \/>\nthanks and praise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">* The views expressed in Guest Columns do not necessarily reflect those of Daily NK.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\"><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Soviet Union ruled the northern region of Korea for three years, from 1945 to 1948. Communist North Korea was to a large extent shaped by the decisions of the Soviet bureaucrats in charge of the country. Despite significant changes since, politically the nation remains a largely Stalinist state. This article seeks to introduce the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":28019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-analysis-and-opinion"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>North Korean History through the Lens of Soviet Power - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North Korean History through the Lens of Soviet Power\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Soviet Union ruled the northern region of Korea for three years, from 1945 to 1948. Communist North Korea was to a large extent shaped by the decisions of the Soviet bureaucrats in charge of the country. Despite significant changes since, politically the nation remains a largely Stalinist state. This article seeks to introduce the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-11T09:04:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-05T03:42:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/08\/DNKF00012194_List.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"329\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/04590bc15c697ec9ef17b3bebd5f3f31\"},\"headline\":\"North Korean History through the Lens of Soviet Power\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-11T09:04:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T03:42:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1162,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2014\\\/08\\\/DNKF00012194_List.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis &amp; 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Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.\",\"email\":\"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net\",\"telephone\":\"82-2-732-6998\",\"legalName\":\"DailyNK\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004-12-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/04590bc15c697ec9ef17b3bebd5f3f31\",\"name\":\"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Fyodor-Tertitskiy-150x150.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Fyodor-Tertitskiy-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Fyodor-Tertitskiy-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University\"},\"description\":\"Fyodor Tertitskiy is Leading Researcher at the Institute for Korean Studies at Kookmin University, South Korea. He studies North Korean military, social and political history and is the author of The North Korean Army: History, Structure, Daily Life (2022) and several Korean-language books on Kim Il-sung\u00a0and\u00a0his\u00a0era.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/fyodor-tertiskiy\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"North Korean History through the Lens of Soviet Power - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"North Korean History through the Lens of Soviet Power","og_description":"The Soviet Union ruled the northern region of Korea for three years, from 1945 to 1948. Communist North Korea was to a large extent shaped by the decisions of the Soviet bureaucrats in charge of the country. Despite significant changes since, politically the nation remains a largely Stalinist state. This article seeks to introduce the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2014-08-11T09:04:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-05T03:42:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":550,"height":329,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/08\/DNKF00012194_List.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\/"},"author":{"name":"Fyodor Tertitskiy, Kookmin University","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/04590bc15c697ec9ef17b3bebd5f3f31"},"headline":"North Korean History through the Lens of Soviet Power","datePublished":"2014-08-11T09:04:44+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T03:42:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\/"},"wordCount":1162,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-history-through-the-l\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/08\/DNKF00012194_List.jpg","articleSection":["Analysis &amp; 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