The Yan'an faction () were a group of pro-China communists in the

North Korean government North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

after the division of Korea following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The group was involved in a power struggle with pro-Soviet factions but

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

was eventually able to defeat both factions and dominate the North Korean government, allowing him to push for unification during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. "Yeonan" is the Korean reading of the Chinese communist town Yan'an, the capital of the

Yan'an Soviet The Yan'an Soviet was a soviet governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the 1930s and 1940s. In October 1936 it became the final destination of the Long March, and served as the CCP's main base until after the Second Sino-Japanese War ...

. Led first by Mu Chong and then by Kim Tu-bong and Choe Chang-ik, the Korean exiles had lived in

and joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

whose headquarters were at Yan'an. They had formed their own party, in exile, the "North-Chinese League for the Independence of Korea". In the autumn of 1945, the Soviet Union allowed some 4,000 Koreans who had joined the Chinese communist movement to fight with the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

to return to North Korea, though they disarmed them. They then formed the New People's Party, which merged with the Communist Party in 1946 to form the Workers Party of North Korea. Many members of the Yan'an faction had fought in the Chinese

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially titled as the List of Army Groups of the National Revolutionary Army, 18th Group Army, was a Field army, group army nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of Ch ...

and

New Fourth Army The New Fourth Army (N4A) () was a military unit nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China, established in 1937 as part of the Second United Front against Japan. However, in practice, the New ...

and thus had close relations with

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

Influence

The group included thirty Korean People's Army (KPA) generals by the time the Korean War started. Mu Chong was vice marshal at the Ministry of Defence, Pak Il-u was minister of internal affairs, and deputy commander

North Korea-China Combined Forces Command North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. Kim Ung was KPA front commander in 1951, Pang Ho-san, Lee Kwon-mu and Kim Chang-dok were corps commanders.

List

* Kim Tu-bong * Choe Chang-ik * Mu Chong * Ho Jong-suk * Pak Il-u * Han Pin * Yun Kong-hum * So Hwi * Kim Chang-man * Kim Won-bong * Ri Yu-min

References

Citations

Sources

* Bragg, Christine: ''Korea, Vietnam and US Foreign Policy 1945-75'', Heinemann, 2005
Noack, David: ''Das Wendejahr'' (The turn-around year)
'' junge Welt'', 3 December 2011 {{China–North Korea relations History of the Workers' Party of Korea Organizations associated with the Chinese Communist Party Political history of North Korea China–North Korea relations Korean independence movement organizations