The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-09-07
BY \. EOKIN
ARTICLE II.

Korea. The first youth organiza-
ton, the Students League, was or
ganized in 1896. Afterwards, similar
organizations were formed through
out the country. In 1903 all youth or
CARNATIONS formed one Young Mems
Christian Association, which was sup
ported by America and converted in
to d typical cultural organization.
The most active youth organizations
which aimed at political activity
could not be reconciled to this work.
AS a result, the Y. M. c. A. expelled
some of the organizations which or
ganized in the Korean Youth League
and made it their aim to effect do
mestic reforms, helping the economic
and political development of Korea.
This in itself, gave the organization
political character. In 1907 Japan,
after defeating China and Tsarist
Russia, captured Korea and proceed
ed to breakup all Korean organiza-
tions which the invaders regarded as
a menace to their rule. Among these
were also the youth organizations,
The revolutionary youth of Korea,
after losing their organizations, part
ly went underground and became ter
rorists. Some of them Joined the
Christian camp. The new growth and
development of the youth movement,
which excels the previous phases, is
closely connected with the March ris-
ing of 1919. The concessions which
the Japanese had to make were most
ly utilized by the youth, who began
to organize their mass organizations
first in the capital and in the cities
and then also in the villages. To-
gether there are now about 900 or
CARNATIONS with 10000 members,
ten thousand of these belong to the
Korean Youth Federation, whose
platform advocates Interchangeable
tionary struggle for Korean indie
pendence.
The Y. c. L. of Korea was founded
in 1921 when the National Liberation
movement was falling to pieces and
the partisan struggles against the
japanese invaders had become inten-
siffed.
The birth and development of the
Y. C. L. proceeded under extremely
difficult conditions, under conditions
of unheard-of brutality and terror
which delivered severe blows to its
organizations and snatched tens and
hundreds Of comrades from it's ranks.
The general political conditions of the
country and the prosecutions reacted
upon the weaker elements in the or
ganization. The weaker elements adj
vanced liquidation slogans; they
wanted the abandonment of under
ground work and that the organiza-
ton should adapt itself to legal CON
ditions. even at the expense Of sacri-
ficing its revolutionary slogans. Some
Of them who could not get used to
I the everyday tiresome work Of re-
volutionary underground worker left
the Y.C.L. in despair and took to in
dividualist terrorist activity. The
Y.C.L. had to fight most theoretically
against these elements in the process
of which some dropped out and others
became hardened. This work was be-
ing done while it was rallying the
Communist elements and unifying the
split up Communist groups. At the
same time the Y.CL had also to do q
considerable amount of work in con-
solidating the Communist Party or
the basis of mass revolutionary ac-
ton, and not on the basis of frac-
1onal struggle.
" The Y.CI. of Korea has now sew.
feral hundred members, rs per cent OF
whom are workers, 30 per cent
peasants, and az per cent intellectu.
ais. The Y.C.L. carries on various
kinds of work, in propagating Social
list ideas, issuing and circulating thou
sands of illegal leaflets and pamph-
let's, organizing itinerant lecture
groups, setting up everywhere Social
ist study circles and organizing mass