Thread by @LeftPOC

"Who's that in your avatar?" you might ask.
That's Alexandra Kim!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra…
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It has been over a year since I posted this, so my sincerest apologies for having fallen behind on the #LeftPOCoftheWeek posts. Anyway, here's to Alexandra Kim and her contributions to left thought in Korea! [thread]

Kim Aerim was born in 1885 in a Korean village in Siberia, where her father, a translator, had emigrated years before. Her father died a few when she was a teenager, and she was taken care by one of her father's Russian colleagues.

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During her younger yrs, Alexandra traveled between China and Siberia because of her father's job,but returned to Siberia after his death w/his colleague's family. While in Siberia,she attended school,married, & began to work as a teacher.
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While in college and later as a teacher, Alexandra was interested in the socialist ideas of the time that were popular among her peers. It was then her experiences in real life working as a interpreter among Chinese & Korean loggers that further bolstered her political beliefs.

Around 1916 or 1917, Alexandra joined the Bolsheviks and traveled back to Siberia to work with local Korean immigrant populations on communist education campaigns.

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And in 1917, Alexandra was officially appointed the commissar of foreign relations for the communist party in its efforts in Khabarovsk (a Russia city very close to the Chinese boarder) to expand the party message.
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According to reports, Alexandra took a hardline approach to any indications of defection and demanded severe punishment for officers who undermined their duties to the party amid civil unrest.
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Nevertheless, her political efforts had the subsequent effect of spreading communism throughout Korea, as she and several Korean independence leaders went on to found the Korean Socialist Party in 1918 (also in Khabarovsk)
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Later that year, anti-communist forces in the region (made up of Russian & Japanese troops involved in the Russian Civil War) grew in volume and intensity, leading to the capture of Kim and several other communist leaders.
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Alexandra Kim was executed in September of 1918 for her party involvement and her work to spread communism. Her last words were "Freedom and Independence for Korea"
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(Kim pictured on left)

You can learn more about Alexandra Kim by following the references below:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra…
web.archive.org/web/2007021221…
rbth.com/blogs/and_quie…
koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opino…