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Battle of Pochonbo
The Battle of Pochonbo (Japanese: 普天堡の戦い, Hepburn: Futenho no tatakai) was an event which occurred in northern Korea, Empire of Japan on 4 June 1937 (Juche 26), when Korean and Chinese guerrillas commanded by Kim Il Sung (or possibly Choe Hyon) attacked and defeated a Japanese detachment during the anti-Japanese armed struggle in Korea. The battle holds an important place in North Korea.
According to the Korean Friendship Association, the battle was in retaliation to the brutality of the Japanese occupation of Korea at a time when "the Japanese imperialists perpetrated unheard-of fascist tyranny against the Korean people".
According to the official North Korean version of the events, a small unit of about 150–200 guerrillas of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army's Sixth Division under Kim Il Sung crossed the Amnok River and arrived at the Konjang Hill on 3 June 1937. At 22:00, Kim Il Sung fired a shot into the sky, and the battle started. During the battle, the Japanese-occupied police station, post office, foresters' office, local elementary school, fire department hall were destroyed by the guerrillas. Kim took 4,000 yen from local people and inflicted damage estimated at 16,000 yen. He took the town but only occupied it for a few hours or a day before retreating to Manchuria.
Following combat, Kim Il Sung made a speech, where he noted that the Korean people "turn out as one in the sacred anti-Japanese war". The battle is featured in Kim Il Sung's autobiography With the Century. In it, too, Kim describes his guerrilla troops acting spontaneously and motivated by emotion rather than reason and strategic insights. In it, he said of the event:
The Battle of Pochonbo showed that imperialist Japan could be smashed and burnt up, like rubbish. The flames over the night sky of Pochonbo in the fatherland heralded the dawn of the liberation of Korea, which had been buried in darkness. The Pochonbo Battle was a historic battle which not only showed to the Korean people who thought Korea to be dead that Korea is not dead but alive, but also gave them the confidence that when they fight, they can achieve national independence and liberation.
— Kim Il-sung, With the Century
This official version of the battle does not correspond with some contemporary records such as a Japanese newspaper, however, which suggest that the rebels were actually led by Choe Hyon. But Kim Il Sung's absence from Japanese reports does not necessarily refute his presence in the battle, nor does the Choe Hyon's mention necessarily mean he was the top commander of the battle, as it only means Choe Hyon was the only commander on the Korean side whom the Japanese were able to identify.
The news of the battle was reported in numerous newspapers across the world, including the Soviet Union, China, Japan and France. According to the Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK, a pro-North Korean Juche study group:
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Battle of Pochonbo
The Battle of Pochonbo (Japanese: 普天堡の戦い, Hepburn: Futenho no tatakai) was an event which occurred in northern Korea, Empire of Japan on 4 June 1937 (Juche 26), when Korean and Chinese guerrillas commanded by Kim Il Sung (or possibly Choe Hyon) attacked and defeated a Japanese detachment during the anti-Japanese armed struggle in Korea. The battle holds an important place in North Korea.
According to the Korean Friendship Association, the battle was in retaliation to the brutality of the Japanese occupation of Korea at a time when "the Japanese imperialists perpetrated unheard-of fascist tyranny against the Korean people".
According to the official North Korean version of the events, a small unit of about 150–200 guerrillas of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army's Sixth Division under Kim Il Sung crossed the Amnok River and arrived at the Konjang Hill on 3 June 1937. At 22:00, Kim Il Sung fired a shot into the sky, and the battle started. During the battle, the Japanese-occupied police station, post office, foresters' office, local elementary school, fire department hall were destroyed by the guerrillas. Kim took 4,000 yen from local people and inflicted damage estimated at 16,000 yen. He took the town but only occupied it for a few hours or a day before retreating to Manchuria.
Following combat, Kim Il Sung made a speech, where he noted that the Korean people "turn out as one in the sacred anti-Japanese war". The battle is featured in Kim Il Sung's autobiography With the Century. In it, too, Kim describes his guerrilla troops acting spontaneously and motivated by emotion rather than reason and strategic insights. In it, he said of the event:
The Battle of Pochonbo showed that imperialist Japan could be smashed and burnt up, like rubbish. The flames over the night sky of Pochonbo in the fatherland heralded the dawn of the liberation of Korea, which had been buried in darkness. The Pochonbo Battle was a historic battle which not only showed to the Korean people who thought Korea to be dead that Korea is not dead but alive, but also gave them the confidence that when they fight, they can achieve national independence and liberation.
— Kim Il-sung, With the Century
This official version of the battle does not correspond with some contemporary records such as a Japanese newspaper, however, which suggest that the rebels were actually led by Choe Hyon. But Kim Il Sung's absence from Japanese reports does not necessarily refute his presence in the battle, nor does the Choe Hyon's mention necessarily mean he was the top commander of the battle, as it only means Choe Hyon was the only commander on the Korean side whom the Japanese were able to identify.
The news of the battle was reported in numerous newspapers across the world, including the Soviet Union, China, Japan and France. According to the Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK, a pro-North Korean Juche study group: