민중대회 사건 이후 신간회 중앙본부 주도인물들의 결집과 활동

The Union and Activism of the Leaders of the Singanhoe Central Headquarters after the People’s Rally Incident

After the people’s rally incident, the central executive committee of the Singanhoe emerged as a central apparatus of Singanhoe. Thus, the Singanhoe headquarters leaders after the people’s rally incident were important figures who were influential in the central executive committee(the following, the central headquarters leaders). The central headquarters leaders used the general affairs department as their means of communication to exert influence on the central executive committee. The leaders were Kim Byeong-ro, Lee Ju-yeon, and Bak Mun-hui. During the Agency of the general rally, they made the central executive committee the primary apparatus of the Society’s headquarters operations by revising the existing rules. They were also successful in electing several people they had met before into the central executive committee. Those individuals were Han Byeong-rak, Lee Hang-bal, Seo Jeong-hui, and Yang Bong-geun. They thus made the central executive committee itself an exclusive tool of communication for leading the Society. The existence of the exclusive channel of communication clearly shows the solidarity of the central headquarters leaders. The leading figures were a mix of nationalists such as Kim Byeong-ro, Yang Bong-geun, and Seo Jeong-hui and socialists such as Lee Ju-yeon, Han Byeong-rak, Bak Mun-hui, and Lee Hang-bal, and they did not share a common experience in activism. In other words, the central headquarters leaders were a union of individuals with heterogeneous political leanings. Thus, their union was temporary and fluid, although it remained stable until the Society was dissolved. Bak Mun-hui, Lee Ju-yeon, and Hang Byeong-rak were not able to stay with the headquarters until the end, but not because of any changes in their attitude regarding the Society’s movement. Bak Mun-hui withdrew due to the “political” attacks of the Seoul branch, which was mainly led by the “uncompromising nationalists”, to gain control of the Sociery’s headquarters. Hang Byeong-rak and Lee Ju-yeon were unable to continue with the movement when they were arrested. Despite their diverse political backgrounds, the central headquarters leaders were able to continuously carry out their headquarters activities because they agreed that the basic goal of the Society’s moverment was to increase the Society’s numbers and expand the Society’s support base with the population based on the understanding of the defensive situation. They accomplished this by collaborating with the Chondogyo Youth Party. Their goal of maintaining the Society revealed fundamental differences according to their political leanings. However, the Society’s policy of expanding the base of supporters was the most basic goal, and thus, while working to achieve this goal, the differences between the leaders did not materialize into any specific conflict. Although the Seoul branch of the Society attacked the collaboration with the Chondogyo Youth Party as going against the guiding spirit of the Society, the leaders were clear in their position of being against self-government. Nevertheless, the attacks by the Seoul branch became extreme because its members wanted to strengthen their position by building a popular resentment against the central headquarters. In the end, the conflict between the central headquarters leaders and the Seoul branch was a question of who would capture the Society’s headquarters. In the midst of these activities, the Society began to face pressures to dissolve the organization. The leaders were all against dissolving the Society based on their shared policy of bringing the general public together through the Society. However, there were clear differences between the nationalists, who envisioned the Society would continue to grow, and the socialists, who expected it to ultimately dissolve.