Sinuiju Incident

The Sinuiju Incident (Korean: 신의주 사건; Hancha: 新義州學生事件 or 신의주 학생사건; 新義州學生事件; lit. Sinuiju Student Incident or 신의주 반공학생의거 "Anti communist student movement in Sinuiju") was an uprising of students and Christian leaders in the port city of Sinuiju, North Pyŏngan Province, Soviet Civil Administration on November 23, 1945. The city of Sinuiju is now in North Korea. It marked the peak of social resistance against the communist regime in the formative period of North Korea, during the Soviet occupation from 1945 to 1948.^[1]

Factors leading to the incident included resistance to the violence of the initial Soviet occupation forces and to practices of food procurement by the Red Army, the predominance of communists in the People's Committees, and the deterioration of the elites' social status.^[2]

It resulted in high levels of political and social suppression on the part of the Korean Communists and the Soviet occupation. Consequently, the incident accelerated the consolidation of communist power, allowing the Korean Communist Party (KCP) to develop a more solid, Soviet-backed communist regime. Some scholars credit Kim Il Sung, who later became the first Supreme Leader of the North Korea, for resolving the incident.^[3]