Our Notes & References

One of the earliest collections of Korean folk tales published in the USSR.

The earliest contacts between Russia and Korea date to the 17th century, culminating in the establishment of official diplomatic relations in the 19th. These ties weakened sharply after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) and Japan’s occupation of Korea. Despite significant Korean migration to the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union—by the early 1930s, tens of thousands lived in the Russian Far East—Korean culture remained little studied. Between August and October 1937, ethnic Koreans in the region were forcibly deported to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan under accusations of espionage for Japan, marking the first mass deportation of an ethnic group under Stalin.

In August 1945, the USSR’s entry into the war against Japan and the occupation of northern Korea transformed Soviet–Korean relations. The Soviet Union played a decisive role in Korea’s division and became North Korea’s principal ally, providing extensive military, economic, and political support. This alliance encouraged broad cultural exchange: Russian language and culture spread throughout North Korea, while Korean music, art, and literature found new audiences in the USSR.

Books were central to this dialogue, as an increasing number of Korean works were translated into Russian. Folk tales in particular enjoyed a revival in the 1950s. The first known Russian collection, Koreiskie skazki (1900), had been compiled by Nikolai Garin-Mikhailovskii during his travels in the Far East, but interest in the genre waned until its mid-century resurgence.

In addition to the present edition—which was likely the first collection of Korean folk tales published in the USSR—the 1950s saw a surge in such publications, including a reissue of Garin-Mikhailovskii’s earlier work. Similar volumes soon appeared not only in Russian but also in Belarusian, Armenian, Chuvash, Udmurt, and other languages.

The author of this edition, Vasilii Kucheriavenko (1910–82), was a Far Eastern writer known for his works on the people and folklore of Primorsky Krai. Though not the original author of the tales, he acted as collector and literary adapter. During World War II, Kucheriavenko served in the Pacific Fleet and participated in military operations in Korea, later working there as a war correspondent. After the war, he published several collections of Korean folk tales.

This volume contains five stories, including a Russian adaptation of the well-known “Heungbu and Nolbu.” The illustrations are by Iurii (Georgii) Makarov (1921–92), who, like Kucheriavenko, served in the Pacific Fleet. Makarov later became known for his science fiction illustrations and is now regarded as a leading figure in Soviet retrofuturist art.