Chŏng Sangjin (Korean: 정상진; May 5, 1918 – June 15, 2013) was a Soviet-Korean poet, bureaucrat, academic, and military officer.

He was the only ethnic Korean among 60 Soviet paratroopers that first liberated parts of Korea under Japanese rule during World War II.

Chŏng was born in the Korean enclave Sinhanch'on in Vladivostok, Primorskaya Oblast, Russian Soviet Republic on May 5, 1918.

[2][3][4][5] His father, Chŏng Ch'imun (정치문),[1] was originally from Myongchon County, North Hamgyong Province, Joseon, but went in exile to Russia after the Japanese occupation of Korea.

[4][2][1] While on the month-long train journey, he and his friends huddled together to avoid freezing to death, and he recited poetry to them to comfort them.

Chŏng made a point of continuing in the Korean independence movement in his father's stead, and became disillusioned with both communism and Joseph Stalin.

[1][3] In 1941, after Japan entered World War II, Chŏng eagerly made seven attempts to enlist in the Soviet Army and see active combat,[8][6] but was refused due to restrictions on Koreans joining the military.

"[3][b] He was sent to Vladivostok on Russky Island, as reconnaissance for the marine corps of the Soviet Pacific Fleet under the command of Viktor Leonov.

[5][4][9][3] On August 9, 1945, he rejoiced when he heard the Soviet declaration of war on Japan, as he saw it as a key opportunity to liberate Korea.

[3] Decades later, Kim Il Sung claimed that he and the Korean People's Army (KPA) had liberated Unggi instead of the Soviets.

[4][3] Chŏng said of this claim in 2007:[3][c] In Najin, Chongjin, or let alone Unggi, I did not see a single Korean People's Army fighter, anti-Japanese guerrilla, or communist revolutionary on the battlefield.

While our unit was bleeding and fighting in Chongjin, Kim Il Sung and O Paek-ryong were living comfortably in the barracks of the 88th Reconnaissance Brigade of the Soviet Army stationed in the village of Vyatskoye near Khabarovsk.

[...] Before I left North Korea in the mid-1950s, Kim Il Sung didn't dare make [that claim] in front of me.They then fought in the Seishin Operation against the Japanese, who had retreated from Manchuria into Chongjin.

[4][3][9] Chŏng was reportedly excited to meet Kim, expecting him to be a graying and physically imposing rebel, befitting his reputation as a fierce guerilla.

The book, particularly due to one of its poems Dawn Map, was accused of being overly decadent and was met with censorship from Pyongyang.

But after these articles caught the eye of Kim, they quickly elevated Han to a position of prominence in the North Korean literary scene.

Chŏng admired Hong's work and character greatly, and often sought out his advice after he remained in North Korea.

[3] In summer 1948, Chŏng became head of the Department of Russian Languages and Literature at Kim Il Sung University.

[3][1] On June 25, 1950,[f] Chŏng heard Kim Il Sung's announcement of the invasion of South Korea on the radio.

[4][1] After the July 1953 armistice was signed, Chŏng spent two weeks in Seoul as the head of the North Korean effort to exchange prisoners of war.

In August 1955, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the liberation of Korea, he visited the Soviet Union as part of a cultural delegation composed of 18 North Korean artists and toured various cities, including Moscow, Leningrad, Tashkent, Almaty, and Novosibirsk.

[5][14] However, upon his return from the cultural tour in September 1955,[3] Chŏng learned via a public announcement that he and several other Soviet Koreans were to be stripped of their posts.

[4][1][3][14] After the March 5, 1953 death of Joseph Stalin, Kim increased his opposition of Soviet influence in North Korea.

[4][7] On October 22, 1955, Chŏng, Pak, and several others appeared before the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, where they were chastised by Kim Il Sung as lacking juche: "self-reliance".

According to Bae Jin-yeong of the Monthly Chosun, this was the first usage of the term juche in North Korea, which later became the name of the state ideology.

[5][8][16] Chŏng remained firm in his belief that North Korea would eventually democratize, and criticized its government sharply.

[4][3] He received an Order of the Red Banner in August 1945,[1][8][17][18] and the Medal "For the Victory over Japan" in September 1945 from the Soviet government for his service in Korea.