Chŏng Sang-chin
Chŏng Sang-chin (Korean: 정상진; May 5, 1918 – June 15, 2013) was a Soviet and North Korean poet, bureaucrat, academic, and military officer. He was notably the only ethnic Korean among 60 Soviet paratroopers that first liberated parts of Korea under Japanese rule during World War II. He was also known by his Russian name Yuri Danilovich Ten (Russian: Юрий Данилович Тен) or the Korean nickname derived from Yuri, Ryul (률). His name is also Cyrillized as Ten San Din (Тен Сан Дин).
Chŏng Sang-chin Юрий Данилович Тен | |
|---|---|
Chŏng (top right) and his family in 1946 | |
| First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda | |
| In office March 24, 1955 – September 2, 1955 | |
| Appointed by | Kim Il Sung |
| Preceded by | Park Taewon |
| Succeeded by | Chang Ha-il |
| In office December 1, 1953 – April 12, 1954 | |
| Appointed by | Kim Il Sung |
| Preceded by | Kim Kang |
| Succeeded by | An Mak |
| Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda | |
| In office September 2, 1948 – September 9, 1953 | |
| Appointed by | Kim Il Sung |
| Succeeded by | An Hoe-nam |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 5, 1918 Vladivostok, Russian Empire |
| Died | June 15, 2013 (aged 95) Moscow, Russia |
| Citizenship | Soviet Union Russia |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Soviet Navy |
| Years of service | 1945–1957 |
| Battles/wars | Seishin Operation |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 정상진 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Jeong Sangjin |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Sangjin |
| Childhood name | |
| Hangul | 영준 |
| Revised Romanization | Yeongjun |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yŏngjun |
| Nickname | |
| Hangul | 정률, 정율 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Jeong Yul |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Ryul |
He stayed in North Korea on orders from the Soviet government and spent 13 years total there, serving in various roles in the North Korean government and at Kim Il Sung University. However, after Soviet-aligned Koreans were purged from the North Korean government, he returned to the Soviet Union. He then became a critic of North Korea and worked as a reporter, writer, and Korean reunification activist.
He died in Moscow on June 15, 2013, at the age of 95.