Was Kim Il-sung an independence activist?
There have for some time been calls to recognize Kim Il-sung as an independence fighter, ideological conflicts aside. Kim joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1931, and thereafter headed an anti-Japanese movement in Manchuria. However, many in the academic world say that was part of getting on in the socialist movement rather than an act of patriotism. Sejong Institute scholar Chung Seong-jang said, Kim Il-sung's armed struggle against Japan was inseparable from the anti-Japanese struggle of the Chinese Communist Party.