Korean Students in 1956

It is little known that in the fall of 1956, a large-scale solidarity movement in support of the Hungarian Revolution emerged in South Korea. The administration of President Syngman Rhee hoped that the events in Hungary and Poland would spread to other Socialist countries and that the North Korean population, too, might rise up against the rule of Kim Il Sung. The South Korean press of the time covered the events in Hungary extensively, and numerous mass rallies were held to encourage a long-awaited revolution in North Korea. At Yonsei University in Seoul, nine students began organizing a volunteer unit to fight for Hungarian freedom with arms.

In 1956, nearly a thousand North Korean students were studying in Hungary. In late December, the Voice of America radio station reported that a 24-year-old Korean university student had used his wartime experience to assist insurgents — who were unfamiliar with the use of weapons — at Móricz Zsigmond Square.

The young man mentioned in the broadcast was the engineering student Zang Gi Hong; he managed to escape to Austria across the border, eventually reached the United States, graduated from Syracuse University, and became a wealthy architect.

Several retrospective accounts indicate that North Korean students also took part in the fighting at Széna Square, helping to build barricades.

The Seoul press first reported on the events in Budapest on October 26, 1956. A day later, the daily newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported on the events under the headline “The Situation in Hungary and the Brutality of the Soviet Army,” highlighting the leading role of the student body in the revolution.

The South Korean public opinion was deeply moved by news regarding the refugees. Across the country, people began collecting gifts and money to aid them. Using the 6.6 million won in cash raised, the South Korean Red Cross purchased a large quantity of cotton, which was shipped to refugee camps in Austria with the assistance of the US Army and the American Red Cross. President Syngman Rhee himself sent $1,000 in aid.