ABSTRACT
The new ambience in post-Soviet Kazakhstan was attractive despite the ambiguities in interethnic behaviour and the delicate political balance between the two communities, Russian and Kazakh. Economic prosperity took top priority in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. The expectation was about “We-Kazakhstani” as the mantra, irrespective of nationality, that will help improve the economy. The discriminatory measures of local Soviets against Korean kolkhozes such as land allotment, and heavy taxes on Korean farmers in collective farms fuelled discontent. The Soviet authorities relied on Korean labour from the Far East. One reason for deportation was the Soviet attempt to silence the Korean demand for establishment of a Korean autonomous region in the Far East. The challenges of deportation confronted the Koreans who had, over generations, settled in Russian Far East, having enjoyed the patronage of Russian governors who had allowed them to set up Korean colonies in Western Siberia near Omsk, Tobolsk and Tyumen.
