In June 1923, Ch'oe Ch'angik returned to Korea and became a member of the
Korean Labor Society. In July of that year he helped found the
Korea Communist Youth Alliance and served as a commissioner. By September he was arrested by the police while leading a Korean Labor Conference meeting. In April 1924, Ch'oe took part in the founding of the
Joseon Youth Alliance and was elected to the group's central executive committee. Eight months later he helped found the Socialist Alliance (an organization not affiliated with the Seoul Youth Association) and was elected to serve as a member of its executive committee. Following his graduation Ch'oe traveled to the
Communist International World Congress as a representative of the Seoul Youth Association. During his return home he became involved with
Kim Chwajin's
Sinmin group, a rebel community in
Sinmin province,
Manchuria. Ch'oe eventually worked to create a communist league within the organization. Ch'oe eventually seceded from Kim's group in October 1925 and returned to Korea. In the same month Japanese officials arrested him for his involvement with the Sinmin group along with Han Bin (), Lee Kyung-ho () and Lee Young (). In 1926, Ch'oe and Park Du-hui, a member of the Sinmin group, were selected to attend a communist conference in
Vladivostok of Russian far east. While there he joined efforts to start a national party assembly. In 1927, upon returning to Korea, he joined, and became an executive, of the
Communist Party of Korea. In February 1928 Ch'oe was imprisoned for the so-called "Third Communist Party of Korea Incident". He escaped from prison in 1935. In 1936, he sought and gained political asylum in
China. There he became a part of the
Korean National Revolutionary Party and formed the
Chonwi Club () in
Hankou. He married his wife,
Heo Jong-suk, in 1937. In May 1938, he became the commander of
Choson uiyongdae (), which was
Kim Won-bong's Korean National Revolutionary Party's Military Organisation, but he complained that it was funded by
Chiang Kai-shek's
Kuomintang. A disagreement followed and he left Kim Won-bong's () organisation. He also went to
Yan'an, in partnership with
Mu Chong () and
Kim Tu-bong (). In January 1941, with funding from the
Chinese Communist Party, and later with Yi Kŏnu, Mu Chong founded the "Hebei Korea Youth Federation" in Jindong. In 1942, with Kim Tu-bong and Yi Kŏnu, Mujung, Han bin was created as a
Chosun independent alliance, and he was elected as the vice-chairman of the independent alliance. In September 1945, he was appointed to the Communist Party of Korea's Political Committee, and in December he returned to
Pyongyang with Kim Tu-bong and Mu Chong. In March 1946, he founded the
New Korean Democratic Party and was elected vice-chairman. In August of that year he was involved in the integration of the New Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Korea to North faction of Workers' Party of Korea. In September the
Workers' Party of North Korea's Central Committee, the Standing Committee, elected Ch'oe as commerce and business commissar. Ambassador Ianov and Ch'oe Ch'angik discussed the visit of the DPRK government delegation to Eastern Europe and the USSR (
east bloc), and the policies of the Korean Workers' Party. In 1948 he attended the Workers' Party of North Korea's Central Committee and the deputies of the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly. In September Ch'oe became the first North Korea
minister of finance; in 1952 deputy prime minister; in 1954 minister of finance and in 1955 security minister of the DPRK. == See also ==