By Andrei Lankov
Korea Times Columnist
On April 17, 1925, a Chinese restaurant in downtown Seoul hosted what looked like a banquet attended by some young intellectuals ― had somebody asked, he or she would have been told that it was a gathering of young journalists.
However, this was merely a cover. People who ostensibly came to Aseowon restaurant for a lunch, actually gathered to establish the Communist Party of Korea, and the clandestine event was officially considered to be its first (founding) congress.
The second congress never took place, since the ``1925 Party'' did not survive for long, being disbanded in 1928.
But this event heralded the birth of a new political force which was to play a major role in Korean politics for the next century.