The March 1st Movement: An Inception of Freedom

The March 1st Movement: An Inception of Freedom

Junho Son

With a GDP of over $2 trillion and serving a prominent role in the 21st-century global economy, South Korea is considered an international powerhouse. Its penetration into the incredibly competitive electronics market with cutting edge innovations in telecommunication equipment might confuse you into thinking that Korea had been a powerful state from the past. Yet, the South Korean state we know today is a recent creation.

Korea as a modern state started during the second wave of European Imperialism. The Korean Peninsula has long been a coveted area of land within the East Asian region due to its value as a flexible trading port. Around the year 1890, Korea found itself facing frequent foreign invasion from European origin. Unlike historical encounters of foreign invasions from the Chinese, these European invaders were equipped with modern weaponry and it wasn’t long after until Korea was surrounded by three superpowers: Qing Dynasty, Imperial Russia, and Imperial Japan.

Although the Joseon Dynasty attempted a reform into the Korean Empire in hopes of catching up, it had little to no impact on the overall modernization progress. On the other hand, with the Qing Dynasty’s humiliating defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894, and Japan’s surprising victory against Russia, Japan was slowly growing as a superpower within Asia. Furthermore, the Portsmouth Treaty granted Japan freedom of the Asian area in exchange for recognizing US ownership of the Philippines, establishing Japan as the only superpower within Asia.

With virtually no competition and support from the United States, Japan quickly annexed Korea through the Eulsa Unwilling Treaty, also known as the Japan-Korea Treaty. Since then, Korea faced a period of political turmoil that would last until the end of World War II. Although most historians conclude the direct cause of the termination of the Japanese occupation of Korea was due to the nuclear weapon strikes that killed all Japanese motivations for further expansion in hopes of preventing another airstrike, a civil resistance movement in South Korea known as the March 1st Movement was also a driving force towards decolonization and Korean independence.

Although there were small scale rebellions that occured before, the March 1st Movement was the one that brought the most impact as Korea’s main decolonization movement. It started out with Korean Independence activist Yong-un Han, who read out the Korean Declaration of Independence publically in Tapgol Park, Seoul on March 1st 1919. It was not a single riot, but one that led to a series of many movements around Korea. The idea of a Korean Declaration of Independence captivated the empathy and passion of many young Koreans who added on to the movement. Unlike other decolonization movements around the world, the March 1st Movement was a relatively peaceful operation with little to no violence. It was a protest dominated by flags and cries of the people, free from violent protests. According to a Japanese source, there were 1,542 independent movements across Korea, all of which drew inspiration from the March 1st Movement in Seoul. Over 2 million participated in the riots with more than 20,000 casualties. It characterized the peaceful, yet the resilient spirit of the Korean people without weapons.

The March 1st Movement was a nation-wide phenomenon that created some of the most fundamental values of Korea we know today: democracy. A more direct effect of the March 1st Movement was the relative loosening of Japanese control. It abandoned its former strict policies involving the military police and allowed the use of a civilian police group. It was a sign that notified the Japanese government of Korean resilience. It also led to the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government about a month later at April 11th. Although indirect, the March 1st Movement served as an indirect inspiration for the Candlelight vigil during the impeachment of President Park, defining our core values as a nation.

This year is the 101st anniversary of the initial March 1st Movement and I wish you take this year as an opportunity to remember the sacrifice created the Korea we know today.

Works Cited

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