The March 1st Independence Movement3.1 독립운동과 유관순

On March 1, 1919, Koreans launched one of history's great nonviolent uprisings against Japanese colonial rule. Thirty-three national representatives signed a Declaration of Independence, and at 2 p.m. that day it was read aloud at the pavilion in Seoul's Tapgol Park. Crowds poured into the streets shouting 'Manse!' — 'Long live Korean independence!' — and the movement spread across the entire country in the following months, drawing participants from every class and region.

Japan suppressed the demonstrations harshly; thousands were killed or imprisoned. The movement's most beloved figure is Yu Gwan-sun, a 16-year-old student who organized a protest at the Aunae marketplace near her hometown of Cheonan. Arrested and tortured, she died in Seodaemun Prison in 1920 — Koreans often compare her to Joan of Arc.

Though it did not win independence, March 1st changed everything. It led to the founding of the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai the following month and became the moral foundation of the independence movement — the current South Korean constitution traces the republic's legitimacy to it.

Today March 1st (Samiljeol) is a national holiday. Flags line the streets, and ceremonies are held at Tapgol Park and the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan — both places where a visitor can feel why this memory still matters so much.