Student activism in Korea began all the way back in the former half of the 20th century,
when Korea was a Japanese colony.
There are two major instances, I think, of student resistance against Japanese rule:
the March First Movement of 1919 and the Gwangju Student Independence Movement of 1929.
Now, I’m only going to talk about the first one because…
that’s the one I talked about in the actual speech this video’s based on.
The March First Movement began on—wait for it—March 1st, 1919.
At this point, Korea had been under Japanese rule for almost a decade, and the former Korean
emperor had recently died, possibly due to Japanese poisoning.
During this movement, up to 2 million Koreans participated in more than 1,500 separate protests
across the country over the course of several months.
In the process, about 7 thousand were killed,
45 thousand were wounded and 49 thousand were arrested.
When talking about the March 1st movement, traditional Korean historiography dictates
that we talk about Yu Gwansun, who has become the face of anti-Japan student activism.
At the time of the March 1st protests, Yu was just 16 years old.
And just like me, Yu was a student.
At the time, she was attending the Ewha School, a modern school for Methodist Christian
girls, away from home in Seoul.
When the protest erupted in Seoul on March 1, 1919, she went out to the streets to join.
Considering the brutal suppression that the Japanese employed against these protests,
it was extremely brave of her even to participate.
On March 5, she once again joined ten thousand other students in chanting the slogan,
“Long Live Korean Independence.”
A few days later, the Japanese shut down schools because of the protests, and Yu took a train
back home to Cheonan.
Instead of enjoying a break from school, though, she decided to rally her neighbors to emulate
the protests of Seoul.
For the next month, she spent her days unifying Christian and Confucian leaders in a struggle
for independence, and hand-making Korean flags to hand out at the scheduled demonstration.
On April 1, 1919, or March 1 on the lunar calendar, Yu and three thousand Koreans of
Cheonan took to the streets.
The Japanese police began to fire at them.
Yu’s parents were both killed by Japanese officers right in front of her eyes.
She was then arrested.
Because Yu was a minor, the Japanese offered to let her go if she gave them information.
She refused, and was jailed.
Her courage undeterred, she indicted the Japanese Empire as the real criminals at her own trial.
Originally 5 years, her sentence was reduced to 3 years after an appeal.
She was incarcerated in the Seodaemun Prison, or Gyeongseong Prison as it was then known,
a place specifically designed for members of the resistance.
On March 1, 1920, to celebrate the one year anniversary of the March First Movement, she
organized a demonstration with other inmates.
The prison halls echoed with the slogan,
“Long Live Korean Independence.”
As a consequence, she was placed in solitary confinement in an underground prison cell.
There, she was brutally tortured over the next few months.
All known photographs of her show her face in a swollen state due to the torture.
On September 28, 1920, she died as a result of the torture at the young age of 17.
She was a high school junior or senior by today’s standards.
So why?
Why did Yu choose to sacrifice her young life, especially when there was a way out?
The answer: Freedom.
That basic desire that all humans have.
What better weapon against tyranny than the idealism of young, passionate minds?
I also think it’s quite significant that Yu unified Christian and Confucian ministers
in the struggle for freedom.
We might have different religions and beliefs, but in the end, we’re all human,
and we can stand up for one another.
I think Yu Gwansun demonstrates that it’s perfectly possible for everybody to work together
when defending that human necessity of liberty.
It’s also important to note that Yu was not alone in her bravery.
There were thousands of other Korean students who matched her in courage but whose names
and contributions have been lost to history.
Of course, there were countless adults involved as well.
And indeed, the collective sacrifice made a difference.
In April 1919, a provisional government-in-exile for a new Korean Republic was formed in Shanghai,
continuing the struggle for independence.