March 1 is Korea’s Independence Movement Day
March 1 2019 (Samiljeol) marks the 100 year anniversary of Korea’s declaration of Independence from Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945). Even though the Independence Movement was unsuccessful it was a turning point in the resistance movement.
The Independence Hall of Korea is a a good place to start for anyone interested in Korean history. And it holds performances and events and a large-scale reenactment of the Movement on March 1 every year. And there are events in Gwanghwamun and other locations in the centre of Seoul too.
In a class near Gwanghwamun earlier this week my student suddenly asked me if I thought the noise from outside was ‘strange’. We stopped to listen and realised that it sounded like some kind of low flying aircraft – which is unusual to hear around there. We rushed to the window and saw nothing. Later we heard it again and when we went to the window we just saw the lines of white smoke remaining in the air above our heads. And then the penny dropped – it must be a rehearsal for an airshow for the March 1 Independence Movement Day? Phew.
Some interesting facts about Independence Movement Day
Prisoners will be released early from prison.
President Moon Jae-in issued pardons to 4,378 people, including 107 activists who were ‘mostly convicted of protesting his controversial predecessors’. No pardons were given to politicians, business tycoons, civil servants or people convicted of corruption or felonies.
There are hopes for Peace on the peninsula.
President Moon also said that he hopes to make the 100th anniversary a new starting point for peace on the Korean Peninsula. The two Koreas agreed back in their September summit to mark the anniversary together but North Korea has since turned down offers to hold joint events.
In 2017 there were two different Korean flags on Independence Movement Day.
Some flags had yellow ribbons and some did not. This was because whilst everyone wanted to be patriotic and celebrate the Independence movement, they had opposing political views. One group supported the impeachment of President Park Gun Hye and the other didn’t. I wrote about this here.
Events will be going on throughout the year.
The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and the National Archives of Korea have co-organised an exhibition titled Independence, When That Day Comes, a special exhibition to pay tribute to the ‘unknown faces’ involved in the movement.
Many independence fighters were imprisoned at Seodaemun Prison. And the exhibition A Hundred Years Ago in the Cultural Heritage is on at Seodaemun Prison History Hall.
Various exhibitions recognising the contribution of foreign nations to Korean Independence will be on show in March. At City Hall there’s one entitled Korea’s Independence Movement and Canadians.
Events are also going on abroad too. In Brazil, the Korean Cultural Centre is going to hold the Arirang Carnival.
You can go on an historical walk
The Korea Times recommends some walks related to the Independence movement. One starts at Anguk station (Line number 3) in Insadong where the Proclamation of Independence was prepared. It passes through the traditional Hanok village of Bukchon where several of the 33 leaders who signed the declaration lived. And it ends at Deoksu Palace where the protestors bowed to the late Emperor Gojong. Read the declaration in English here.
Other important sites can be found on line number 4 – Seoul Station and graves and statues of martyrs including a statue of independence activist Yu Gwan-sun, known as Korea’s Joan of Arc. She was just a high school student at the time but became a national hero and there is a statue of her in Jangchungdan Park in Jung-gu. Read more about her here.
March 1 is a national holiday (although I still have to go to work 😟) and despite the yellow dust warning the centre of Seoul will be bustling with people and closed to traffic.