Proclamation of Korean Independence This is the translated text, signed by Korean 33 patriots.[6] It was read on the morning of March 1, 1919, at Tapgol Park in Seoul, and in the afternoon at many other places throughout Korea.
We herewith proclaim the independence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people. We tell it to the world in witness of the equality of all nations and we pass it on to our posterity as their inherent right.
We make this proclamation, having back of us 5,000 year of history, and 20,000,000 of a united loyal people. We take this step to insure to our children for all time to come, personal liberty in accord with the awakening consciousness of this new era. This is the clear leading of God, the moving principle of the present age, the whole human race's just claim. It is something that cannot be stamped out, or stifled, or gagged, or suppressed by any means.
Victims of an older age, when brute force and the spirit of plunder ruled, we have come after these long thousands of years to experience the agony of ten years of foreign oppression, with every loss to the right to live, every restriction of the freedom of thought, every damage done to the dignity of life, every opportunity lost for a share in the intelligent advance of the age in which we live.
Assumedly, if the defects of the past are to be rectified, if the agony of the present is to be unloosed, if the future oppression is to be avoided, if thought is to be set free, if right of action is to be given a place, if we are to attain to any way of progress, if we are to deliver our children from the painful, shameful heritage, if we are to leave blessing and happiness intact for those who succeed us, the first of all necessary things is the clear-cut independence of our people. What cannot our twenty millions do, every man with sword in heart, in this day when human nature and conscience are making a stand for truth and right?
What barrier can we not break, what purpose can we not accomplish?
We have no desire to accuse Japan of breaking many solemn treaties since 1836, nor to single out specially the teachers in the schools or government officials who treat the heritage of our ancestors as a colony of their own, and our people and their civilization as a nation of savages, finding delight only in beating us down and bringing us under their heel.
We have no wish to find special fault with Japan's lack of fairness or her contempt of our civilization and the principles on which her state rests; we, who have greater cause to reprimand ourselves, need not spend precious time in finding fault with others; neither need we, who require so urgently to build for the future, spend useless hours over what is past and gone. Our urgent need today is the setting up of this house or ours and not a discussion of who has broken it down, or what has caused its ruin. Our work is to clear the future of defeats in accord with the earnest dictates of conscience. Let us not be filled with bitterness or resentment over past agonies or past occasions for anger.
Our part is to influence the Japanese government, dominated as it is by the old idea of brute force which thinks to run counter to common and universal law, so that it will change, act honestly and in accord with the principles of right and truth. The result of annexation, brought about without any conference with the Korean people, is that the Japanese, indifferent to us, use every kind of partiality for their own, and by a false set of figures show a profit and loss account between us two peoples most untrue, digging a trench of everlasting resentment deeper and deeper the farther they go.
Ought not the way of enlightened courage to be to correct the evils of the past by ways that are sincere, and by true sympathy and friendly feeling make a new world in which the two peoples will be equally blessed?
To bind by force of twenty million resentful Koreans will mean not only loss of pence forever for this part of the Far East, but also will increase the ever- growing suspicion of four hundred million Chinese-upon whom depends on the danger or safety of the Far East-besides strengthening the hatred of Japan. From this all the rest of the East will suffer. Today Korean independence will mean not only daily life and happiness for us, but also it would mean Japan's departure from an evil way and exaltation to the place of true protector of the East, so that China, too, even in her dreams, would put all fear of Japan aside.
This thought comes from no minor resentment, but from a large hope for the future welfare and blessing of mankind. A new era wakes before our eyes, the old world of force is gone, and the new world of righteousness and truth is here. Out of the experience and travail of the old world arises this light on life's affairs. The insects stifled by the foe and snow of winter awake at this same time with the breezes of spring and the soft light of the sun upon them.
It is the day of the restoration of all things on the full tide of which we set forth, without delay or fear. We desire a full measure of satisfaction in the way of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and an opportunity to develop what is in use for the glory of our people.
We awake now from the aid world with its darkened conditions in full determination and one heart and one mind, with right on our side, along with the forces of nature, to a new life. May all the ancestors to the thousands and ten thousand generations old us from within and all the force of the world aid us from without and let the day we take hold be the day of our attainment. In this hope we go forward.
Three Items of Agreement
1.This work of ours is in belief of truth, religion and life, undertaken at the request of our people, in order to make known their desire for liberty. Let no violence be done to anyone. 2.Let those who follow us, every man, all the time, every hour, show forth with gladness this same mind. 3.Let all things be done decently and in order, so that our behaviour to the very end may be honourable and upright. The 4252nd year of the Kingdom of Korea 3d Month Representatives of the people. Son Pyung-Hi Kil sun-Chu Yi Pil-Chu Paik Yong-Sung Kim Won-Kyu Kim Pyung-Cho Kim Chang-Choon Kwon Dong-Chin Kwon Byung-Duk Na Yong-Whan Na In-Hup Yang Chun-Paik Yang Han-Mook Lew Yer-Dai Yi Kop-Sung Yi Mung-Yong Yi Seung-Hoon Yi Chong-Hoon Yi Chong-Il Lim Yei-Whan Pak Choon-Seung Pak Hi-Do Pak Tong-Wan Sin Hong-Sik Sin Suk-Ku Oh Sei-Chang Oh Wha-Young Chung Choon-Su Choi Sung-Mo Choi In Han Yong-Woon Hong Byung-Ki Hong Ki-Cho
The inspiration for the Samil Movement came from the repressive nature of Japanese policies under its military administration of Korea following 1905, and the "Fourteen Points" outlining the right of national "self-determination" proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference in January 1919. After hearing news of Wilson’s speech, Korean students studying in Tokyo published a statement demanding Korean independence.
At 2 P.M. on the 1 March 1919, the 33 nationalists who formed the core of the Samil Movement convened at Taehwagwan Restaurant in Seoul and read the Korean Declaration of Independence that had been drawn up by the historian/writer Choe Nam-seon and the poet/Buddhist monk Manhae (also known as Han Yongun). The nationalists initially planned to assemble at Tapgol Park in downtown Seoul, but they chose a more private location out of fear that the gathering might turn into a riot. The leaders of the movement signed the document and sent a copy to the Japanese Governor General, with their compliments.
We herewith proclaim the independence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people. We tell it to the world in witness of the equality of all nations and we pass it on to our posterity as their inherent right. We make this proclamation, having back of us 5,000 year of history, and 20,000,000 of a united loyal people. We take this step to insure to our children for all time to come, personal liberty in accord with the awakening consciousness of this new era. This is the clear leading of God, the moving principle of the present age, the whole human race's just claim. It is something that cannot be stamped out, or stifled, or gagged, or suppressed by any means.
They then telephoned the central police station to inform them of their actions and were arrested afterwards.
Despite the nationalists' concerns, massive crowds assembled in the Pagoda Park to hear a student, Chung Jae-yong, read the declaration publicly. Afterwards, the gathering formed into a procession, which the Japanese police attempted to suppress.
Coinciding with these events, special delegates associated with the movement also read copies of the independence proclamation from appointed places throughout the country at 2 PM on that same day, but the nationwide uprisings that resulted were also brutally put down by the Japanese police and army.
Protests nevertheless continued to spread, and as the Japanese national and military police could not contain the crowds, the army and even the navy were also called in. There were several reports of atrocities. In one notable instance, Japanese police in the village of Jeam-ri herded male protesters into a church, locked it, and burned it to the ground.
Approximately 2,000,000 Koreans had participated in the more than 1,500 demonstrations, many who have been massacred by the Japanese police force and army. According to the frequently referenced The Bloody History of the Korean Independence Movement by Park Eunsik, 7,509 were killed, 15,849 were wounded, and 46,303 were arrested. During March 1 to April 11, Japanese officials reported that 553 people were killed with over 12,000 arrested, while 8 policemen and military policemen were killed and 158 were wounded. Many of those arrested were taken to the infamous Seodaemun Prison in Seoul where they were imprisoned without trial and tortured. Several hundred people were murdered in extrajudicial killings in the "death house" at the rear of the site.
In 1920, the Battle of Chingshanli broke out in Manchuria between exiled Korean nationalists and the Japanese Army. The March 1st movement resulted in a major change in Japanese imperial policy towards Korea. Japanese Governor-General Hasegawa Yoshimichi accepted responsibility for the loss of control (although most of the repressive measures leading to the uprising had been put into place by his predecessors) and was replaced by Saito Makoto. Some of the aspects of Japanese rule considered most objectionable to Koreans were removed. The military police were replaced by a civilian force, and limited press freedom was permitted under what was termed the 'cultural policy'. Many of these lenient policies were reversed during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.
Women also found new opportunities after the movement to express their views for the first time in Korea. Ideas of female liberation were allowed to be printed after the rebellion. Such journals as the Sin yoja (New Woman) and Yoja kye (Women's World) were printed. The March 1 Movement was a catalyst for the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai in April 1919 and also gave influence on nonviolent resistance in India and many other countries.
On May 24, 1949, March 1st was designated a national holiday in South Korea