40 Percent of Students Ignorant of Mar. 1 Uprising

By Do Je-hae

Staff Reporter

The 1919 March 1 Independence Movement is one of the milestones in Korea's resistance campaign against Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), and yet many of today's young people are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the civil uprising, a recent survey found Sunday.

A poll by the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA) showed that only 59.1 percent of those questioned were correctly informed of what the date March 1 stands for.

Around 40 percent held the mistaken perception that "March 1 was the day that Korea was liberated from Japan." Five percent said they were completely ignorant of the movement.

The respondents were composed of 3,919 students in elementary, middle and high schools nationwide.

"It seems many students are confused as to why March 1 is commemorated nationally every year.

"Schools need to provide more education on the true significance of the March 1 commemorations," a KFTA official said.

Triggered by the repressive policies of the Japanese occupators that began in 1910, the movement refers to the series of demonstrations that erupted nationwide, beginning March 1, 1919, with 33 core organizers gathering at a Seoul restaurant and officially declaring: "We herewith proclaim the independence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people."

The students' ignorance is partly due to poor history education.

Recently, the authorities sought to undermine the place of the iconic martyr Yu Gwan-Sun (1902-1920), one of the organizers of the March 1 movement, in history textbooks for elementary schools.

The education ministry planned to eliminate sections on Yu, but cancelled the plans in the face of intense opposition from history experts and commemorative organizations.

The study showed that more than 60 percent of students thought Yu was most symbolic of the March 1 Movement. Others associated the day with the national flag or a national holiday.

It took the Japanese as long as 12 months to suppress the series of protests in which two million Koreans participated. Though more than 7,000 of them were killed during the course of the movement, it brought about major changes to some of the most oppressive Japanese imperial policies toward Korea.

One of its biggest achievements was that it laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai in April 1919.

While the historic and constitutional status as well as its role in ultimately achieving independence from Japan has invited contending views over the years, the Provisional Government is increasingly being appreciated as a unique example in the history of liberation movements worldwide.

Meanwhile, the government will hold a ceremony at the Yu Gwan-Sun Museum in South Chungcheong Province to mark the 91st anniversary of the movement.

From Saturday through June 1, reenactment ceremonies will be held in 60 different regions, including the hometowns of the female student activist Yu in Cheonan, and army leader Shin Dol-seok in Yeonghae on the southeastern coast.

"We hope these ceremonies will play a role in Korea keeping alive the spirit of independence," the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said.

Reenactment ceremonies were first held in 1999 in 15 regions.

jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr