March 1st Movement
The March 1st Movement, also known as the Sam-il (3-1) Movement (Korean: 3·1 운동), was a significant protest movement in early 1919 by Korean people that called for independence from Imperial Japan and a stop to the forced assimilation into Japanese culture. It is also sometimes referred to as the Man-se Demonstrations (Korean: 만세운동; Hanja: 萬歲運動; lit. Ten-thousand Year Movement). It is remembered as one of the earliest and largest protest movements for Korean independence, and remembered as a catalyst for future independence activities. Thirty-three Korean cultural and religious leaders issued a proclamation, supported by thousands of students and civilians in Seoul. There were over 1,000 demonstrations in many other cities. These were brutally suppressed, with Korean historian Park Eun-sik reporting about 7,500 killed and 16,000 wounded, and 46,000 arrested.
| March 1st Movement | |
|---|---|
| Official name | March 1st Movement Samil Movement |
| Also called | Man-se Demonstrations |
| Significance | Marks one of the first public displays of Korean resistance during the Japanese occupation of Korea |
| Observances | March 1, national holiday in South Korea since 1949 |
| Date | March 1, 1919 |
| March 1st Movement | |
| Hangul | 3·1 운동 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Samil Undong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Samil Undong |
Korea eventually achieved independence decades later after the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II. Today, March 1st is celebrated as a national holiday in South Korea, but not in North Korea.