Korea – Global Political Theory

*The March 1st Independence Movement* (*Suh Se-ok*)

Beginning in 1910, the Empire of Japan illegally annexed Korea after victories in the Russo-Japanese War (1905). This annexation led to the establishment a colonial government within the country that lasted until the Axis Powers surrendered in 1945. With harsh assimilation policies, forced labor, and censorship, Japan attempted to deliberately subjugate Korea, which consequently urged the development of socialist and nationalist resistance.

Thus, the March First Movement, or the Sam-il Movement, was the physical response to these tools of oppression. Beginning on March 1st of 1919, the campaign involved various student-led demonstrations demanding the Independence of Korea as a result of Japanese imperialism. Inspired by the Treaty of Versailles and Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the movement sought to dispel Japanese colonial power through peaceful protest and the creation of a Korean Declaration of Independence. While the event did not single-handedly attain Korean Independence, it is notable for empowering the Korean Independence Movement and inspiring various influential activists.

FURTHER READING

Baldwin, Frank Prentiss, JR. 1969. “The March First Movement: Korean Challenge and Japanese Response.” Order No. 7220026, Columbia University. https://proxy.wm.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/march-first-movement-korean-challenge-japanese/docview/288040533/se-2?accountid=15053.

Neuhaus, Dolf-Alexander. “”Awakening Asia”: Korean Student Activists in Japan, The Asia Kunglun, and Asian Solidarity, 1910–1923.” Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review 6, no. 2 (2017): 608-638. doi:10.1353/ach.2017.0021.

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KIM San (1905-1938) was a Korean activist and celebrated Communist who vigorously rebelled against the Japanese government’s oppression of the Chinese and Korean people. In particular, Kim is renowned for his participation in the March First Movement, a major demonstration against Japanese imperialism and assimilation in Korea throughout 1919. However, most importantly, through his experiences living in and studying Japan, China, and Russia, he framed the Left-wing revolutionary movement within East Asia.

While much of Kim’s literary work lacks documentation within Western publications, he is best known for working with Nym Wales on a biographical novel titled Song of Ariran: The Life Story of a Korean Rebel. While this source serves primarily to document the complex conditions of Kim’s political journey, it also highlights many of his left-leaning perspectives, especially as a response to Japanese imperialism. From his praise of communism in “To Tolstoy: An Acknowledgement” to his discussion of Korean liberation and the power of the masses in “‘Only the Undefeated in Defeat…’,” Kim exposes the Korean Left’s robust resilience in the face of Japanese domination.

FURTHER READING

Kim, San, and Nym Wales. 1941. Song of Ariran: The Life Story of a Korean Rebel. Cornwall, New York: The Cornwall Press.

Tag: Korea

The March First Movement

Kim San: A Martyr for the Masses