삼일 운동

(Disclaimer: I apologize in advance if this entry sounds a little like a history text book. I tried not to make it too dry, but this is how it came out. What can you expect from a former history teacher?? Matt has already reported me to the International Bureau of Blogging.)

Today is March 1st, a Korean holiday called 삼일 운동 (Samil Undong). The name literally translates to Three One Movement. It is a day in recognition of a massive popular uprising against Japanese occupation that occurred on March 1st, 1919, hence the name. It's not a major holiday, but I do get a day off work.

March 1st also marks a turning point in the year for Korean schools, because March 2nd is the beginning of the new school year. So tomorrow is the day when Korean students move up a grade and get new classes and new teachers. My school also begins a new term, meaning I will start all new classes with lots of new kids. Fortunately, I get to keep some of my old favorites, but unfortunately the total number on my roster has doubled due to increased enrollment. I can't complain too much though, because I still have far fewer than I ever could have dreamed of having as a public school teacher in the States, plus I still have all classes of 6 or less. And I am excited about starting over, because I really do enjoy new beginnings.

I originally planned to use my mid-week day off to visit a cool place in the city that I haven't seen, but the reality of finishing Intensive Session and report cards sunk in last night and I wisely decided to dedicate the day to more domestic activities. Roughly translated, that means I am lazing around my apartment today, writing, reading, doing laundry and watching DVDs. And the only thing getting in the way of my enjoying my lazy day is the fact that I was hit with a nasty little cold bug late last night, and I feel pretty lousy right now. But I guess if I was destined to get sick one more time this winter, I should be glad it hit when I had a day to recover a bit before going back to work.

I also took some time to learn a bit more about the history of the March 1st Movement, and was once again reminded about one of the reasons history is so endlessly fascinating to me -- virtually everything is connected in some way. Nothing happens in isolation, and it is the process of understanding how individual events and people affect each other that is so cool to learn about. This is something I didn't fully appreciate until I began to teach history, perhaps because my teachers were not successful at making me aware, or perhaps because I just never knew enough to see the connections. But the connections are everywhere, as I confirmed again this morning. Allow me to geek out for awhile.

The March 1st Movement was not, as I originally thought, an isolated incident that sprang up solely within the confines of Korean/Japanese history. Rather, it was inspired by the larger picture of world politics that prevailed post-WWI.

In 1919, Korea had been under Japanese colonial rule for about 9 years. The peninsula had been annexed in 1910, since which the Japanese had been carrying out the goal of eliminating or integrating the Korean people and culture into Japan. Simply put, Korea was treated as a colony that existed purely for the benefit of Japan, and the Korean people were subjected to years of repression and atrocities. Or even more simply put, Korea became Japan's bitch, and saying that this was not a pleasant experience for the Korean people would be like saying that Hitler wasn't too fond of the Jews. Even though Korea has now been independent for about 50 years, the animosity towards the Japanese runs deep in the veins of the people, for good reason.

The March 1st Movement was one of the earliest displays of Korean nationalism, and was prompted by two things. One was the recent death of former Emperor Gojong, who was believed to have been poisoned by the Japanese leaders. His death marked an end to the Joson Dynasty and blotted out the last remaining hopes that Korea could be independent. The second was President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points Proclamation at the Paris Peace Conference after WWI. And yes, this is where the cool connections come in.

Wilson's 14 Points contained, among many other ideas, a belief in the rights of independence for the many groups of people that were suffering under foreign rule. As a result of this, Wilson was seen by people the world over as the 'great idealist,' boldly pushing for the rights of the oppressed and the creation of a post-WWI political order aimed at preventing further conflict. Whether his lofty intentions were motivated by true regard for human rights and world peace, or by carefully calculated selfish political goals is up for debate in the pages of history. Either way though, he was fighting an uphill battle in negotiating with a bunch of nations that were out to get revenge or hang on to their own empires. In the end, Wilson's idealistic 14 Points were put through the ringer at the Paris Peace Conference and then left out to dry. His principle of sovereignty for colonized peoples was very selectively applied, no doubt due to the complicated wheelings and dealings of many power hungry nations trying to push their own agendas. And Wilson, being the crafty political player that he was, had to watch out for his own interests. For all his idealism, I am sure he was not stupid enough to anger multiple powerful allies by insisting that they give up their colonial claims. So I guess he took what he could get.

The resulting Treaty of Versailles did NOT give full independence to everyone who wanted and deserved it. It dashed the hopes of millions of people worldwide who had been riding on the hope that Wilson was the savior who would finally bring them their freedom. Among them were India, Tibet, Persia, Libya, Morocco, Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and or course, Korea. This was only one of many faults in the treaty, and the feelings of anger and betrayal that resulted for so many nations did not go away. To a certain degree, people all over the world are still paying for the mistakes made after WWI. A shocking number of the global conflicts that have happened since are an outgrowth of this Treaty, including WWII and the current standoff between Arab and Western Nations.

But the history nerd in me is diverging from my original intent! (This is what happens when you make me teach ESL to little kids for too long.) I am supposed to be talking about Korea.

Somewhere in the time between the original announcement of Wilson's 14 points and the actual creation of the Treaty of Versailles came the March 1st Movement in Korea. Bolstered by the hopes of US-supported independence, a group of Korean students in Tokyo had published a statement demanding independence for Korea. On March 1st, 1919, the student leaders read the Declaration of Independence at the Taehwagwan restaurant. The were quickly arrested, but their actions had inspired millions of people. The Declaration was read all over the nation to fired-up crowds, as students, patriots and Christians joined in the fight. Per the request of original students, the demonstrations and marches were intended to be peaceful, but the reactions of the Japanese were far from it.

The Japanese authorities crushed the movement with brutal force, committing countless atrocities that make it easy to understand why there is still so much hatred in the hearts of the Korean people. Christian leaders were nailed to crosses and left to slowly die, people of all ages were beheaded (a 'favorite' sport of the Japanese during the occupation), and churches were filled with people, blockaded and then burned. According to reports by the Yon-Hap news agency, "…more than 7,500 demonstrators were killed and about 16,000 wounded. Some 47,000 others were arrested by the Japanese police." (The Japanese official numbers are significantly lower that the Korean estimates, not surprisingly. Japan does not have the greatest track record when it comes to owning up to past actions.)

After the movement, international response was practically non-existent. Japan was far too powerful a player for the other nations of the world to come to the aid of the Koreans. Within Korea, the lesson learned from this was that they could not count on outside help to free them. The battle for independence was theirs alone.

Ironically, it was outside help that eventually freed Korea from Japanese rule in 1945, when the US's bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan to surrender to the Allies. And this time, Korea was given its independence. But these outside forces did not defeat Japan because they were concerned about Korea. They did it because Japan's expansion had started to threaten their own economic interests in Asia. And not long after the dust had settled from the celebrations, Korea again became a pawn the power struggles of other nations. This time it was the US and the Soviet Union, and although independence was not lost again, the country instead experienced a devastating civil war and a division that exists to this day.

Does Korea have a right to be bitter about what has happened to it throughout history? I think so. But while Koreans have a very strong nationalistic fighting spirit, I have not found them to have near the desire for revenge that might be expected. Instead, they seem to be more concerned with becoming a strong nation that is able to stand on equal footing with the rest of the world. I also saw this reflected in the text of the Korean Declaration of Independence:

"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 settling 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."

If only that attitude prevailed in all people, I think the world world would not be so full of hatred and fighting. Instead of focusing on getting back at the nations that have hurt them, South Korea has put its full effort into strengthening itself culturally and economically. And they have largely succeeded in this effort, going from being one of the world's poorest nations to the world's 13th largest economy in less than 50 years. It is actually referred to as The Korean Miracle by many economists, and it is predicted that Korea will emerge as one of the most important players both in Asia and the rest of the world.

So aren't you glad you know a little bit about it?

For a full text of the Korean Declaration of Independence, see http://www.kimsoft.com/2004/samil-declaration.htm