Korean Declaration of Independence

Last updated March 27, 2024

The Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the 33 Korean representatives meeting at Taehwagwan, the restaurant located in what is now Insa-dong, Jongno District, Seoul on March 1, 1919, four months after the end of World War I, which announced that Korea would no longer tolerate Japanese rule.

This was the beginning of the March 1st Movement, which was violently suppressed by Japanese authorities, as well as the cornerstone of the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government one month later. Nearly thirty years later, Korea's true independence came after the surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of World War II.

Text

From a transcript of the First Korean Congress:^[1]

We, the representatives of 20,000,000 united people of Korea, hereby proclaim the independence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people. This Proclamation stands in witness to the equality of all nations, and we pass it on to our posterity as their inalienable right.
With 4,000 years of history behind us, we take this step to insure to our children forever life, liberty and pursuit of happiness in accord with the awakening consciousness of this new era. This is the clear leading of God and the right of every nation. Our desire for liberty cannot be crushed or destroyed.
After an independent civilization of several thousand years we have experienced the agony for fourteen years of foreign oppression, which has denied to us freedom of thought and made it impossible for us to share in the intelligent advance of the age in which we live.
To assure us and our children freedom from future oppression, and to be able to give full scope to our national aspirations, as well as to secure blessing and happiness for all time, we regard as the first imperative the regaining of our national independence.
We entertain no spirit of vengeance towards Japan, but our urgent need today is to redeem and rebuild our ruined nation, and not to discuss who has caused Korea's downfall.
Our part is to influence the Japanese Government, which is now dominated by the old idea of brute force, so that it will change and act in accordance with the principles of justice and truth.
The result of the enforced annexation of Korea by Japan is that every possible discrimination in education, commerce and other spheres of life has been practiced against us most cruelly. Unless remedied, the continued wrong will but intensify the resentment of the 20,000,000 Korean people and make the Far East a constant menace to the peace of the world.
We are conscious that Korea's independence will mean not only well being and happiness for our race, but also happiness and integrity for the 400,000,000 people of China and make Japan the leader of the Orient instead of the conqueror she is at the present time.
A new era awakes before our eyes, for the old world of force has gone and out of the travail of the past a new world of righteousness and truth has been bom.
We desire a full measure of satisfaction in liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In this hope we go forward.
We pledge the following:
1. This work of ours is in behalf of truth, justice and life and is undertaken at the request of our people to make known their desire for liberty. Let there be no violence.
2. Let those who follow us show every hour with gladness this same spirit.
3. Let all things be done with singleness of purpose, so that our behavior to the end may be honorable and upright.
The 4252d[ sic ] year of the Kingdom of Korea, 3rd month, 1st day. Representatives of the people :
The signatures attached to the document are:
Son Byung Hi, Kil Sun Chu, Yi Pil Chu, Pak Yun Song, Kim Won Kyu, Kim Pyung Cho, Kim Chang Chun, Kwan Dong Chin, Kwan Byung Duk, Na Yung Whan, Na Yum Hup, Yang Chun Paik, Yang Hun Mok, Yi Yo Dur, Yi Kop Sung, Yi Muin Yong, Yi Suing Hui, Yi Chon Hun, Yi Chon Il, Yim Yi Whan, Pak Chun Sang, Pak Hi Do, Pak Tong Won, Sim Hong Sik, Sim Sok Ku, Oh Sai Chung, Oh Wha Yun, Chun Chu Su, Che Song Mo, Che In, Hang Yong Yun, Hong Byun Ki, Ho Ki Cho.

Related Research Articles

The Korea Hapkido Federation is the largest, wholly hapkido, governing body for the Korean martial art of hapkido in the world. It is made up of predominantly Korean born students and instructors or those individuals who have directly trained in South Korea. This organization is based in Seoul, South Korea and its president is Oh Se-Lim.

Jidokwan is one of the original nine schools of the modern Korean martial arts that became Taekwondo and was founded in what is now South Korea at the end of World War II. Its name translates as "School of Wisdom". The Jidokwan in Korea still exists today. It functions as a social fraternal order. Jidokwan supports and endorses the Kukkiwon method of Taekwondo, and supports World Taekwondo.

Jo Myong-rok was a North Korean military officer who held the military rank Chasu. In 1998, he was appointed first vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, Director of the Korean People's Army General Political Bureau. Previously, he was the commander of the air defence forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Yong-chun</span> North Korean soldier and politician

Kim Yong-chun was a North Korean soldier and politician. He was a leader of the North Korean military. He held the North Korean military rank Chasu, was Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, and was Minister of People's Armed Forces. He held a minor post within the Workers Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party of Korea</span> 1925–1946 political party in Korea

The Communist Party of Korea was a communist party in Korea. It was founded during a secret meeting in Seoul in 1925. The Governor-General of Korea had banned communist and socialist parties under the Peace Preservation Law, so the party had to operate in a clandestine manner. The leaders of the party were Kim Yong-bom and Pak Hon-yong.

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 8 March 2009 to elect the members of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly. They were originally scheduled to be held in August 2008 but were postponed for unknown reasons. Observers of North Korea speculated that it was in relation to Kim Jong-il's ill health.

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 3 August 2003. Representatives were elected for five-year terms to all 687 seats of the Supreme People's Assembly, and also to 26,650 positions in city, county, and provincial People's Assemblies. All candidates were members of the three parties constituting the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 2 November 1986. 655 Deputies were elected to the parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choe Kwang</span> North Korean politician (1918–1997)

Marshal Choe Kwang was a prominent military leader in North Korea.

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 25 August 1948 to elect the members of the 1st Supreme People's Assembly. Organised by the People's Committee of North Korea, the elections saw 572 deputies elected, of which 212 were from North Korea and 360 from South Korea.

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 27 August 1957 to elect members of the 2nd Supreme People's Assembly. Voters were presented with a single list from the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, dominated by the Workers' Party of Korea.

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 8 October 1962 to elect the members of the 3rd Supreme People's Assembly. Only one candidate was presented in each constituency, all of which were selected by the Workers' Party of Korea, although some ran under the banner of other parties or state organisations to give the illusion of democracy. Voter turnout was reported to be 100%, with all reportedly voting in favour of the candidates presented.

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 26 July 1998. 687 deputies were elected to the tenth Supreme People's Assembly. There was only one nominated candidate per constituency - 687 candidates for 687 seats. According to the state news agency KCNA, the turnout rate was 99.85%, and 100% of participating voters cast their ballots in favour of the registered candidates. About two thirds of the deputies were new, and deputies with a military background reportedly doubled in number. Kim Jong-il was unanimously elected in constituency n°666. According to a Rodong Sinmun editorial, this proved "how deep the Korean people's trust in Kim Jong Il is and how powerful and solid the monolithic unity of the people around him in one thought and purpose and with moral obligation is."

The death of Kim Jong Il was reported by North Korean state television news on 19 December 2011. The presenter Ri Chun-hee announced that he had died on 17 December at 8:30 am of a massive heart attack while travelling by train to an area outside Pyongyang. Reportedly, he had received medical treatment for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases, and during the trip, Kim was said to have had an "advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock". However, it was reported in December 2012 by South Korean media that the heart attack had instead occurred in a fit of rage over construction faults in a crucial power plant project at Huichon in Chagang Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Pyong-ho</span> North Korean general (1926–2014)

Jon Pyong-ho was a North Korean officer and politician who served as the Chief Secretary of the Korean Workers Party (KWP) Committee of the North Korean Cabinet, and director of the DPRK Cabinet Political Bureau before his retirement in 2010. Jon was described as the 'Chief architect of North Korea's nuclear programme'. Jon was a general of the Korean People's Army and a close adviser to the late Kim Jong-il.

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 9 March 2014 to elect the members of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly.

The 10th Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea was in session from 1998 until 2003. It consisted of 687 deputies, and held six sessions.

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 10 March 2019 to elect the members of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly. The elections were announced on 6 January 2019. With only one candidate on the ballot in each constituency, outside observers described it as a show election. 687 candidates for the DPRK deputies to the SPA were elected. Kim Jong Un did not stand for election, marking the first time that a North Korean leader did not participate as a candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hwang Sun-hui</span> North Korean politician (1919–2020)

Hwang Sun-hui was a North Korean politician who served in several high-ranking positions in the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), including in the Supreme People's Assembly and the Central Committee of the WPK. She was affiliated with the Korean Revolution Museum from 1965, and was its director from 1990.

References

↑ Korean congress. 1st, Philadelphia (1919). First Korean congress, held in the Little theatre, and Delancey streets, April 14, 15, 16. The Library of Congress. Philadelphia. pp. 80–82.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

This Korean history-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Korean congress. 1st, Philadelphia (1919). First Korean congress, held in the Little theatre, and Delancey streets, April 14, 15, 16. The Library of Congress. Philadelphia. pp. 80–82.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[1]