March 1 Movement, a Resistance Against Japan's Unjust

March 1 Movement, A Resistance against JapanЎЇs Unjust

In 1904, Japanese colonists forced the Korean government to sign the Korean-Japan Protocol which stipulated that sovereign control over Korea be given to the Japanese government. In a compulsive and well-calculated manner, Japanese colonists had convinced the U.S and other foreign countries to give into Japanese occupation of Korea, under reasons of protection and development. The Japanese government gained such support and acquiescence from major foreign countries through claims that the Japanese government will help to reform Korean society. And when Japanese aggression was formally authorized both in the domestic and international realm, Japan rapidly took measures to suppress the Korean citizens. The Koreans revolted strongly against Japanese rule in their land. Many Koreans were persecuted, humiliated, and killed by the Japanese force in their cry for liberty. It was precisely during this time that the March First Movement was ignited as a strong nationalistic movement in Korea. The nationwide uprising on March 1, 1919 in Korea was an outcry peopleЎЇs survival in the face of the intolerable aggression, oppression, and plunder by the Japanese colonialists (March1 par 1). Throughout this paper, I will describe unjust act of Japanese aggression in the light of the March First Movement, and how the March First Movement took place. By doing so, I strongly suggest that the March First movement became an effective catalyst or a stepping stone for establishment of independent Korea.

Great mode of power which can be perceived as unjust can be illustrated by the Japanese aggression in Korea After the compulsory first Korean-Japanese Protocol, Large number of Japanese troops were sent to seize the Central Telecommunications Office, and stared to pre-empt the Korean land for military use (KoreaЎЇs par 3). The Japanese colonists quickly overtook the control of important institutions of Korean government. According to the web research, the Japanese government forcefully disengaged Korean military power. it says, ÐŽoThe Korean armed forces were disarmed and disbanded and the judicial system was reorganized to serve Japanese aggression. Moreover, in a secret memorandum attached to the Korean-Japan agreement, it was stipulated that Korean military forces would be dissolved and that courts, newly constructed prisons, and the police would be turned over to Japanese managementÐŽ± (KoreaЎЇs par 3). Also, by establishing the Oriental Development Company in 1908, the Japanese government removed land property of the Korean government which planned to prevent the Korean authority to raise resistance force. Japanese farmers took the ownership on Korean peopleЎЇs land, and the Japanese officials ratified numerous laws to advantage the Japanese farmersЎЇ conditions on Korean land. In terms of Korean education system, fearing the power of education on Korean students, the Japanese government tried to take control of education system by reducing the number of schools in Korea and impeded Korean education by lowering the levels of academic content (Educational par 3). Furthermore, keeping its control status for future reference, the Japanese authority burned down numbers of Korean history books and well as literatures and re-written Korean History for their own purpose. Most of all, one of the inhumane activities done during the Japanese aggression was the institute of sexual slavery, also known as ÐŽothe comfort womenÐŽ± (JapanЎЇs Crime par 1). Throughout Korea, women were recruited by force into sexual slavery for the Japanese soldiers. It says on the case watch article from C.M.H.T (Cohen. Milstein. Hausfeld & Toll), ÐŽoThe women held in sexual slavery were raped repeatedly -- by some accounts by 30 or 40 men each day -- day after day. Torture and beatings were common. The women existed under miserable conditions, living in tiny cubicles, and often with inadequate food and medical care. For some, the servitude lasted as long as eight yearsÐŽ± (JapanЎЇs Mass par 3). Many women were even killed resisting Japanese force. Unjust and dehumanized acts which can be perceived as the mode of power are illustrated in the Japanese imperialistic invasion of Korea.

There were few factors during the time period that prompted the setting for the March First Movement. After World War I, the U.S and other powerful countries urged the imperial countries to free their colonies. President Woodrow Wilson in his 14-points proclamation strongly suggested for the independence of the weak. He advocated that, ÐŽoA free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined" (The Samil par 3). In accordance with WilsonЎЇs proclamation, some of colonies ended up acquiring their independence. And the leaders of Korean nationalism hopefully believed too that Korea might be freed through this proclamation. Korean delegation attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 with the wish that WilsonЎЇs proclamation may have an effect on Japanese aggression. However, prior to the conference, a secret pact was made between the U.S and Japan for the exclusion of the Korean delegates from the conference. In addition, ÐŽothe U.S. president rejected Emperor KojongЎЇs personal letter on the illegitimacy of the Korean-Japan Treaty presented through the efforts of missionary-diplomat Homer B. Hulbert.ÐŽ± (Response par 52). Emperor Kojong had dispatched an emissary in order to uncover unjust Japanese policy, yet he had utterly failed. Not longer after, the story of Emperor Kojong sending an emissary to the Conference was publicly revealed in a Japanese-English Newspaper in Kobe called ÐŽoThe Japan AdvertiserÐŽ±. The news spread quickly and caused a great impact on the international Korean students in Japan. Some of the Korean international students, strongly opposed to Japan imperialism, inspired others to become forerunners of the national independence movement. This movement became known as the February Eight Movement (Britannica par 2). At the same time, numerous groups in Korea under the influence of strong patriotic leaderships began to actively plan independence movements. The Young MenЎЇs Christian Association gathered together students for the purpose of independence. The Buddhists also contested the Japanese aggression by forming ÐŽorighteous armiesÐŽ± (March par 5-6). The leaders of the Tonghak Rebellion, the most prominent force among the freedom fighters, further suggested that ÐŽothe independence movement should be popular in nature