marching for independence

I was only eight years old at the time, but I joined in the march wearing my worn-out shoes full of holes.

I shouted and shouted with the marchers and reached Botong Gate. The marchers rushed inside the castle

past the Gate; I could not keep up with them in my tattered shoes and so I took them off and ran after the

marchers as fast as my little legs could move. The enemy mobilized mounted police and army troops to

stop our march, They slashed and shot the marchers indiscriminately. Many of the marchers fell spilling

blood. But the marchers marched on and fought the enemy with bare hands.

For the first time in my life, I witnessed people killing people, Korean blood staining our own land. My

young mind and body was enraged. After the sunset, the villagers from Mangyon-dae went to Mangyong

Peak and held a rally at the summit. Torches were lit and bugles blared. We beat drums and metal pans,

making enough noise to wake up the dead. We shouted hurrah for our independence. This continued on

for several days. Mother and her sister took me along when they joined the crowd at the summit. Mother

was busy carrying drinking water and burning oil for the torches to the protesters at the summit.

The marchers in Seoul were joined by the people who were in Seoul to attend King Kojong's funeral.

Several hundreds of thousands of people joined the march. Hasegawa, Governor General of Korea,

ordered the 20th Infantry Division garrisoned at Yongsan to squash the movement. The Japanese

soldiers attacked unarmed marchers with swords and rifles, turning Seoul into a sea of Korean blood.

But the marchers stayed their course; when the vanguards fell, the next in line took the lead. The

marchers pushed on stepping over their fallen comrades. People marched in all major towns and cities in

Korea on that day.

Photo: Young school girls marching for independence.

Young school girls marched holding up Taeguk-gi. When their hand holding up the flag was cut off by

the Japanese, they picked up the flag with the other hand. When both hands were cut off, they marched

on until they dropped, shouting "Long Live Korea!" Even the most hardened Japanese savages were

afraid of such determined opponents. The mass uprising in Seoul and Pyongyang soon spread to all of

the thirteen provinces of Korea by the middle of March. It had spilled over to Manchuria, Shanghai,

Siberia, Hawaii and other foreign places. The uprising was a true pan-national movement, of all Koreans,

all overseas Koreans, irrespective of their gender, age, religion and vocation. Every one was welcome to 

join (PAGE 28)