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The End of World War One and the March First Declaration of Independence

As soon as World War One came to an end in November 1918, Korean independence activists quickly took action. Having secured a bridgehead for independence movements in Shanghai, Sin Gyu-sik engaged in discussions with Yeo Un-hyeong and other young Korean men to come up a basic action plan, which was to send a Korean representative to the Paris Peace Conference to call for Korea's independence and make a public declaration of independence. Their efforts to stir an uproar by spreading word about their plan at home and abroad played a decisive role in declaring Korea's independence.

Expectations were boosted when Kim Gyu-sik left Shanghai on February 1 for Paris to attend the peace conference as the leader of Sinhan cheongnyeondang (New Korea Youth Party). The declaration of independence Korean students made in Tokyo on February 8 cut the starting ribbon for the March First Independence Movement and other declarations that followed suit in Korea and Jilin, Manchuria, all proclaiming that Korea was an autonomous, independent nation.

The March First Declaration of Independence is of major historical significance. First, Korea stood at the forefront of colonies all over the world struggling against imperialist invasions to liberate themselves. An entire nation revolting against an aggressive imperialist country to demand national independence was bound to set an example for other colonized peoples and countries. That is why news of the March First Independence Movement became extensively reported in China and many other countries.

Second, the March First Movement is a historic event in which the people took the initiative. The fact that the people took the lead in trying to reclaim a country their emperor and ruling class failed to defend demonstrates that the principal agent of history was being replaced and evolving. And because the March First Movement served as an opportunity for Koreans to stand up and establish themselves as the proprietor to keep history going, it bears significant meaning for Korean history.

Third, the March First Movement confirmed where Korea’s historical legitimacy lied. It clearly showed that Koreans were not seeking a country ruled by the Japanese, but an independent country that was once Joseon. Only those who set out to help realize what Koreans were seeking could be considered legitimate independence activists, resisting Japan at a time when Koreans were without country. This much was hinted through a preceding declaration made in 1917 called Daedong dangyeol seoneon (大同團結宣言) that professed the solidarity of the Korean people.

Building a Modern Korean State

Declarations of independence made at home and abroad all proclaimed the fact that Korea (Joseon) was an independent nation. The next task at hand was to found an independent country and form a government and national assembly to govern the country. Leaders of independence movements based inside and outside of Korea finally gathered in Shanghai, China. From April 10, 1919 until the following day, a meeting was held to determine the Korean state and government’s structure and organization. Through the provisional government and assembly’s first session, it was decided that the country would be called Daehan minguk, the Republic of Korea, a name that would also serve as an era name, and the Provisional Charter of the Republic of Korea became drafted as a precursor to Korea’s first constitution.

The Provisional Charter of the Republic of Korea (大韓民國 臨時憲章)

Article 1. The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic.

Article 2. The Republic of Korea is governed by the provisional government according to the provisional assembly’s resolution.

(Omitted)

Article 10. The provisional government shall convoke the national assembly within one year from recovering national territory.

In April of the first year of the Republic of Korea

The name "Republic of Korea" in article 1 indicates that Korea was to be a republic rather than an empire. The Empire of Korea fell in 1910, but the country its people tried to revive nine years later was the first democratic republic in Korean history, a civil society run by people of a modern state. So, however incomplete, it seems clear that independence movements led to the establishment of a modern Korean state.

Article 2 stipulated the relationship between the government and the national assembly to define how the republic would be governed. And article 10 specified that a provisional assembly would be operated until a national assembly becomes convoked within one year from recovering national territory. This implies that the Republic of Korea would be run by a provisional government and assembly that would later be established as an official government and assembly once Korea becomes liberated.

In the history of liberation movements by colonies throughout the world, Korean independence movements thereby made a rare mark for having been conducted by the government and assembly of a modern state intending to become a democratic republic. That is why they are considered to have been the foundation for modernization and a modern state's establishment. While modern societies emerged in western Europe through civil revolutions, Korea's modern society was formed through independence movements. This is perhaps why the March First Movement is also considered a civil revolution.

The era of the Republic of Korea began in 1919. Whereas the Empire of Korea's final era had been named Yunghui after the last emperor, independence activists who established the Republic of Korea nine years after the Korean empire's fall chose to synchronize the state name and the era name. Since 1919 was the first year of the Republic of Korea, the first issue of the Republic of Korea's official gazette published on September 1, 1948 marked the publication date as September 1 of the 30th year of the Republic of Korea. This tells that the Republic of Korea's state system under the provisional government was wholly inherited by the formal government launched later on in 1948.

Diversification of Independence Movements

During the early stage of the Republic of Korea's provisional government, it focused on three types of activities related to diplomacy, wars for independence, or administrative control inside and outside of Korea. World War One's end and the Paris Peace Conference seem to be an opportunity for Koreans to establish a state and government, so it was natural for them to pay attention to diplomatic activities. Such activities mainly involved China where the Korean Provisional Government was based as well as the United States, Britain, and Russia. On the other hand, the Korean Provisional Government placed weight on building military power and engaging in wars for independence and thereby designated 1920 as "the first year of wars for independence." Accordingly, the provisional government created relevant laws and regulations as well as a secret armed organization in Korea called "Gunsa jubidan." It also arranged for a military academy to train officers, directly organized military units such as the general headquarters of Restoration Army, brought existing military units like Seoro gunjeongseo (Western Route Army Command) and Bungno gunjeongseo (Northern Route Army Command) under the government's wing, and even attempted to form an aviation corps by setting up an aviator academy in California. The fact that more than one hundred secret organizations in Korea came to be affiliated with the provisional government abroad and that secret administrative liaison units like Yeontongje or Gyotongguk became installed in Korea in the early 1920s indicate that the Korean Provisional Government's plans were generally making progress.

After the March First Movement, fights against the Japanese in Manchuria seemed set to escalate into wars for independence. In 1919, administrative bodies like Hanjokhoe (Korean People's Association) and Seoro gunjeongseo were installed to govern civilian or military affairs in west Jiandao and the Daehan dongnipdan (Greater Korean Independence Corps) was launched as well. Ganminhoe, the self-governing body for Koreans in north Jiandao, evolved into part of a Korean people's association called Daehan gungminhoe, while military units like Gungminhoegun and Bungno gunjeongseo became organized and provided military training to fight for Korea's independence. The number of military units that Korean independence fighters formed or became reorganized into since the March First Movement amounted to more than 50. Units in Manchuria conducted operations aimed at advancing into Korea and more than 1,700 operations took place in 1920 alone. The Japanese army attacked Korean independence fighters, but the Koreans fought back to achieve major victories in battles at Fengwudong and Cheongsalli. Bitter defeats in such battles propelled the Japanese army to seek revenge. In early October 1920, the Japanese army invaded Jiandao and destroyed Korean communities foundational to independence fighters, an incident now known as the Jiandao Massacre. The incident prompted many Korean independence fighters to head north to consolidate their efforts. However, once they reached Iman, Russia in early 1921, a disparity surfaced in their views toward the Bolsheviks that caused Bungno gunjeongseo and a couple of other units to return to northern Manchuria. Meanwhile, the Korean troops that reached Alekseyevsk ran into internal conflicts over their respective affiliation and organization that ultimately resulted in the so-called "Alekseyevsk Tragedy." The tragedy ended with some independence fighters staying on in Russia as others regrouped themselves to head back to northern Manchuria.

In Korea, the people came to be established as the principal agent of anti-Japanese resistance as they experienced the March First Movement. Also, socialism became introduced and was quickly picked up by the public. Public campaigns began to flourish rapidly among a diversity of groups made of farmers, laborers, students, youths, or women. Farmers’ movements mainly evolved around tenant farming. Most farmers had become relegated to tenant farming by then and as they gradually came to identify the absence of a nation state as a fundamental cause related to their livelihood, they began to engage in struggles to secure their rights as tenant farmers. Labor movements also came to be fueled by a heightened sense of national identity since the March First Movement and quickly evolved into labor disputes. Organizations for labor movements appeared one after the other in the 1920s. The general strike Busan dock workers went on in 1921 was a large-scale movement that raised both labor and national issues to which the origin of new forms of anti-Japanese resistance can be traced back to. Meanwhile, the March First Movement also proved that student movements were pivotal to public campaigns. And as they came to play a central role in making the declaration of independence on February 8 and March 1 of 1919, hopes and expectations rose toward national movements in Korea.

Versailles System Sets In and Prolongs Independence Movements

After the Paris Peace Conference, Korean independence activists shifted their gaze toward new opportunities in international society, which happened to be the Washington Conference and the First Congress of the Toilers of the Far East. The Korean president Syngman Rhee attempted to attend the Washington Conference as the provisional government organized an association to support diplomatic work at the conference. However, the conference's purpose was focused on limiting naval powers in the Pacific, which made it impossible from the outset for Syngman Rhee to pursue his own purpose for attending it. On the other hand, Russia hosted the First Congress of the Toilers of the Far East with aspirations to expand its influence, which is why it invited representatives from nine different East Asian countries including Korea. Through this conference, Korea was advised to infuse labor movements with nationalism since its labor class was yet to reach a certain level of sophistication and support was promised to the Korean Provisional Government so as to make necessary improvements.

The Versailles System established upon the Treaty of Versailles implied that Korea's independence movements would become prolonged. The system proved to be an obstacle difficult to overcome in terms of diplomatic activities the Korean Provisional Government has focused on in its early stages. Furthermore, the triangular framework of Yeontongje, Gyotongguk, and Gunsa jubidan set up to control administrative affairs in Korea from afar had fallen apart under heavy surveillance from Japan. Since the conference in Russia, the Korean Provisional Government struggled until it sought to pave a new road by impeaching President Syngman Rhee in March 1925, electing Bak Eun-sik as his replacement, and amending the constitution to implement a parliamentary system. The need to devise long-term plans for independence movements was increasingly being voiced from beyond the governmental level. This materialized into activities by Hanguk nobyeonghoe to support Korean soldiers, the movement to build an ideal village, the attempt to build a military base for independence fighters along the Manchuria-Mongolia border, and the leading Uiyeoldan members' enrollment into the Huangpu Military Academy.

After the Alekseyevsk Tragedy, disarrayed Korean troops regrouped themselves in Manchuria. Independence fighters in northern Manchuria formed a corps called Daehan dongnipgundan in August 1922, while those in southern Manchuria formed Daehan tonguibu around the same time. These corps later became reorganized into Jeonguibu, Chamuibu, and Sinminbu, which the provisional government managed to operate as they developed into a quasi-governmental structure with administrative, legislative, and judicial organs.

Socialism spread rapidly throughout Korea over the first half of the 1920s. Most organizations involved in campaigns by peasants, laborers, youths, or students absorbed socialism and in 1925, the Korean communist party Joseon gongsandang was formed. As for peasant movements, the launching of peasant leagues like Joseon nonong chongdongmaeng in 1924 and Joseon nongmin chongdongmaeng in 1927 served as the foundation for conducting such movements nationwide. With a mission aimed at building a new society and solidarity among different social classes, peasant movements not only organized strikes to fight for economic rights and interests, but also evolved into anti-imperialistic struggles for independence. Student movements went beyond aiming for enlightenment and came to pursue socialism, which is how the science study club Joseon haksaeng gwahak yeonguhoe came to play a central role alongside the Joseon Communist Party in carrying out the June 10 Demonstration for independence.

By the mid-1920s, a movement emerged to bring left and right forces under a united front to fight for independence and a unified Korea. Through the Korean Emperor Sunjong's funeral, the Joseon Communist Party joined forces with students and followers of the Cheondogyo faith to carry out the June 10 Demonstration in Korea. In China, Ahn Chang-ho, who oversaw the National Representatives Conference of 1923, launched in October 1926 the Beijing division of a society encouraging the formation of a collective party. This marked the beginning of the movement to create a single political party to govern Korea and fight for its independence, which spread throughout mainland China and Manchuria during the late 1920s. In Seoul, a unified organization named Singanhoe was established in February 1927 and branches of Singanhoe were thereafter created all over Korea and in Japan as well. The movement to form coalitions between left and right forces occurred not only in Korea, but in other Asian countries struggling for independence including Vietnam and Indonesia.

Korea and all other countries and people suffering under colonial rule had regarded World War One's end as an opportunity to achieve independence. That is why independence movements were carried out with such high hopes for the Paris Peace Conference. However, the framework based on imperialism and colonialism remained intact or even became strengthened so that colonies had no choice but to continue suffering as they prepared for yet another war to erupt. The history of Korean independence movements therefore needs to be understood and weighed within the context of developments around the world at the time.