One Korea Global Campaign to Host International Convention, One Korea Concert, and Public Celebration on the Centenary of March 1, 1919 Independence Movement

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The One Korea Global Campaign announced a major conference, concert and celebration in commemoration of the centennial of the March 1, 1919 Korean Independence (Samil) movement in Seoul from February 26-March 1, 2019. The event schedule includes a convention of international scholars and policymakers, a One Korea Concert with leading K pop artists, a documentary film, art and poetry competitions, and a culminating Centennial celebration in central Seoul.

"We believe that peaceful Korean unification based on the ideals of the Samil patriots is the only way to resolve the global threat of nuclear war and protect human rights of Koreans living in the North," One Korea Campaign spokesman Richard Lee said. "The Samil Movement was a citizen-led effort to fulfill the hopes of all Koreans to be free of foreign domination and live together as one people."

The March 1 Movement was a watershed event inspired by President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points affirming "absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims" and the right of full representation of affected populations in defining national sovereignty.

Following the establishment of a Japanese protectorate in Korea in 1905 and the sudden death of Emperor Gojong, the last monarch of the Joseon Dynasty, on January 22, 1919, Korean patriots drafted a Declaration of Independence that was proclaimed in peaceful rallies throughout the country on March 1, 1919.

"A new era wakes before our eyes," the Declaration said. "It is the day of the restoration of all things on the full tide of which we set forth, without delay or fear. We desire a full measure of satisfaction in the way of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and an opportunity to develop what is in use for the glory of our people. . . . May all the ancestors to the thousands and ten thousands of generations aid us from within and all the force of the world aid us from without."

Although violently suppressed, more than two million Koreans rallied for freedom throughout Korea.  The movement unified the Korean people in spirit, became a touchstone for the ideals of freedom and national sovereignty, and expressed the aspiration to establish a modern nation that could be guided by the ancient ethos of Hongik Ingan, to "live for the benefit of humanity."

The March 1st Movement awakened Koreans from all walks of life to events and political ideals elsewhere in the world. It was a catalyst for the establishment of the 1919 Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai.

The One Korea Global Campaign is an initiative of the Global Peace Foundation and Alliance for Korea United, a global partner of Action for Korea United, which includes more than 900 civil society organizations working to build support for peaceful reunification.

Contact: media@globalpeace.org

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SOURCE Global Peace Foundation