Introduction to the 'Yongsan Printing Workers' Manse Protest Leaflet' Commemorating the 101st Anniversary of the March 1st Movement...The First Workers' Strike Protest in Seoul...Showing Awakened Social Consciousness...Plus, a Planned Series on 10 Modern Historical Sites Until Year-End
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) introduced the forgotten 3.1 Movement site in the district, the "Yongsan Printing Factory (former KT Wonhyo Branch site, 1-2 Wonhyo-ro 3-ga) workers' strike and Manse demonstration site," through the March issue of the district newsletter (Yongsan-gu News).
This was to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the March 1st Movement.
On the evening of March 8, 1919, when merchants in Seoul city decided on a joint boycott (동맹철시, a collective decision not to open stores), 200 night-shift workers of the Yongsan Printing Factory, a public enterprise under the Japanese Government-General of Korea, stopped work and took to the streets shouting "Long live Korean independence!"
This was the first labor strike demonstration that took place in Seoul.
The incident did not last long. The Gyeongseong Military Police Yongsan Detachment quickly arrived at the scene, arrested 20 ringleaders, and stopped the demonstration. However, from the next day, workers and conductors from Yongsan Railway Bureau, Dong-A Tobacco Company, and Gyeongseong Electric Company continued the strike demonstrations. On the 10th, all streetcars in Seoul stopped running.
The Yongsan Printing Factory workers also held joint strikes in August and November of that year. The workers personally demonstrated the awakened social consciousness of the people through the March 1st Movement.
Kim Cheon-su, head of the History and Culture Research Office at Yongsan Cultural Center, who provided articles and photos for the newsletter, said, "Yongsan was the heart of the Japanese colonial military dictatorship, where the Chosun Military Command was located," and added, "The Yongsan Printing Factory workers must have braved severe repression to hold the Manse demonstrations."
The Yongsan Printing Factory (photo) no longer has any traces remaining. KT data center construction is currently underway. The district plans to erect a related information board at the site in the second half of the year as part of the "Yongsan Historical and Cultural Sites Top 100 Information Board Production Project."
Additionally, the district will continue a planned series titled "Visiting Modern History Sites (Yongsan Historical and Cultural Exploration)" through the district newsletter until the end of the year. The series will cover sites in the following order: ▲Site of the Founding Practice Training Center ▲Site of the Gyeongseong Allied Forces Prisoner of War Camp ▲Site of Gyeongcheon Aeinsa ▲Site of the Korean Empire Military Arsenal ▲Site of Kim Sang-ok’s Resistance ▲Site of the Korean Empire Pyeongsikwon Weights and Measures Manufacturing Office ▲Former Kanjo Gyeongseong Branch Office Building ▲Former US 8th Army Headquarters and UN Command Bunker ▲Site of the Army Independence Regiment Establishment.
Seong Jang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, "The Manse demonstration led by the Yongsan Printing Factory workers is a very significant event in the history of the anti-Japanese independence movement," and added, "Although we cannot hold the March 1st commemorative ceremony this year, I hope residents individually visit the local patriotic sites to remember the noble spirit of our ancestors."
The district will not hold the March 1st event this year to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Instead, national flags will be displayed along major roads in the area until March 1st, and related organizations will continue the Taegeukgi flag-raising campaign.
On the 27th, Mayor Seong Jang-hyun, along with some staff, visited the Itaewon Bugundang Historical Park (33 Noksapyeong-daero 40da-gil) to pay respects at the memorial for activist Yu Gwan-sun.
Yongsan-gu Public Relations Officer (☎2199-6702)
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