President Moon: "Meaningful to hold the ceremony at Baehwa Girls' High School where 'Daehan Independence Manse' was shouted"

101st Anniversary of the March 1st Movement Ceremony: "The Provisional Government Set March 1st as Independence Day on Its First Calendar"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] President Moon Jae-in said at the 101st March 1st Movement Anniversary Ceremony held at Baehwa Girls' High School in Seoul on the morning of the 1st, "We are holding the March 1st Movement anniversary ceremony in an extraordinary situation. It is a difficult time in many ways, but it is very meaningful to hold the 101st anniversary ceremony of the March 1st Movement here at Baehwa Girls' High School, where the first March 1st Movement was commemorated on March 1, 1920, and 'Daehan Independence Manse' was shouted."

President Moon explained, "In December 1919, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea published the first calendar of the democratic republic, the ‘Daehan Calendar,’ designating March 1st as Independence Day and marking it as a national holiday."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon said, "The Provisional Government declared March 1st as a ‘holy day (聖日) when the Korean people were resurrected’ through a proclamation by the Ministry of the Interior, held the first March 1st Movement anniversary and celebration in Shanghai, and played a central role in simultaneous commemorative manse demonstrations across the country and overseas, including Baehwa School."

President Moon added, "At Seodaemun Prison, martyr Yu Gwan-sun and independence activists risked their lives shouting for independence, and declarations of the country's independence and national autonomy were made in Tokyo, Vladivostok, the United States, and France," adding, "Wherever our people were, the March 1st Independence Movement commemorations continued throughout the Japanese colonial period."

President Moon evaluated, "The Japanese tried to erase and silence the memory of that day through special security measures and preemptive arrests, but students revived the spirit of the March 1st Independence Movement through joint school strikes, merchants through store closures, and workers through strikes."