"Daehan Independence Manse"... The Shout Echoed 105 Years Ago in Songra-myeon, Pohang

‘Songramyeon Daejeon-ri’, 105th Anniversary 3·1 Movement Commemoration Ceremony Successfully Held

3·1 Independence Movement Performance, Waves of Cheers and Taegeukgi Recreated

The shout of "Long live Korean independence" echoed throughout Daejeon-ri, Songra-myeon, Pohang.

3.1 Movement reenactment performance. (Center: Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang)

On the 1st, Pohang City held the ‘105th Anniversary of the March 1st Movement Commemoration Ceremony’ in Daejeon-ri, Songra-myeon, Buk-gu, attended by about 400 people including Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang, bereaved families, veterans’ organizations, village residents, and students.

The ceremony was held to remember the noble spirit of independence and patriotism of the March 1st Movement activists in the Pohang area who devoted themselves to restoring national sovereignty, and to provide an opportunity to inherit and develop the noble spirit of national independence.

The ceremony began with a flower offering and bell ringing to honor and commemorate the souls of the 14 activists of Daejeon-ri at the Daejeon-ri March 1st Movement Memorial Hall, followed by the reading of the Declaration of Independence by Lee Byung-chan, a distinguished professor at Keimyung University and descendant of activist Lee Jun-seok, a report on the history of the Daejeon-ri March 1st Movement, a commemorative speech, and the singing of the March 1st Movement song.

As a post-ceremony event, the Pohang Municipal Theater Troupe staged a reenactment performance of the March 1st Independence Movement. Starting with the theater troupe, all attendees of the ceremony held Taegeukgi flags and shouted “Long live Korean independence,” recreating the passionate cheers and waves of Taegeukgi flags from that day 105 years ago in 1919 when the March 1st Movement took place.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, “Today, 105 years ago, our nation united as one for the independence of our homeland,” and added, “Let us inherit the passionate patriotism and will of our ancestors and, with the wisdom and capabilities of all 500,000 citizens, create a new history to make Pohang leap forward into the world.”

Pohang City built the March 1st Movement Memorial Hall in 2001 in Daejeon-ri, Songra-myeon, to commemorate the spirit of independence of the 14 activists of Daejeon-ri and to preserve and exhibit various relics of the activists for use as a historical educational site, and holds the March 1st Movement commemoration event every year.