‘In Your Heart, In My Heart’ Theme... 95th Anniversary Ceremony
Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung attended the '95th Student Independence Movement Commemoration Ceremony' held on the morning of the 3rd at the Student Independence Movement Monument in Hwajeong-dong, Seo-gu, and encouraged the students after the event. [Photo by Gwangju City]
On the 3rd, Gwangju City marked the 95th anniversary of the Student Independence Movement Day, stating, "The Republic of Korea today and all of us stand on the spirit and blood-stained sacrifices of the Student Independence Movement," and pledged, "We will continue that spirit by including the May 18 Spirit in the preamble of the Constitution."
In a statement released that day, Gwangju City said, "We remember the patriotic martyrs who resisted Japanese colonial rule by refusing to attend school and take exams and took to the streets," adding, "The overture of the Student Independence Movement began in Gwangju in 1929. The independence movement flowed into the May 18 Democratic Movement and the June 10 Democratic Uprising, becoming a great river that runs through modern Korean history." The city vowed to gather strength to include the May 18 Spirit in the constitutional preamble, inheriting the spirit of the Student Independence Movement.
The 95th Student Independence Movement Commemoration Ceremony was held at 11 a.m. that day in front of the Student Independence Movement Monument in Seo-gu under the theme "In Your Heart, In My Heart," hosted by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. About 300 people attended the ceremony, including Kang Jeong-ae, Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs; Kang Ki-jung, Mayor of Gwangju; Lee Jeong-seon, Superintendent of Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education; representatives from various sectors; independence patriots; bereaved families; citizens; and junior students from schools that participated in the movement.
Meanwhile, the Student Independence Movement, which began in Gwangju on November 3, 1929, spread nationwide and overseas until March of the following year, involving about 320 schools and 54,000 students who engaged in strike actions by refusing to attend school, classes, and exams, greatly inspiring independence movements at home and abroad. Among the students who participated in the movement, 582 were expelled, 2,330 received indefinite suspensions, and 298 were forcibly transferred as forms of repression.
The Student Independence Movement Commemoration Ceremony has been recognized as one of the three major anti-Japanese struggles alongside the March 1st Movement and the June 10th Independence Movement, and since 2018, it has been elevated to an official government-hosted event.
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