Inaugurating the American Century: The 1919 Philadelphia Korean Congress, Korean Diasporic Nationalism, and American Protestant Missionaries

RICHARD S. KIM

ON MARCH 1, 1919, KOREANS from throughout the peninsula congregated in Pagoda Park in the capital city of Seoul to attend the national funeral of the last reigning Korean monarch, King Kojong, who had passed away earlier in the year. On that same afternoon, a young Korean Protestant man read aloud a formal Declaration of Independence in the middle of Pagoda Park as Korean leaders simultaneously presented the written document to Japanese colonial officials. Upon the completion of the public reading, the large assembled crowd repeatedly chanted in unison, "Taehan Tongnip Mansei! (Long Live Korean Independence!)," setting off waves of similar protests against Japanese rule throughout the Korean peninsula that lasted for months. Over two million Koreans from all walks of life participated in the nonviolent demonstrations, which subsequently became known as the March First movement. The Japanese, taken completely by surprise by the massive scale of the carefully orchestrated uprising, brutally repressed the demonstrations. Japan's powerful military police force arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and killed thousands of Koreans.