The Korean independence movement was not fought by famous heroes alone. Discover how ordinary Koreans resisted Japanese colonial rule through the March 1st Movement, student protests, women’s activism, labor strikes, and efforts to preserve the Korean language.
Korean Independence Movement Series — Part 2 of 3
When people think of Korea’s struggle for independence, they may picture armed fighters confronting Japanese soldiers or resistance agents carrying out secret missions. But the Korean independence movement was not limited to soldiers and famous national heroes.
During Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945), students, teachers, farmers, workers, women, and ordinary citizens challenged colonial authority in different ways.
Some marched through the streets demanding independence. Others protested discrimination in schools, fought for better working conditions, or worked to preserve the Korean language.
Not all of these activities had the same political goals. Still, they reveal how resistance extended into classrooms, workplaces, marketplaces, and everyday life.
How Did Ordinary Koreans Join the Korean Independence Movement in 1919?
On March 1, 1919, Koreans gathered in Seoul to declare their country’s independence from Japanese colonial rule. The demonstrations soon spread throughout the country.
Several developments helped inspire the movement. After World War I, the idea of national self-determination gained international attention. On February 8, 1919, Korean students studying in Tokyo issued their own declaration of independence.
The death of former Emperor Gojong also intensified public emotions in Korea.
Religious leaders and students played important roles in preparing the March 1st Movement, but participation quickly expanded beyond those groups.
Merchants, farmers, women, and students gathered in streets and marketplaces, shouting manse, meaning “long live,” in support of Korean independence.
There were no smartphones or social media to organize demonstrations. Instead, printed declarations, personal networks, and word of mouth helped spread the movement from one community to another.
One of its best-known participants was Yu Gwan-sun, a teenage student.
On April 1, 1919, Yu took part in an independence demonstration at Aunae Marketplace in Cheonan, her hometown in present-day South Chungcheong Province. Japanese authorities violently suppressed the protest, killing several participants. Yu was arrested and later died while imprisoned.
Her story is portrayed in the 2019 Korean film A Resistance (항거: 유관순 이야기), starring Ko Ah-sung. The film focuses on Yu’s imprisonment at Seodaemun Prison and the women who continued resisting Japanese authority behind bars.
While the movie dramatizes certain events and interactions, its historical foundation is the real persecution of independence protesters.
Yu became an enduring symbol of the movement, but she was far from the only woman who participated. Across Korea, many women whose names are less widely remembered joined demonstrations and other resistance activities.
The March 1st Movement did not end Japanese colonial rule. It did, however, demonstrate that demands for independence extended far beyond a small group of political leaders.
How Did Students, Women, and Workers Challenge Colonial Rule?
Resistance continued after 1919, particularly in schools, where discrimination under Japanese rule often became impossible to ignore.
In 1929, tensions between Korean and Japanese students, followed by discriminatory responses from Japanese authorities, helped spark protests in Gwangju.
The Gwangju Student Independence Movement spread to schools in other parts of Korea and continued into 1930.
Female students were active participants, not simply supporters of male-led protests.
At Gwangju Girls’ High Common School, students including Jang Mae-seong and Park Ok-ryeon organized a secret group called Sonyeohoe, or the Girls’ Association.
Formed in 1928, the group held reading and study meetings while encouraging awareness of national independence and women’s rights. Its members later became involved in the Gwangju student protests.
Their activities show that teenage girls organized independently, discussed social issues, and took political risks despite the restrictions they faced.
Women’s activism also extended beyond schools.
In 1927, the organization Geunuhoe was established to promote women’s education, improve women’s rights, and participate in broader Korean nationalist activities.
For these activists, improving women’s status and challenging colonial inequality were often connected goals.
Workers and farmers also challenged unfair conditions.
The Wonsan General Strike of 1929 became a major labor dispute over mistreatment and working conditions. In rural communities, tenant farmers protested high rents and unfavorable agreements with landowners.
Not every strike or tenant protest directly demanded national independence. Many focused on wages, contracts, or everyday economic survival.
Nevertheless, these movements formed an important part of the broader social struggles taking place under colonial rule.
They remind us that resistance was not always expressed through a declaration of independence. Sometimes it began with the demand to be treated fairly at school, at work, or on the land.
Was Preserving the Korean Language Also a Form of Resistance?
Opposition to colonial rule was not always expressed through demonstrations or armed struggle.
For some Koreans, education, literacy, and cultural preservation became important ways to respond to the pressures of colonial society.
During the 1920s, newspapers and civic organizations supported literacy campaigns that taught people to read and write.
Learning to read offered more than an individual educational opportunity. It also helped people engage with newspapers, understand social issues, and participate more actively in public life.
In 1927, Singanhoe was established as an organization bringing together nationalist and socialist activists.
It opposed discrimination against Koreans and advocated political and economic rights. Its members also supported activities associated with the Gwangju Student Independence Movement.
Efforts to preserve the Korean language became especially significant as colonial assimilation policies intensified.
In 1933, the Korean Language Society, known in Korean as Joseon Eohakhoe, published a unified Korean spelling system and continued work on compiling a Korean dictionary.
After the Third Joseon Education Ordinance of 1938, Korean-language education became increasingly restricted in schools.
In 1942, Japanese authorities arrested members of the Korean Language Society, interrupting their dictionary project.
This history inspired the 2019 film MAL·MO·E: The Secret Mission (말모이).
The film follows an illiterate man who becomes involved in efforts to compile a Korean dictionary during the colonial period. Through his experiences, the story explores why collecting and preserving words could carry such powerful meaning.
The film uses fictional characters and dramatized situations, but the Korean Language Society’s dictionary project and the Japanese authorities’ suppression of its members were real.
It is important not to assume that every person studying or teaching Korean was directly participating in a political independence movement.
Even so, protecting a language under pressure had significance beyond grammar and spelling. It helped preserve a cultural identity that colonial policies increasingly sought to reshape.
Closing
Korea’s struggle for independence was not fought by famous leaders and armed resistance groups alone.
It also involved citizens who joined demonstrations in 1919, students who protested discrimination, women who organized their own movements, workers who demanded fair treatment, and scholars who worked to preserve the Korean language.
Their goals and methods were not identical. Some explicitly demanded independence, while others fought for social rights or cultural preservation.
Understanding the Korean independence movement means recognizing these different forms of resistance rather than treating every protest as the same kind of political struggle.
Films such as A Resistance and MAL·MO·E: The Secret Mission offer two perspectives on this history: one through the courage of people imprisoned for demanding independence, and the other through efforts to protect a language and its cultural heritage.
Meanwhile, Korean independence activists abroad organized diplomatic campaigns, secret communication networks, and armed resistance through the Korean Provisional Government and other organizations.
Those efforts are the focus of Part 3 of this series.