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Kicking Off Women’s History Month: Shero of the March 1 Movements in Korea, Yu Gwansun
17 year Yu Gwansun (유관순) died at the hands of her would be colonizers. Not dying in vain, the young warrior instead sparked a movement that would liberate Korea for good.
On March 1, 1919, a bright young teenaged girl named Yu Gwansun participated in the earliest demonstrations of Koreans demanding liberation from Japanese occupation.
Three days later, the girl led more protests in Seoul, now the capital of South Korea, and was detained by the Japanese Imperial Army.
She was released after Korean missionaries negotiated her freedom.
Gwansun returned to her village after the Japanese swiftly shut down her school, the renowned Ewha Women’s University in Seoul. Upon arriving home, she went door to door encouraging her people to fight for their collective liberation from the Japanese.
In the morning hours of April 1, 1919, Gwansun protested peacefully and spoke out against Japanese colonization of Korea. According to reports, the Japanese Imperial Army arrived and murdered Gwansun’s parents in her presence by 1pm that same day.
