Woman of independence movements

Kim Maria, left, with Ahn Chang-ho, center, and Cha Gyeong-seon / Courtesy of Independence Hall of Korea

By Kwon Mee-yoo

On March 1, 1919, tens of thousands of Korean people took to the streets to rally for their independence from Japanese colonial rule.

The March 1 Movement provided a catalyst for the independence movement and became a crucial moment in the history of the Korean resistance under colonial rule.

Men and women of all ages took part in the March 1 Movement, but only a few of those women, including Yu Gwan-sun, a 16-year-old student who organized marches at Aunae Marketplace in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province and became the most iconic figure of the movement, are known.

As of February 2019, only 357 out of a total of 15,180 people awarded honors for independence fighting were women. Though often forgotten or neglected compared to male activists with equivalent achievements, there are many unsung female activists who fought for the nation's freedom.

Lee Yun-ok, director of the Korea-Japan Cultural Harmony Institute who has been shedding light on the lives of these female activists, said women were not just there to look after male freedom fighters.

"People took part in independence movements regardless of gender and many women deliberately joined the activities. About half of the female activists were so-called new women who were well-educated," Lee said.

Kim Maria

Kim Maria as a teacher of Jeongsin Girls' School

The March 1 rally was influenced by the Feb. 8 Proclamation of Independence, which took place in Tokyo about a month earlier by Korean students studying in Japan. The Feb. 8 proclamation was brought to Seoul by Kim Maria (1891-1944), a woman who wondered why there were no woman among the 11 student representatives who signed the proclamation.

Kim was born to a family of strong national consciousness and was studying in Japan when the proclamation was announced. She hid copies of it in the sash of her kimono to escape the surveillance of Japanese police when she returned to Korea.

Kim was arrested for her participation in the March 1 Movement, but her spirit did not wane. "Our womenfolk should not simply stand by and watch," Kim is quoted as saying during her interrogation after being arrested for the March 1 Movement.

After being released, Kim organized the Korean Women's Patriotic Society (Daehan Aeguk Buinhoe) and gathered some 2,000 members across the nation. However, she was arrested after a tip-off from a traitor in her group and was severely tortured.

Kim was released on sick leave in April 1920 and sought asylum in Shanghai with the help from the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea there. She worked for the provisional government as a representative of Hwanghae Province and promoted reform of the organization along with Ahn Chang-ho.

To continue her passion for Korea's independence, Kim headed to the United States in 1923 and studied at Park College and the University of Chicago. She later moved to New York to study theology and in the Big Apple, Kim established the Geunhwahoe, a group of patriotic Korean women with fellow students Bak In-deok and Hwang Ae-deok.

Kim finally returned to Korea in 1933, but the Japanese police kept her under surveillance and she was restricted from entering the Seoul area. She taught at the Martha Wilson Seminary in Wonsan, now in North Korea.

Kim passed away in 1944, a year before Korea's independence from Japan, from the aftereffects of torture.

She was posthumously awarded the Order of Independence Merit in 1968.

Choe Eun-hui

Choe Eun-hui (1904-1984) was the first female journalist in Korea.

In 1919, Choe was a student at Gyeongseong Girls' High School. She took part in the manse protest on March 1 and urged other students to join her as well. In her memoir, Choe recalled that there was a secret group in the school, consisting of 79 teachers and students, which was dedicated to Anti-Japan activities.

According to a Japanese police report on the March 1 rally participants from Gyeongseong Girls' High School, Choe was named as a leader of the school activists along with Choi Jeong-sook, Gang Pyeong-guk and Ko Su-seon. Choe was arrested and detained for this incident.

After her release, Choe continued organizing anti-Japan rallies in her hometown in the countryside, which resulted in a six-month jail sentence and two years of probation.

In 1924, Choe became the first woman reporter in Korea after she was selected picked as a junior reporter for the Chosun Ilbo when she was attending Japan Women's University in Tokyo. During her eight years as a journalist, she covered a variety of events including the test flight of an airplane.

She played a key role in the establishment of Geunuhoe, a women's organization against Japan's colonial rule in Korea.

After Korea's liberation, Choe continued to write about women in Korea's modern history including the books, "The Sweet Fragrance of the Land of the Rose of Sharon: The True History of the March 1 Struggle," "Until the Homeland Is Restored: The Secret Story of Korean Women's Movement, 1905-1945" and "Women's Advancement over 70 Years: Recollections of the First Female Reporter."

Choe provided money to support talented female journalists and the Chosun Ilbo founded the annual Choe Eun-hui Award for Women Journalists in 1984.

"Song of Red Cross" and students of Korea Red Cross' nurse training school featured in the Shanghai edition of Dongnip Sinmun (Independent Newspaper) / Courtesy of National Museum of Korean Contemporary History

Jeong Jeong-hwa

Though mostly male figures are known for their activities in the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai, the organization wouldn't have been operated properly if it were not for Jeong Jeong-hwa (1900-1991), the wife of Kim Ui-han and daughter-in-law of Kim Ka-jin.

President Moon Jae-in mentioned Jeong in his speech last year, as a woman who crossed the border six times to supply the provisional government with independence campaign funds.

She literally took care of the agents of the provisional government including Kim Gu, Yi Dong-nyeong, Yi Si-yeong and their families.

Korean women in Shanghai did needlework and rented out rooms to raise funds for the provisional government and tend to matters for the government members and Jeong was the center of the female activists.

Jeong founded the Korea Revolutionary Female Union and the Korean Patriotic Women's Association under the slogan, "Let us build a new democratic republic to realize equality." She also took part in the Free Koreans' Rally in 1943, proclaiming that, "Korea should become an independent country and the Koreans should become free citizens."

She returned to Korea in 1946 after liberation from Japan and supported the Korean Independence Party.

Jeong documented her journey of 26 years pursuing true independence of Korea in, "Chang Jiang Diary." Chang Jiang is another name for the Yangtze River, referring to her long and hard ordeals in China on the way to Korea's liberation. The book provides insights into the efforts of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai.

Prisoner record cards for students of Baehwa Girls' High School, who organized a rally on March 1, 1920 on the occasion of the March 1 Independence Movement in 1919. / Courtesy of National Institute of Korean History