"Yu Gwan-Sun" by Ashley Jo
“Even if my fingernails are torn out, my nose and ears are ripped apart, and my legs and arms are crushed, this physical pain does not compare to the pain of losing my nation.” —Yu Gwan-Sun
A common goal many people wish to attain in their lifetime is to have a positive impact on the world in some way. But how many people are actually willing to accomplish this dream? At what age? When she was just 17 years old, Yu Gwan-Sun sacrificed her life and achieved her dream of protecting her country.
Yu was born in Cheonan, South Korea to Christian parents as the second daughter of five children. Three years after her birth on December 16, 1902, Korea fell under Japanese imperialist rule. For 35 years, Koreans were forced to remain compliant to every order made by the Japanese. Korean citizens were forced to live quiet lives--robbed of their freedom of speech, press, publication, and assembly. Despite the circumstances, Yu grew up to be an intelligent child. Few Korean women pursued an education at the time, but an American missionary named Alice J. Hammond Sharp encouraged Yu to attend the Ewha Hakdang school. It was during this time when Yu’s journey as an activist began.
On March 1, 1919, a series of demonstrations for Korea’s national independence from Japan, also known as the March First Movement, commenced. 33 leaders signed and read the Declaration of Independence at Seoul’s Pagoda Park in hopes of bringing international pressure on Japan to end colonial rule in Korea. The following day, protest organizers came to Yu’s school to encourage the students to participate in one of the demonstrations. 16-year-old Yu joined demonstrators as they protested on the streets, crying “Mansei!” which translates to “Long live Korean independence!” When the protestors reached Namdaemun, a gate in central Seoul, they were detained by Japanese authorities. Fortunately, they were quickly released through negotiation by missionaries from the school. When Japan closed all schools on March 10, Yu returned home with a smuggled copy of the Declaration of Independence. She spread the word about the March First Movement while rallying other residents to organize their own protests. The Japanese military police tried to quell the peaceful protests. 19 civilians were killed in the process, including Yu’s parents, and several protestors were arrested for their actions. Yu was among those arrested and received a three-year prison sentence.
Although now orphaned and alone in prison, Yu persisted and did not stop her protests, even after she was offered a lighter sentence if she pleaded guilty and helped the Japanese officers who killed her parents. Instead, she organized a large-scale protest on the first anniversary of the March First Movement with the help of fellow inmates. Sick of Yu’s rebellious nature, the Japanese eventually transferred her to an underground cell where she was repeatedly beaten and tortured. She never backed down, up until the day she died in Seodaemun prison on September 28, 1920 at age 17.
Yu never got to live long enough to see a free and liberal Korea, but there was not one moment in her life when she stopped fighting for her country. Her efforts for independence and justice influenced works of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Today, she is recognized as a source of strength and pride for Koreans. Not everyone can do what Yu Gwan-Sun did, but her story should inspire us all to take on even the hardest of problems with confidence and determination.
Remember her and share her story.
Thank you, Yu Gwuan-Sun, for your sacrifice.