Editing March First Movement (section)

=== Paris Peace Conference and the death of Gojong ===
[[File:Big four-1919-cropped.jpg|thumb|Western leaders at the Paris Peace Conference (May 27, 1919)]]
After the conclusion of the war, various nations participated in the 1919–1920 [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]], during which the sovereignty of a number of nations was discussed.<ref name=":3">Chang, Roberta (2003). ''The Koreans in Hawai'i: A Pictorial History, 1903–2003''. University of Hawaii Press, p. 100.</ref><ref name=":2" />

Koreans made a number of unsuccessful attempts to be represented at the conference. The Korean-American [[Korean National Association]] attempted to send [[Syngman Rhee]] and {{Ill|Henry Chung (Korean)|lt=Henry Chung|ko|정한경}} to the conference, but the U.S. government denied them permission to go.{{Sfn|Ku|2021|p=125}}{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|pp=196–197}} A group of [[Koreans in China]], the {{Ill|New Korean Youth Party|ko|신한청년당}}, managed to send [[Kim Kyu-sik]] <span data-darkreader-inline-color="" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="">with the Chinese delegation.</span>{{Sfn|Ku|2021|p=124}}<span data-darkreader-inline-color="" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="">{{Sfn|Manela|2007|p=29}} Chinese leaders, hoping to embarrass Japan, attempted to put a discussion of Korea's sovereignty on the agenda, but did not succeed.{{Sfn|Manela|2007|p=29}}</span>

Koreans in China also created a plan to secretly extract former Korean emperor [[Gojong of Korea|Gojong]] from his house arrest in Korea, and eventually bring him to the conference.<ref name=":2" /> Before that could happen, on January 21, 1919, Gojong suddenly died. Japan reported that Gojong had died from natural causes, but he had reportedly been healthy just until his death. Koreans widely {{Ill|Death of Gojong of Korea|lt=suspected that Japan had poisoned him|ko|고종 독살설}};<ref name="EncyKorea Movement" />{{Sfn|Manela|2007|p=132}}<ref name=":2" /> these theories were in part motivated by knowledge of previous attempts on Gojong's life.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-09-09 |title=Did you know that ...(22) The coffee plot |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2014/11/317_94553.html |access-date=2017-09-06 |work=[[The Korea Times]] |language=en}}</ref>

Public outrage at the possibility that Gojong had been murdered has since been evaluated as having a critical impact on the timing of, and even the altogether occurrence of, the March First Movement.{{Sfn|Manela|2007|p=132}}{{Sfn|Wells|1989|pp=|p=7}}<ref name=":2" />