Editing March First Movement (section)

== Legacy and interpretations ==
[[File:6.10 만세운동.jpg|thumb|190x190px|The [[June Tenth Movement]] (1926)]]
The legacy of the March First Movement is still actively debated by scholars.<ref name=":6" />{{Sfn|Ku|2021|pp=106–107}} While the movement did not secure Korea's liberation, it had a number of significant effects for Korea and a number of other countries.<ref name="EncyKorea Movement" /><ref name="Shin 2009" /> Independence activist sentiment amongst global Koreans flared.{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|pp=213–214}}<ref name=":6" /> The 1926 [[June Tenth Movement]], which was sparked by the death of Gojong's son [[Sunjong of Korea|Sunjong]], had many similar protest actions take place.{{Sfn|Shin|2018|p=206}} Amidst the violent repression of the protests and the hunt for its participants and leaders, numerous Koreans fled the peninsula. A number of them congregated in Shanghai, and in April 1919, they founded the [[Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea|Korean Provisional Government]] (KPG). This government is now considered a predecessor to the modern [[government of South Korea]], and holds an important place in the independence movement and in South Korean identity.<ref name="EncyKorea Movement" />

Since the occurrence of the movement, varying groups have interpreted its character and significance in a number of ways.{{Sfn|최|2009|pp=206–207}} Some left-leaning interpretations analyze the event using [[Marxism|Marxist]] and [[Socialism|socialist]] frameworks, with some reportedly interpreting the movement as a failed proletariat revolution, and something only to be remembered but not celebrated.{{Sfn|최|2009|pp=206–207}} Since the [[division of Korea]], both the North and South Korean governments have promoted differing analyses of Korean history.{{Sfn|Hart|2000|p=138}} The scholar Dennis Hart argues that all nations participate in the curation of national histories in order to influence politics, and that the division and creation of rival states has created the need for two historical narratives from a single past.{{Sfn|Hart|2000|p=|pp=140–141}}

Historian Michael Shin views the movement as a turning point for Korean nationalism, from being spearheaded by the elite to popular action. The resulting cultural rule period also led to the proliferation of Korean print media, which in turn further bolstered nationalist sentiment.{{Sfn|Shin|2018|p=|pp=210–211}}

=== South Korea ===
In South Korea, the movement is widely considered to be a landmark moment in the formation of the modern Korean national identity.{{Sfn|Hart|2000|p=139}}
[[File:2007 11 25 WarMemorial 120.JPG|thumb|The first page of the [[constitution of South Korea]], with mention of the March First Movement visible.]]
The [[constitution of South Korea]] mentions the movement in its first sentence: "We, the people of Korea, proud of a resplendent history and traditions dating from time immemorial, upholding the cause of the Provisional Republic of Korea Government born of the March First Independence Movement of 1919..."<ref name="Constitution">{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Republic of Korea |url=https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawView.do?lang=ENG&hseq=1 |access-date=2022-05-16 |publisher=Korea Legislation Research Institute |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308124813/https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawView.do?lang=ENG&hseq=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Sfn|Shin|2018|p=1}}

In South Korea, the event's link to the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government is promoted, so as to bolster that government's legitimacy.{{Sfn|Hart|2000|p=|pp=151–152}}{{Sfn|최|2009|pp=206–207}}

=== North Korea ===
In North Korea, the event is taught as a turning point where the family of eight-year-old Kim Il Sung's took the lead of the independence movement.{{Sfn|Hart|2000|pp=153–154}}{{Sfn|Hart|2000|p=|pp=151–152}} The epicenter of the movement is taught as being Pyongyang instead of Seoul, and the contributions of figures who became influential in the later South Korean government are downplayed.{{Sfn|Hart|2000|pp=153–154}}<ref name="DailyNK 2006">{{Cite news |last=Han |first=Yeong-jin |date=28 February 2006 |title=Eight-year-old boy Kim Il Sung gathered the independence movement and travelled 30 li |url=https://www.dailynk.com/8%EC%84%B8-%EC%86%8C%EB%85%84-%EA%B9%80%EC%9D%BC%EC%84%B1-%EB%8F%85%EB%A6%BD%EB%A7%8C%EC%84%B8-%EC%99%B8%EC%B9%98%EB%A9%B0-30/ |access-date=8 March 2023 |work=[[Daily NK]] |archive-date=March 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308213250/https://www.dailynk.com/8%EC%84%B8-%EC%86%8C%EB%85%84-%EA%B9%80%EC%9D%BC%EC%84%B1-%EB%8F%85%EB%A6%BD%EB%A7%8C%EC%84%B8-%EC%99%B8%EC%B9%98%EB%A9%B0-30/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The thirty-three national representatives are described as having surrendered immediately after reading their declaration.<ref name="DailyNK 2006" /> Hart printed this translated excerpt from ''[[Chosŏn Ryŏksa]]'', a North Korean history textbook used from 1984 to 1990:{{Sfn|Hart|2000|p=144; 154}}

{{Blockquote|text=Under the leadership of the great and passionate anti-Japanese revolutionary Kang Jin Sok [the older brother of Kim II Sung's mother], the shout of "Long live Korean independence" spread like a wave throughout the country. From the outset the struggle had the characteristics of a riot and spread. At this time, our great and beloved leader Kim II Sung, who was eight years old, participated in the anti-Japanese demonstration and traveled to Bongťongdae Gate, which was about 30 li away.{{sfn|Hart|2000|p=154}}}}

While scholars in both the South and North are in relative consensus that the movement was unlikely to result in Korea's prompt liberation, North Korean textbooks reportedly argue that the movement failed because it lacked Kim's central leadership.{{Sfn|Hart|2000|p=154}}<ref name="DailyNK 2006" />

=== Other independence movements ===
[[File:Chinese protestors march against the Treaty of Versailles (May 4, 1919).jpg|thumb|Chinese protestors of the May 4 Movement. The protest's organizers reportedly were in part inspired by the March First Movement.<ref name="Shin 2009" /> (1919)]]
The March First Movement had some impact on other protest movements around this time, although the extent of the impact is actively debated.{{Sfn|Ku|2021|pp=107–108}} A number of historians have argued that the various protests occurred in differing political circumstances and with different causes, and are thus difficult to directly attribute to the March First Movement.<ref name=":6" />{{Sfn|Ku|2021|pp=107–108}}

Several weeks after the March First Movement, organizers of the [[May Fourth Movement]] in China such as [[Fu Ssu-nien]] cited the March First Movement as one of their inspirations.<ref name="Shin 2009" /> That protest has since been evaluated as a critical moment in modern Chinese history.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wasserstrom |first=Jeffrey N. |date=2019-05-04 |title=Opinion {{!}} May Fourth, the Day That Changed China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/opinion/china-may-fourth-movement-protests-1919-wusi.html |access-date=2024-04-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505073339/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/opinion/china-may-fourth-movement-protests-1919-wusi.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-22 |title=May Fourth Movement |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/May-Fourth-Movement |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |language=en |archive-date=April 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429011853/https://www.britannica.com/event/May-Fourth-Movement |url-status=live }}</ref>

Indian independence activist [[Mahatma Gandhi]] read of the peaceful protests while in South Africa. He reportedly decided to return to India soon afterwards and launch the [[Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922)|non-cooperation movement]].<ref name="Shin 2009" />

In the [[History of the Philippines (1898–1946)|U.S.-occupied Philippines]], university students in [[Manila]] held a pro-independence protest in June 1919, and cited the March First Movement as inspiration.<ref name="Shin 2009" />

In [[History of Egypt under the British|British-occupied Egypt]], students of Cairo University held a pro-independence protest amidst the [[1919 Egyptian revolution]], and cited the March First Movement as an inspiration.<ref name="Shin 2009" />

=== The movement as a revolution ===
There is debate over where the movement can be considered a [[revolution]]. Historian Youngseo Baik argues that it can be, as the movement advocated for significant political change and has had lasting impact on Korean political thought.<ref name=":6" />

=== Apology ===
In August 2015, [[Yukio Hatoyama]], who had previously served as [[Prime Minister of Japan]] for nine months, visited Seodaemun Prison and apologized for how the prisoners had been treated.<ref name="NYT Yu" />