Editing March First Movement (section)

=== February 8 Declaration of Independence ===
{{Main article|February 8 Declaration of Independence}}
[[File:February 8 Declaration of Independence (cropped).jpg|thumb|A copy of the first page of the February 8 Declaration of Independence]]
By the mid-1910s, several hundred Korean students were studying in Japan as part of Japan's cultural assimilation efforts.{{Sfn|Manela|2007|p=125}}{{Sfn|Wells|1989|pp=8–9}} While there, they were exposed to and developed a variety of ideas, which they discussed and debated. Of particular interest to them were ideas from the West, particularly [[liberal democracy]], which they received in part via the Japanese [[Taishō Democracy]] movement and Wilson's Fourteen Points.{{Sfn|Wells|1989|pp=8–9}}{{Sfn|Shin|2018|p=211}}<ref name=":6" />

By early 1919, their ideas coalesced, and they also became angered by the rebuffing of the Korean representatives to the Paris Peace Conference, by the brutality of Japanese rule, and by the possibility that Gojong had been poisoned. In February, 8,600 students of the [[Korean Young People's Independence Organization]]<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor=""> (</span>{{Korean|hangul=조선청년독립단|hanja=朝鮮靑年獨立團|labels=no}}<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="">)</span> proclaimed and publicly distributed a declaration of independence, which they sent to the Japanese government, attendees of the Paris Peace Conference, and to representatives of various countries.<ref name="EncyKorea Movement" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hae-yeon |first=Kim |date=2023-02-23 |title=[Newsmaker] Handwritten English translation of Feb. 8 Declaration of Independence found after 104 years |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230223000635 |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=[[The Korea Herald]] |language=en |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301045124/http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230223000635 |url-status=live }}</ref> The students were arrested en masse by Japanese authorities, although news of their act reached Korea.<ref>{{Citation |last=박 |first=성수 |title=2·8독립선언서 (二八獨立宣言書) |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]] |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0046355 |access-date=2024-04-29 |publisher=[[Academy of Korean Studies]] |language=ko |archive-date=April 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429185727/https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0046355 |url-status=live }}</ref>