Ryu Gwan-sun, also known as Yu Gwansun, was an organizer in what would come to be known as the March 1st Movement against Imperial Japanese colonial rule of Korea in South Chungcheong. The March 1st Movement was considered a peaceful demonstration by the Korean people against Japanese rule. Ryu Gwan-sun became one of the most well-known participants in this movement, and eventually, a symbol of Korea's fight for independence.
Early life and education
Ryu Gwan-sun was born on December 16, 1902, near Cheonan, in the SouthChungcheongProvince of Korea. She was considered an intelligent child and would memorize Bible passages upon hearing them only once. She attended the Ewha school, today known as Ewha Womans University, through a scholarship program that required recipients to work as a teacher after graduation. At the time, few Korean women attended university. In 1919, while she was a student at the Ewha Girls' High School, she witnessed the beginnings of the March 1st Movement. Ryu, along with a five-person group, took part in the movement and participated in demonstrations in Seoul. On March 10, 1919, all of the schools, including the Ewha Women's School, were temporarily closed by the Governor-General of Korea, and Ryu returned home to Cheonan.
Political activism
On March 1, 1919, Seoul was overflowing with marches by people from around the country protesting Japanese involvement in Korea. Ryu left Seoul after the Japanese government ordered all Korean schools to close on March 10 in response to the ongoing independence protests. She returned to her home in Jiryeong-ri and, while there, took a more active role in the protest movement.
Aunae Market demonstration and arrest
Along with her family, Ryu rallied tirelessly going door-to-door and encouraged the public to join the independence movement that was starting to take shape. She spread the word of an organized demonstration that she had planned with Cho In-won and Kim Goo-Eung and rallied the people from neighboring towns, including Yeongi, Chungju, Cheonan and Jincheon. The demonstration took place on April 1, 1919, in Aunae Marketplace at 9:00 a.m., with approximately 3,000 demonstrators chanting "Long Live Korean Independence!". By 1:00 p.m, the Japanese military police arrived and fired on the unarmed Korean protesters, killing 19 people which included Ryu's parents. Ryu was arrested. The Japanese military police offered Ryu a lighter sentence in exchange for her admission of guilt and her cooperation in finding other protest collaborators. However, she refused to reveal the identity or whereabouts of any of her collaborators even after being severely tortured.
Imprisonment and utterance
After Ryu's arrest, she was initially detained at the Cheonan Japanese Military Police Station then transferred to the Gongju Police Station prison. At her trial, Ryu argued the proceedings were controlled by the Japanese colonial administration, the law of the governor-general of Korea, and was overseen by an assigned Japanese judge. Despite her attempts to obtain what she believed was a fair trial, Ryu received a guilty verdict on counts of sedition and security law violations and was sentenced to five years imprisonment at Seodaemun Prison. During her imprisonment, Ryu continued to support the Korean independence movement which resulted in her being severely punished and tortured by Japanese prison officers. On March 1, 1920, Ryu prepared a large-scale protest with her fellow inmates in honor of the first anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement. Ryu was imprisoned separately in an isolated cell. She died on September 28, 1920 from injuries she sustained from torture and beatings inflicted by the Japanese prison officers. According to records discovered in November 2011, of the 45,000 who were arrested in relation to the protests during that period, 7,500 died at the hands of the Japanese authorities. "Japan will fall", she wrote while in prison:
After death
Japanese prison officials initially refused to release Ryu's body in an attempt to hide the evidence of torture. Authorities eventually released her body in a Saucony Vacuum Company oil crate due to threats made by Lulu Frey and Jeannette Walter, the principals of Ryu's former school, who voiced their suspicions of torture to the public. Walter, who dressed Ryu for her funeral proceedings, later assured the public in 1959 that her body had not been cut into pieces as had been alleged. On October 14, 1920, Ryu Gwan-sun's funeral was held at the Jung-dong Church by Minister Kim Jong-wu and her body was buried in the public Itaewon cemetery, which was eventually destroyed. After the independence of Korea in 1945, a shrine was built in Byeongcheon-myeon with the cooperation of Chungcheongnam-do Province and the Cheonan army. Meanwhile, since 1946, a memorial service was organized by people from Ewha Womans University, including Shin Bong-jo and Park In-duk. Around this time, people who took over Ryu's coffin from Seodaemun Prison opened the box and there were rumors that the body had been cut into pieces. Her body was buried at the cemetery in Itaewon, but it is believed to have been treated as an unbroken tomb in 1936 during the process of relocating the cemetery in Itaewon for the purpose of creating a housing site.
Legacy
Ryu became known as "Korea's Joan of Arc". While the March 1st Movement did not immediately gain freedom for Korea, the Japanese colonial government soon implemented more lenient political controls. Because she did not abandon her convictions even after her arrest, Ryu became a symbol of the Korean fight for independence through her unrelenting protests and resistance. After Korea gained independence, which occurred in 1948, a shrine was built in honor of Ryu with the cooperation of South Chungcheong province and the city of Cheonan. She was posthumously awarded the Order of Independence Merit in 1962. In 2018 The New York Times published a belated obituary.
"Today, when the world claims peace, we must live under the rule of law, but we must live without fear and fear for our own children. It is our duty to become an active new nation under the rule of independence and to follow these teachers in the basement of Gucheon without any difficulties. With tears rising from the soy sauce and hard work coming from the music, we will lie down on our beloved fellow Koreans! Do not let the time be too early to do anything; let the work run fast."
Award of Ryu Gwan-sun
In South Chungcheong Province, a group of women or group that have contributed to the development of the nation and the community are selected from all over the country. Honoring the patriot Ryu Gwan-sun.
