Korean Liberation Day (Aug 15 1945)-End of Japanese Colonialism (Part-II)

Taegukgi Wood Engraving Block, Korea 1919. (Etched on woodblock) 

The Korean independence movement based on military and diplomatic stratagems spans 36 years with dips and peaks. Remembered as 삼일 운동 (Sam-il), the March 1st Movement is one of the earliest public displays of Korean resistance. Thirty-three freedom fighters, ducking the colonial spies network, convened at Taehwagwan Restaurant in Seoul to read the Korean Declaration of Independence. Soon the Japanese colonists came to know about the declaration, mobilizing their machinery to crush the campaign. Consequently, the Korean leaders fleed to decamp into China. In 1919, Korean freedom fighters established a provisional government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai with the help of the National Government of the Republic of China. The Korean patriots strived for liberty for decades. Operating under the supervision of KPG, and assisted by the Chinese Military Council, the Korean Liberation Army led attacks against Japan. 

Choi Dae-sub. The Pictures of the Declaration of Independence by National Representatives
(Korea, 1976 Ink, and color on mulberry paper)

During the Korean freedom movement, the Japanese committed huge barbarities and crimes, taking cover of the justification that Korea was a colony of Japan. The Japanese viewed every activist as impugning their authority in Korea and thus barred the activists and tortured them into submission. 

With the deep desire to expand its rule over the Asia Pacific, the Empire of Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China in 1937, named the second Sino-Japan war. The Chinese theater of the second Sino-Japan war turned into Asia Pacific theater of war on 7 December 1941, when the Japanese invaded Thailand and attacked the British colonies of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and the United States naval bases in the region as well. The Asia pacific war mutated into World War II, and it was not until the end of World War II that Korea won its independence after 36 years of oppression under the Japanese. In the final stage of World War II, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This incident succeeded in getting the Japanese to surrender and sign the Potsdam Declaration. The Potsdam Declaration included provisions of the Cairo Declaration adopted in 1943, guaranteeing the freedom of Korea from colonization. The Korean Peninsula was finally liberated on Aug. 15, 1945. Three years later on the same day, an independent Korean government was established. 

While legislating the Act of National Holidays in 1949, Aug 15 became a national holiday to commemorate Korea's liberation from Japanese colonization. 

That's why it is Holiday this coming MONDAY... 

Suh Se-ok. The March 1st Independence Movement
(Korea, 1986. Ink and color on mulberry paper)

For many others, it is the day for which they sacrificed ALL, that they had. The Goddess of Freedom never comes easy. Young, fresh, hot, and red blood of millions is immolated to please the Goddess of Freedom.

By: Dr. Saeed Ahmed (Seihung, South Korea)