History of Korea

Kwangju Student Movement

The movement began when three male Japanese students insulted a group of three female Koreans who were waiting for a bus. A clash ensued between the Korean students and the Japanese which eventually escalated to open fighting on the streets of Kwangju. The police, as expected, blamed the Koreans for the incident and arrested approximately four hundred of those involved. Outraged by such a blatant miscarriage of justice, Korean students began to set off demonstrations which called for the release of their jailed comrades, abolition of racial discrimination, the overthrouw of the imperial government, and the liberation of the oppressed Korean populace. The demonstrations spread throughout the community and some 54,000 students got involved in voicing their grievances. The Sin'ganhoe contributed to the students' cause by staging mass protest rallies of their own. In the wake of the Kwangju Movement, 582 students were expelled from schools, 2,330 were placed on indefinite suspension, and 1642 students were arrested for the disturbance.

Colonial Period