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The Korean Declaration of Independence from Mar. 1, 1919
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Survey reveals strong desire for declaration emphasizing peace on Korean Peninsula
Around half of South Koreans agreed on the need for a “second declaration of independence” for the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, a survey shows. Most of the respondents agreed the new declaration should include content expressing a desire for peace on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the world. According to the results of a Dec. 31 survey of public perceptions by the Hankyoreh and the March 1 Independent Movement Centennial Commemorative Project Committee, 46.7% of respondents responded in the affirmative when asked if they agreed that a “second declaration of independence is necessary as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Movement.” Just 27.2% said they did not see a declaration as necessary. Among respondents with a stronger reported level of interest in history, the percentage rating a declaration as necessary (53.1%) far outnumbered the percentage opposing one (30.9%). Respondents most frequently agreed the declaration should include content related to “peace on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the world” (33%), followed by “autonomy/self-determination” (19.4%), “reunification of the Korean people” (15.3%), “shared prosperity/coexistence/solidarity” (12.9%), “labor/human rights” (11.8%), and “life/environment” (6.8%). “I happened to look at the content of the independence declaration from 1919, and I was astonished at how we were advocating for world peace and human equality as one of the weakest peoples in the world at the time,” said company employee Kim Seong-jin, 40. “If we do produce a second independence declaration, I’d like it to include content about how peace on the Korean Peninsula needs to be carried forward into world peace,” Kim said. The results also showed 79.6% of respondents agreeing that “projects to carry on the March 1 Movement’s spirit” should continue beyond the 100th anniversary this year. By Oh Seung-hun, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
