The World On arirang

On March 1st, 1919, a cry for independence swept throughout the Korean peninsula. When imperialism was reordering the hierarchy of the world after WWI, Korea's yearning for sovereignty had reached its height and was spreading like wildfire. The news of the movement soon made its way out of Korea despite all of Japan's efforts to control the press. It reached Koreans abroad who started their own ripples of independence movements across the globe. Many other nations with their own suffering of imperialism started covering the movement in their local media, creating a tight-knit bond and a sense of alliance amongst the colonized nations. Even the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 that completely deprived Korea of its diplomacy rights could not stop Korea's efforts to make Japan's oppression and injustice known to the world. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea sent Kim Kyusik as a representative to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 to maintain close communications with the international society and he did everything in his power to petition Korea's freedom as an agenda of the conference. This week, we'll dive deep into this remarkable event of 1919 that embodied the meaning of peace and equality for humanity amid a tumultuous chapter in world history. We'll meet with 11 experts from around the world with expertise in Korean history, world history, and diplomacy, to look back on the political landscape of the March 1st Movement and evaluate its major significance in our world history.