Activist high school student, participant in the March 1 Uprising, Ryu Gwan-Sun (1902 – 1920) was a figure of Korean resistance against the Japanese occupation.
A clever child
Daughter of Lee So-je and Ryu Jung-Kwon, Ryu Gwan-Sun was born on December 16, 1902, in the city of Cheonan 80 km south of Seoul (Korea). The second of three siblings, she was raised in faith and national pride, although she grew up in the midst of the colonization of Korea by Japan.
Ryu Gwan-Sun quickly became noted for her keen intelligence and great memory, and when she grew up, one of her professors recommended her to Ewha Women's University. Ryu Gwan-Sun is pursuing a course there that will lead her to become a teacher.
The March 1 Uprising
In 1919, the king and first emperor of Korea Kojong (widower of Queen Min) died in the context of tensions between Japan and Korea. Rumors point to the poisoning of the king by the Japanese, and contribute to setting fire to the powder. On March 1, 33 activists read a declaration of independence from Korea. They will be quickly arrested, but a crowd gathers in Seoul to listen to a student read this statement in public.
Quickly, the rally turns into massive protests across the country. Ryu Gwan-Sun joins in and demonstrates in Seoul. The movement grows to such an extent that schools are closed, and Ryu Gwan-Sun returns to his family in Cheonan. Unable to control the movement, the Japanese military police began to use violence against the protesters.
Arrest
Alongside his family, Ryu Gwan-Sun is increasingly involved in the movement. She visits churches and speaks in public to describe the protests in Seoul and to encourage crowds to revolt against the Japanese occupation. On April 1, she led a protest action bringing together about 3,000 Korean independence activists.
In response, Japanese police arrest Ryu Gwan-Sun and other protesters. The gathering then turns into chaos and shooting; both parents of the young student are killed in the bloody repression of the demonstration. In the country, the violence turns into massacres; the repression of the uprising left more than 7,000 dead and 16,000 injured.
Resistance in prison
Ryu Gwan-Sun is offered a lighter sentence in exchange for her cooperation, which she refuses. She chooses to remain silent, even under torture. Detained in Cheonan and then in Gongju, she was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for sedition and transferred to Seodaemun prison in Seoul.
In detention, Ryu Gwan-Sun continued to campaign for Korean independence, despite the frequent punishments she suffered in response. In 1920, she planned an uprising with the other prisoners to commemorate March 1, 1919. As punishment, she was isolated and tortured. She died a few weeks before the date scheduled for her release.
In 1962, Ryu Gwan-Sun was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for the National Foundation. For her tenacity and the strength of her convictions, she is a true symbol of the Korean struggle for independence.