In 1910, the Korean Peninsula was annexed by Japan and Korea, and in March 1919, the independence movement of the 3.1 Revolution broke out. Independence movements sprang up all over the Korean peninsula. The total number of incidents was about 847 in about 618 locations. The number of Koreans arrested by the Japanese Imperial Army, military police, and police officers reached about 587,641. Of these, only about 7,816 were convicted. About 553 Koreans were killed and about 1,499 were injured in the Independence Day Massacre. For Koreans, the March 11 independence movement was a movement for national liberation and to restore freedom to the colonized Koreans. In response to the repression of the Japanese Empire, the Koreans increased their counter-violence with primitive weapons and stone-throwing buildings. They committed abuses and massacres against Japanese and Korean officers and lieutenants. Koreans attacked and set fire to institutions symbolizing Japanese colonial rule and the annexation of Japan and Korea.
About 33 religious leaders gathered to plan the reading of the Declaration of Independence on March 3 at Pagoda Park, now Tapgol Park, in the heart of Gyeongseong, Seoul, to coincide with the funeral of King Lee Tae, the first emperor of the Korean Empire, who died on January 22. Thirty-three religious leaders representing the nation, consisting of 15 Tendonists, 16 Christians, and two Buddhists, read the Declaration of Independence at the Taehwa Hall in Insa-dong and sang a Hail Mary, a change from the afternoon of March 1. We hereby declare that our Korea is an independent country and that the Korean people are a free people. We hereby declare that our country is an independent country and that the Korean people are free people, so that we may declare to all nations of the world the cause of equality of mankind, and so that we may declare to all our descendants the legitimate right of national self-preservation forever. The Declaration of Independence was issued. On March 3, thousands of Korean students gathered at the Pagoda Park, where the proclamation of independence was to be held, to raise the Taegeuk flag in a pro-independence demonstration in Seoul, following the funeral of King Lee Tae. On March 10, the movement spread from the South Korean region to the whole of Korea, and on April 11, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established in Shanghai. In early April, riots spread all over the Korean peninsula with various strata of people from peasants to laborers joining in, attacking police stations, town halls, elementary schools, etc., and causing widespread abuse and massacres. After the 3.1 declaration, a campaign of intimidation developed for about three months.
Immediately after the declaration of independence, the Japanese Empire arrested the ringleaders and disbanded the crowd. The use of troops was limited to areas where it would not adversely affect the future administration of Chosun; from March 10 onward, the use of troops was actively extended outside the area. By the end of May, out of the more than two million participants, about 7,509 Koreans were killed, 15,961 wounded and 46,948 prisoners.
