IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 164 

Commemorating the centennial anniversary of Korea’s March First Movement 

Day. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Ms. MENG (for herself, Mr. KIM, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. PASCRELL, and Mr. 

KEATING) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the centennial anniversary of Korea’s March 

First Movement Day. 

Whereas March 1, 2019, marks the centennial anniversary of 

Korea’s March First Movement Day; 

Whereas the Korean Declaration of Independence was read 

aloud in Seoul on March 1, 1919, and included the proclamation, ‘‘We desire a full measure of satisfaction in the 

way of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and an opportunity to develop what is in us for the glory of our 

people’’; 

Whereas the Korean Declaration of Independence was inspired by President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points 

and the right of a people to self-determination; 


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•HRES 164 IH 

Whereas President Wilson stated in an address to a Joint 

Session of Congress on February 11, 1918, that ‘‘self-determination is not a mere phrase. It is an imperative 

principle of action’’; 

Whereas the March First Movement constitutes a foundation 

upon which the Republic of Korea stands today as a global leader and one of America’s greatest foreign policy 

success stories; 

Whereas Yu Gwan-sun, a 16-year-old young woman, joined 

alongside her classmates at the March 1, 1919, independence demonstrations and later became the face of the Korean independence movement; 

Whereas Yu Gwan-sun was a student at Ewha Haktang in 

Seoul, which was established by American missionaries as 

the first modern educational institution for women in 

Korea; 

Whereas Yu Gwan-sun was imprisoned and tortured at 

Seodaemun Prison in Seoul, and on the first anniversary 

of the March First Movement, cried out, ‘‘Even if my fingernails are torn out, my nose and ears are ripped apart, 

and my legs and arms are crushed, this physical pain 

does not compare to the pain of losing my nation.’’; 

Whereas, on March 28, 2018, the New York Times issued an 

obituary about Yu Gwan-sun in its series titled ‘‘Overlooked No More’’; 

Whereas Korea’s March First Movement included contributions from several prominent Koreans that were educated 

and resided in the United States; 

Whereas these notable persons included Dr. Syngman Rhee, 

the first President of the Republic of Korea, who received 

his doctorate from Princeton University in 1910 from 


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•HRES 164 IH 

then President of the University, Woodrow Wilson, and 

addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress on July 28, 1954; 

Whereas Kim Kyu-Sik was among the earliest to receive a 

bachelor’s degree in the United States from Roanoke College in 1903; 

Whereas Dosan Ahn Chang Ho was one of the early leaders 

of the Korean-American community, having immigrated 

to San Francisco in October 1902, and established the 

Friendship Society in 1903, the first Korean-American 

organization; 

Whereas Representative Diane Watson of California sponsored the bill that was enacted on June 25, 2004, as 

Public Law 108–239, designating the facility of the 

United States Postal Service located at 3751 West 6th 

Street in Los Angeles, California, as the ‘‘Dosan Ahn 

Chang Ho Post Office’’, the first such facility to be 

named in honor of an Asian-American; 

Whereas Philip Jaisohn was the first Korean to become a 

naturalized citizen of the United States in 1890 and was 

the first Korean to receive a United States medical degree from Columbia Medical College, now the George 

Washington University School of Medicine and Health 

Sciences; 

Whereas, on April 14 through 16, 1919, following the March 

First Movement, Dr. Syngman Rhee, with Philip 

Jaisohn, organized the first conference of Korean-American organizations called the ‘‘First Korean Congress’’, 

which was held at the Little Theatre on Delancey Place 

in Philadelphia to symbolize Korea’s independence movement, having drawn inspiration from the United States 


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Declaration of Independence nearly a century and a half 

earlier; 

Whereas Korea’s March First Movement’s principles of selfdetermination, human rights, and nonviolence impacted 

similar movements throughout the world in 1919 such as 

‘‘Satyagraha’’, the nonviolent resistance developed by Mahatma Gandhi and implemented by the Indian National 

Congress on April 5, 1919; and 

Whereas the goals and ideals of the March First Movement 

continue to reside in the hearts and minds of the KoreanAmerican community: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) commemorates the centennial anniversary of 

3 Korea’s March First Movement Day; 

4 (2) recognizes the role of Yu Gwan-sun and the 

5 impact of all youth human rights activists; 

6 (3) recognizes the significant and indelible con7 tributions of Korean Americans to the vibrancy of 

8 United States society, politics, culture, and the econ9 omy; and 

10 (4) reaffirms the United States-Korea alliance 

11 as the lynchpin of United States engagement in 

12 Northeast Asia through the shared values of democ13 racy, free-market economy, human rights, and the 

14 rule of law. 

Æ 


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