Title: Commemorating the centennial anniversary of Korea's March First Movement Day.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution commemorates the centennial anniversary of South Korea's March 1st Movement Day, which marked the beginning of a series of demonstrations for South Korean independence from Japan. The resolution also honors Yu Gwan-Sun, an activist known for her role in organizing the movement, and reaffirms the alliance between South Korea and the United States.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 164 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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;
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 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 Declaration of Independence nearly a century and 
        a half earlier;
Whereas Korea's March First Movement's principles of self-determination, 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 Korean-American community: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commemorates the centennial anniversary of Korea's 
        March First Movement Day;
            (2) recognizes the role of Yu Gwan-sun and the impact of 
        all youth human rights activists;
            (3) recognizes the significant and indelible contributions 
        of Korean Americans to the vibrancy of United States society, 
        politics, culture, and the economy; and
            (4) reaffirms the United States-Korea alliance as the 
        lynchpin of United States engagement in Northeast Asia through 
        the shared values of democracy, free-market economy, human 
        rights, and the rule of law.
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