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A Macro Approach to Violence and Non-violence in the March First Movement

Hae Dong Yun 1

1한양대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In this study, two categories were used to analyze the violence found in the demonstrations of the March First Movement. ‘Light violence’ was used to refer to instances of ‘collective protest’ and ‘assault’ while ‘destruction,’ ‘murder’ and ‘arson’ were placed under ‘heavy violence.’ ‘Light violence’ was characterized by the use of physical force and ‘heavy violence’ by the mobilization of tools. Out of a total of 1,552 cases of demonstration throughout the movement, there were 509 involving violence, at approximately 37%. 132 cases were shown to have led to ‘heavy violence’ at about 26%. March 18th and April 4th provided an important turning point in terms of violence in the March First Movement. The highest levels of violence were shown in the demonstrations between April 1st and 4th. During this period, 15% of the demonstrations in Gyeonggi and North Chungcheong Provinces involved heavy violence. South Pyeongan Province came close at 11%, followed by Gangwon, South Gyeongsang and South Chungcheong Provinces. According to the March First Movement database of the National Institute of Korean History, there are 234 known cases of gunfire against the protesters during the March First Movement. The shootings began on March 1st and continued through April 22nd. The first stage between March 1st and March 26th had 62 shootings, which is 26% of the total number of gunshots fired throughout the movement. The extreme suppression method of gunfire was enforced without delay starting on the first day of demonstrations. The gunfire was concentrated in the second stage between March 27th and April 9th, with 162 shootings, which is 70% of the total number of shots fired during the movement. The third stage beginning on April 10th showed a distinct decrease in shootings at 4%. In the four provinces of South Pyeongan, South Hamgyeong, North Hamgyeong and North Gyeongsang, the shootings were concentrated in the first stage of the movement. The rest of the provinces saw most of the shootings in the second stage of the movement. Lastly, the correlation between the violence of the demonstration and that of the suppression was looked at. First, a high correlation was not found between heavy violence and gunfire overall. Second, the number of shootings began to rise around March 27th when instances of heavy violence in demonstrations started to grow. Third, even though there was a sharp decrease in heavy violence after April 4th, the number of shootings actually increased, going against the previous tendency. But when the total number of violent demonstrations, both with light violence and heavy violence, is taken into account, a different picture presents itself. The total number of shootings at 234 and that of all violent protests at 198 seem to indicate a close correlation. However, the sharp rise in shootings after April 4th reflects a forceful crackdown on the demonstrations regardless of the violence by the protesters. The shootings after April 4th were the result of the ‘politics of terror’ led by the military and the police to crush the March First Movement.

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