The first Korean student movement begun in 1919, when students took part in the Sam-il Movement of 1 March to call for the end of Japanese colonization. The student movement has since then played a major part in several big political changes in Korea. Before liberation of Korea from Japanese rule in 1945, the main focus of the student movement was opposing this rule and demanding Korea's independence. After 1945, the student movements were mainly concerned with righting alleged wrongs in the Korean government. Students rose for instance against the South Korea's government of Syngman Rhee after the allegedly rigged elections in March 1960. 1980 marked a turning point in the South Korean student movement. After the Gwangju massacre in May 1980, the student movement got a clear vision, based on Marxism. Student activism is still common on the 21st century South Korean political scene.
History
Under Japanese rule
1919, participation in the Sam-Il Movement (3.1 or March 1st Movement) The first incentive for the student movement was the oppressive rule of Japan over Korea and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's call for the 'Self determination of Nations' following World War I. The March 1st Movement (3.1 Movement) was a nationwide anti-Japan independence movement against Japanese colonial rule. Although the students did not lead in the major uprisings of 1 March 1919, their activities influenced the leaders of the Sam-Il Movement. The protest spread from Namdaemun Square in Seoul, and Pyeongyang and Gwangju, to rural areas, through people going to the funeral of Gojong (高宗, the 26th Joseon king). The 3.1 Movement is the first and largest national movement that started in a colony of a country that was victorious in World War I.
10 June 1926 movement
Students demonstrated and distributed a manifesto for independence in the Sunjong funeral line. Over 200 students were arrested.
Gwangju student movement November 1929 – March 1930
The Gwangju student movement was a nationwide anti-Japan demonstration. It was founded against the discrimination towards colonial education and ethnic discrimination against Korean students in the Japanese colonial period. This movement was triggered when Japanese students harassed a female Korean student. A large scale street demonstration started in Gwangju and spread nationwide. The Gwangju movement was a large scale ethnic movement against Japanese imperialism after the 3.1 movement.
After 15 August 1945 liberation
19 April uprising 1960
On 11 April 1960 nearly a month after the demonstrations against the rigged elections on 15 March, the body of a high school boy with a police tear-gas grenade lodged into his skull was pulled out of a river in Masan. Already antagonized by the election and how the government had handled the protests thus far, the people of Masan exploded in fury. On 18 April, several student leaders at the Korea University in Seoul mobilized a demonstration and led 3,000 students in a march to the National Assembly building. The protesters demanded a new, fair election. They didn't get a response however and the next day, 19 April, approximately 50,000 students forced their way past the police and met in front of the principal government buildings in the centre of Seoul. They had come from thirty different colleges and high schools, and represented almost all the major universities in Seoul.
Already before the elections on 15 March 1960, there was growing unrest among the Korean people. The South Korean economy was hit by a crisis because of a change in economic policy. Poverty ruled among the rural areas because residents moved to the city to look for work, but still the unemployment rate was at 34.2%. President Syngman Rhee tried to forcefully keep the populace in line but this only showed the undemocratic nature of his regime. The students wanted a reform of the election system, but were thwarted when Rhee rigged the elections.
1970–1980
During the 1980s, student movements in Korea became an important force in the political climate of South Korea. The turning point can be placed at the Gwangju Massacre in May 1980. This massacre gave the student movement a clear goal: revolution. The 1980s student movement can also be distinguished from its predecessors by its Marxist perspective.
The reason of the movement's existence can, however, be traced through the 1960s and 1970s. The generation who led the movement have later been called the 386 Generation. These people went to college in the 1980s and had experienced the oppression of both students and labour first hand.