Every year on Mar.1, Koreans pay tribute to the spirit of the patriots who gave up their lives for their country. Independence Movement Day is a national holiday when Koreans honor the independence of the country. The March 1st Movement, also known as the Sam-il Movement, started on Mar.1, 1919, to call for independence from Japan and protested against forced assimilation of Koreans into Japanese life and culture. The period from 1910 to 1945, when Korea was occupied by Japan, was a time of suffering for the entire nation. The Japanese Empire robbed Korea of its sovereignty, established the Japanese Government General of Korea to take control of the administrative, legislative, and judicial branches of the government, and oppressed Koreans. However, Koreans undertook several independence movements and tried to regain their nation. Unfortunately, however, a large number of Koreans who joined these movements were arrested and imprisoned.

Seodaemun Prison History Hall was once a modern prison built by the Japanese Empire. It was opened in 1908 and used as a prison until it was closed in Nov. 1987. A significant number of anti-Japanese independence activists were imprisoned there during the period of Japanese occupation, and many pro-democracy activists were imprisoned there during the military dictatorships that emerged after Korea regained independence. After the prison was closed, Seodaemun-gu reopened the prison as Seodaemun Prison History Hall on Nov. 5, 1998, with the purpose of preserving the site and its significant historical value.

Seodaemun Prison History Hall was built in the middle of villages in order to instill a sense of fear in the commoners. After the March 1st Movement in 1919, the building was expanded to imprison more independence activists. Inside the prison, there were torture chambers, interrogation rooms, buildings where prisoners were held, and other facilities. The Japanese colonial government intentionally located the torture chambers near the prison buildings and interrogation rooms in order to maximize fear among the activists. Among the numerous forms of torture the Japanese used on the prisoners, box torture and finger twist were particularly notorious. Box torture is a kind of torture where a prisoner is put into a box full of sharp nails, and the prison guards shake the box aggressively. Finger twist, as the name
indicates, involves putting a stick between a prisoner’s fingers and making the finger bones protrude.

The conditions inside the prison were inhumane, of course. Each cell had about 35 prisoners, which is seven times more than the recommended number. This meant that the prisoners had to take turns sleeping. Right before Korea regained independence from Japan in 1944, the prison held a total of around 3,000 prisoners, including famous independence activists such as Ahn Chang-Ho, Yun Bong-Gil, Han Yong-Un, Kim-Gu, and Yu
Gwan-Sun.

In first grade at Ewha Hakdang, which is Ewha Womans University today, Yu Gwan-Sun lost her parents due to attacks conducted by Japanese military police. Afterward, she actively participated in independence movements such as the March 1st Movement in 1919 and even took a leading role in such movements, convincing people to join the movement for the nation. However, she was arrested in Apr. 1919 and sentenced to five
years in prison. Even in prison, however, Yu’s dedication to achieving independence never waned. On Mar.1, 1920, she led another independence movement in prison, for which she was put into solitary confinement in a
basement cell. In that small basement cell, the prison guards subjected Yu to 93 different types of torture. Sadly, she died on Sep.28, with two days left on her sentence.

By providing a space to honor patriots such as Yu Gwan-Sun, Seodaemun Prison History Hall provides visitors with a valuable opportunity to reflect on the past and remember the tragedies of Korean history. Seodaemun Prison History Hall opens at 9:30 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m. from March to October and closes at 5 p.m. during the winter season. However, it should be noted that admission ends 30 minutes before closing time. Also, Seodaemun Prison History Hall closes on Jan.1, Lunar New Year’s Day, the Chuseok holiday, and every Monday. Various exhibitions are held at Seodaemun Prison History Hall, with the permanent exhibitions including the exhibition hall, prison building exhibition, and outdoor exhibition. At these exhibitions, visitors get a chance to see relics related to anti-Japanese independence activists who were incarcerated in the prison as well as the records of their imprisonment. Throughout 2023, Seodaemun Prison History Hall will operate a special course titled “2023 Independence Activist of the Month,” comprising a one-hour lecture on the history of anti-Japanese independence activists and a half hour of commemoration events. The course is free of charge and can be registered through Seodaemun Prison History Hall’s official website. As the old saying goes, a nation that forgets its past has no future. Visiting Seodaemun Prison History Hall and reflecting on the past will surely help Koreans to take a step forward to a brighter future.