March 1 (Mon) Fellow Koreans, overseas compatriots, and at the site of the history where the March 1 Independence Movement began, and for the first time ever, a ceremony to commemorate the March 1 Independence Movement will be held. It is truly meaningful and I am very impressed. Today, 102 years ago, the recovery and leap of the nation began here in Tapgol Park. Cheondogyo, Christianity, and Buddhism crossed the barrier of religion and became unified, and students took the lead in the nation’s great coalition. On March 1, 1919, at 2 pm, a young man climbed to the Palgakjeong Pavilion and read the Declaration of Independence. When the reading was over, the sound of hurrah covered the sky. It was the moment when the world’s largest non-violent movement, the March 1 Independence Movement began. The cry of freedom and independence that began in Tapgol Park made ordinary people reborn as citizens of a democratic republic, and the cry for justice, peace, and humanitarianism became a shout of unity that united the colonial people. The March 1 Independence Movement was a movement of the whole people to restore the lives of the nation from the exploitation of colonial rule. With the March 1 Independence Movement, we found a driving force for overcoming the colony, and we were able to start a leap forward. We dedicate our deepest respect to our proud ancestors who made a reversal of Korean history through adversity. Fellow citizens, 100 years have passed, but our people’s dedication and strength to face the national crisis are the same. We haven’t succumbed to the threat of more than a year. In the past year, the people have been the subject of quarantine and have protected Korea. The quarantine personnel and medical staff showed amazing dedication and sacrifice that exceeded their professional responsibilities. The year before the March 1 Independence Movement, a new infectious disease called the’Spanish flu’ hit our people in 1918, when we were struggling with Japanese imperial rule and exploitation. At the time, more than 40% of the population, 7.55 million patients, killed more than 140,000 people. ‘Cholera’ also meant’death’. The fatality rate reached 65%, and in 1920 alone, more than 13,000 people were killed. Japan did not protect the colonial people from the plague. For the pretext of quarantine and hygiene, forced rescue personnel and unconditional quarantine were used, and in 1920, the number of people in charge per doctor reached a whopping 17,000. In such a barren medical reality, medical students most actively participated in the March 1 Independence Movement. Gyeongseongjeon and Severance Medical Center students led the demonstration for national independence in Tapgol Park, and Severance Hospital nurses and Severance Medical School nursing students also ran out to the streets with bandages to join. Among the arrested students, Gyeongseongjeon students were the most. It was the Korean people themselves, who awakened through the March 1 Independence Movement, that preserved the lives of their families, neighbors and communities. When the provisional government of the Republic of Korea was established, medical professionals established the Korean Red Cross in Shanghai to help the people who are oppressed by the independence movement, and in 1920 established the’Red Cross Nurse Training Center’ to nurture nurses to treat the independence army. With the outbreak of cholera, youth and students all over the country organized youth quarantine teams to conduct quarantine activities such as free vaccination and disinfection, and received great response. In Seoul, thirteen dongs and 3,000 households formed an allied self-defense group to combat cholera. Hyoja-dong and other residents of eight towns formed a cooperative to establish an infectious disease hospital, and on September 4, 1920, the first private infectious disease quarantine hospital’Hyoja-dong Hospital’ was finally established. In a hospital built by Koreans, Korean doctors, nurses, and oriental medicine doctors treated patients with all their might. In today’s coronavirus situation, the efforts of our ancestors, who tried to take care of our patients by ourselves and to equip ourselves with a medical system, truly come to our hearts. We are very proud that the strength we are fighting against Corona today stems from the dedication and sacrifice of our medical workers 100 years ago. Fellow citizens, 100 years have passed, and our health care system has become world-class. Low-income families can receive medical treatment covered by health insurance at any time of less than 800,000 won per year, and the coverage rate for severely ill patients has risen to 80%. Our medical care is evaluated as the world’s best in the treatment of various cancers and strokes, including colorectal and gastric cancer, and is ranked at the top of the OECD in key indicators such as life expectancy, infant mortality, and cancer survival rates. This surprisingly advanced health care system and biopharmaceutical production capacity became the basis for K-Defense. 100 years have passed, but there is still something else. It is the heart of’embracing’ and’win-win’ that cares for and relies on each other. This is the power of our people that can overcome any crisis. We have overcome many crises and adversities with the power of the people, and we are still overcoming the corona crisis. The March 1 Independence Movement was initiated by ethnic leaders, but it was ordinary ordinary people who overcame all kinds of oppression and spread it into the national national independence movement. I think the spirit of the March 1 Independence Movement, which we have joined to overcome the national crisis, is alive and deep in the hearts of the people who wear masks every morning for their neighbors and practice social distancing. With the efforts of the people who have endured and sacrificed for their neighbors and the medical staff working in the quarantine ward even at this moment, the long fight against Corona is now coming to an end. A sufficient amount of vaccine and special syringe have been secured, and vaccination is proceeding smoothly as planned. The government will do its best to prevent quarantine until the end, and we will make every effort to get vaccinations until each and every citizen can be safe from coronavirus, and we will achieve collective immunization until November, the next winter. Transparency is the first principle that the government has consistently adhered to in corona prevention. The government has always transparently disclosed all information necessary for quarantine. The same goes for vaccination. We transparently disclose vaccination strategies and quantities, and vaccination plans and vaccination status, and always follow international standards. I urge the people to be wary of fake news that promotes distrust of vaccines and actively cooperate in vaccination. Fellow Koreans and Koreans overseas, In 1946, during the first March 1st ceremony after liberation, Mr. Jo Soang, a member of the Provisional Government’s State Council, said, “We make our compatriots free, give them political rights, and do not worry about food, clothing, shelter, and liberation. I will achieve this.” The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, as the founding ideology, has promulgated’Tricultureism’ that when we have our own strength, equal development between individuals and individuals, nations and nations, and nations and nations is possible. It was a simple but grand dream, and we have achieved amazing achievements on it. It has grown from the world’s poorest country to the world’s 10th largest economy, has become the world’s seventh largest export country, and has opened an era of per capita national income of $30,000. Our high-tech IT products, such as semiconductors, smartphones, and displays, are now the world’s largest market share. Following the world’s first commercialization of 5G, we are also leading eco-friendly future vehicles such as electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles. It is self-reliant in the materials, parts and equipment industries, and the growth rate of the system semiconductor and bio industries is also worth boasting. The rate of completion of higher education among Korean youth is also the highest among OECD countries. The potential of our people, who constantly learned and accumulated knowledge, was the driving force of economic growth. With the power of a mature democracy, we have made an example of quarantine and economy in the midst of the corona crisis, and are sharing the achievements and experiences of’K-Defense’ with the world. We are also expanding support to developing and vulnerable countries. We, who were blocked at the threshold of the’Paris Peace Conference’ 100 years ago, are now a proud country enough to be invited to the G7 Summit. With the participation of this year’s G7 Summit, we will make a definite milestone in which the’Leading Country, Republic of Korea’ starts on the basis of all the achievements in politics, economy, society and culture that we have achieved. We have grown in cooperation with the international community and will continue to recover and leap forward with the world in the future. 100 years ago, our ancestors declared here that the purpose of the Declaration of Independence was not to hate and reject Japan, but to achieve peace in the East and the world by correcting the relationship between countries, along with the cause of human equality. Movement has been declared. We have inherited the spirit of mutual benefit, equality and peace between countries from our ancestors 100 years ago. Now, 100 years later, we are once again saving on the importance of solidarity and cooperation, multilateralism, and the spirit of inclusion in the face of Corona. We have passed the era in which all mankind is unhappy with colonialism and war in a one-sided world order dominated by force. We have realized the importance of international solidarity and cooperation to maintain a global supply chain, and we have come to recognize that countries around the world must work together to develop vaccines early, and that vaccines must be shared equally with developing countries for global population immunization. Now, the world must revive the spirit of solidarity, cooperation and multilateralism for coexistence and new prosperity. In addition to overcoming the corona, we need to find solutions based on multilateralism to global problems such as responding to climate change. Now we have the capacity to lead the solidarity and cooperation based on multilateralism. In December of last year, we launched the’Northeast Asia Quarantine and Health Cooperation Body’ with the United States, China, Russia and Mongolia. Japan is also considering participation, and I look forward to North Korea as well. We will most actively cooperate with the participating countries. The cross-border spread of new infectious diseases such as Corona and livestock epidemics can be effectively countered only through multilateral cooperation beyond the level of one country. We will continue to strive for denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. We will develop inter-Korean relations based on the three principles of non-warfare, mutual security, and common prosperity. I hope that North Korea will cooperate and exchange with the countries in the region, starting with participation in the’Northeast Asia Quarantine and Health Cooperation Organization’ to protect the lives and safety of the people. It will be a force to open the waters of win-win and peace on the Korean Peninsula and East Asia. Fellow Koreans, there has been an unfortunate history between Japan and us. Today is the day to remember the most dramatic moment in that unfortunate history. We cannot forget its history. The perpetrator can forget, but the victim cannot. But now, 100 years later, Korea and Japan have become very important neighbors to each other in all fields, including economics, culture, and people-to-people exchange. Over the past decades, Korea and Japan have improved their competitiveness together based on a sort of division of labor, and the growth of Korea has helped Japan’s development, and the growth of Japan has helped Korea’s development. It will continue to be so in the future. The only hurdle we have to overcome is that, sometimes, by intermingling the problems of the past with the problems of the future, they interfere with future development. We must learn lessons by facing the history of the past. It is by no means a shame to learn lessons from past mistakes, but rather to be respected in the international community. Korea is striving to learn lessons by never forgetting the shameful history of its colonies and the painful history of fought wars of the same people. But you can’t be stuck in the past. We need to focus more on future-oriented development while solving the problems of the past according to the problems of the past. The Korean government will always seek wise solutions from the standpoint of victimism. We will do our best to restore the honor and dignity of our victims. However, we will not stop working for cooperation and future development between Korea and Japan. The cooperation between the two countries will be of help to both countries, stability and common prosperity in Northeast Asia, as well as trilateral cooperation between Korea, the United States, and Japan. Moreover, now is the time to overcome the corona crisis together and prepare for the post-corona era together. I would like to emphasize that there has never been a time when cooperation between neighboring countries has been as important as it is now. The March 1 Declaration of Independence proposed to Japan to bravely and wisely correct past mistakes and to create a friendly new relationship based on true understanding. Our minds haven’t changed then or now. Our government is always ready to sit down and have a conversation with the Japanese government. We are confident that we will be able to wisely solve the problems of the past if we go head-to-head in the posture of the reverse branch. Both Korea and Japan are walking together looking at the past and the future at the same time. The Tokyo Olympics, which will be held this year, may be an opportunity for dialogue between Korea and Japan, between South and North Korea, between North Korea and Japan, and between North and South America. Korea will work together to successfully host the Tokyo Olympics. Furthermore, I hope that both Korea and Japan will be able to recover the economy hit by the corona and create a new order in the post-corona era through stronger cooperation. Fellow citizens, members of the independence merit and the bereaved families, there are only twenty-four surviving merit of independence by our side. All over ninety. Independence merit are those who have embraced the fate of the nation with their whole bodies, and it is the limitless responsibility of the state to give the independence merit to an honorable and comfortable life. Last year, the government operated a special task force for in-home welfare services for people of merit. We delivered corona emergency relief supplies to 44,000 households, including independence merit and bereaved families, and carried people with disabilities to hospitals. We provided quarantine supplies such as masks to foreign contributors and their descendants. From this month onwards, the government is planning to implement the’Oriental Medicine Doctor’s System, where people of merit of independence visit their homes. From December, we plan to provide’autonomous driving smart wheelchairs’ to people of national merit, including those of national merit, and to start developing’artificial retina’ and’smart hearing aids’ in earnest. The government has improved the screening criteria for people of merit for independence and has been discovering and rewarding those of merit at the highest level ever. We will increase the number of awards by strengthening the collection of materials for the independence movement and further improving the standards for public evaluation. The students who played the leading role in the March 1 Independence Movement continued the spirit of the March 1 Independence Movement through the June 10 National Movement in 1926 and the Gwangju Student Independence Movement in 1929. The government designated the June 10th Movement as a national anniversary last year, and from this year the ceremony will be held as an event organized by the government. The March 1 Independence Movement, the Gwangju Student Independence Movement, and the’Three Great Independence Movements’ all become national anniversary and are very meaningful. The National Temporary Government of Korea Memorial Hall is finally open on November 23, this year, the day of the transition to Korea. From the armed struggles that risked their lives, the desperate diplomatic wars, the left-right cooperation of the Liberation Army finally achieved, and the preparation for the domestic vacuum operation, we will vividly revive the great long campaign of the Korean Provisional Government for 27 years. I hope that the history of our independence movement will become a great pride and pride for future generations. Fellow Koreans, overseas compatriots, Our 100 years since the March 1 Independence Movement is the 100 years of overcoming colonialism, division and war, poverty and dictatorship. It is 100 years of progress toward freedom and peace, justice and humanitarianism, which are the universal values of mankind. We are now pioneering new paths with the spirit of the March 1 Independence Movement and the power of democracy, inclusion and innovation, and the world is paying attention to our steps. We will restore our precious daily life through solidarity and cooperation. We will become a country that leads the international order with the spirit of humanitarian and multilateralism, win-win and inclusiveness. Here in Tapgol Park, the spirit of the ancestors who made a reversal of history amidst crises and adversities is alive, and we will continue to remember the ancestors. Together we are stronger. I will jump higher. Thank you. Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea on March 1, 2021
