Commonly referred to as the Samil Movement (literally "three one") for its historical date on March 1, 1919, the Korean Independence Movement was one of the earliest and most significant displays of nonviolent demonstration against Japanese rule in Korea.

The Records of the Korean Independence Outbreak, currently forming part of the archives in The Burke Library, were sent from Shanghai to Charles Fahs, the librarian of the former Mission Research Library in New York, by Korean Independence leaders in exile during 1919.

The typescript reports here describe events in March/April 1919 and are accompanied by a pamphlet with rare and sometimes disturbing black and white photographs illustrating the events.

Japanese NHK, the Japanese PBS TV company, took the initiative in requesting information from and about these records for inclusion in a documentary series to be broadcast in Japan in 2010. As a result it was decided to create this online exhibition of all the papers, historically important for Korean history, to ensure worldwide availability.

An online finding aid to the archival collection at the Burke Library is available from:

http://clio.cul.columbia.edu:7018/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=6354208

Click on the links below to page through higher resolution images and view/download a PDF file of the pamphlet and typescript report.

Pamphlet:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_7705012_000/

Typescript report:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_7703837_000/