March 1st Declaration of Independence Monument

At around 2pm on the 1st day of March 1919, national leaders including Son Byeong-Hui got together in Taehwagwan to open an independence declaration ceremony as a starting point of igniting a nationwide independence movement. Dedicated to honor the spirit of independence, the Monument of March First Movements Declaration was at first set up on August 15, 1963, in Pagoda Park, the very place where the monument was launched by the Peoples Coalition for National Recontruction Movement with a donation and support from the people. However, the monument had been neglected for 12 years since it was taken down during the reconstruction of the park in 1979. Many people started to voice out the necessity to restore the monument, so eventually it was rebuilt in 1922 in Seodaemun Independence Park, a site of anti-Japanese independence movement.
On the back of the monument of 4.2 meters high are engraved the independence declaration and the names of 33 national representatives who led the March First Movement.