Kim Il Sung, just six-years old, watched as thousands of protestors screamed: “Long live the independence of Korea!” Caught up in the excitement of the March 1, 1919 rally, the young boy ran barefoot after the group, straw sandals in hand—anxious to keep up. As the throngs reached Potong Gate in western Pyongyang, shots rang out. Japanese forces charged the protestors with unforgiving bloodshed. Innocents died.
Seventy years later, the North Korean leader remembered that moment vividly: “…the demonstrators resisted the enemy fearlessly, becoming human weapons…This was the first time I saw one man killing another.”
Kim Il Sung, just six-years old, watched as thousands of protestors screamed: “Long live the independence of Korea!” Caught up in the excitement of the March 1, 1919 rally, the young boy ran barefoot after the group, straw sandals in hand—anxious to keep up. As the throngs reached Potong Gate in western Pyongyang, shots rang out. Japanese forces charged the protestors with unforgiving bloodshed. Innocents died.
Seventy years later, the North Korean leader remembered that moment vividly: “…the demonstrators resisted the enemy fearlessly, becoming human weapons…This was the first time I saw one man killing another.”
Brandon K. Gauthier, M.A. graduated from Elon University in 2006, and is presently a PhD candidate in American history at Fordham University. Specializing in U.S. diplomatic history, he is at work on a dissertation examining the intellectual history of U.S. foreign relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from 1948 to 1995. He is a monthly contributor to NKnews.