미국 남장로회 전주 선교지부와 3․1운동

Abstract

Jeonju Mission Station in Korea Mission of the Presbyterian Church in the United States(PCUS) played an important in the March 1st Movement in Jeonju. Especially Seomun Church, Sinheung School for Boys, and Gijeon School of Girls served as an center of the movement. Seomun Church's young members formed a secret meeting under the leadership of Kim In-jeon, the pastor of the church. In the case of Sinheung School for Boys, students who actively accepted the suggestion of the vice principal and his fellow teachers organized a secret society. In Gijeon School of Girls, a secret band of 13 graduates and students was organized under the leadership of Yim Young-shin. The three groups were brought together to prepare the works necessary for movement, such as the copying of the Declaration of Independence, the making of the Taegeukgi(Korean national flag) and the decision of the D-day. Most Christians who were arrested and tried during the demonstration in Jeonju were students at Sinheung School for Boys and Gijeon School of Girls, who also fought in court. They argued that the rule of Japan was against God's justice and that the independence of the Korea was God's will. According to them, it was unfair to judge the protestors for the independence of the Korean people by the security law. They did not show a sharp perception of the mechanism of Japanese imperialism combined with the emperor system and the dangers of racism, but they showed a kind of Christian nationalism.