Mapo Streetcar Terminal March 1st Independence Movement Protest Site

Mapo Streetcar Terminal refers to the area from the current Seoul Subway Line 5 Mapo Station to the entrance of Mapo Bridge. It was the location of the terminal for streetcars that ran between central Seoul from the Japanese colonial period until the late 1960s. This site is historically significant as the March 1st Independence Movement protest site where about 1,000 people gathered at around 8 PM on March 1, 1919, to hold an independence demonstration.

On March 1, 1919, the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed at Taehwagwan, and at 2 PM, the declaration was read at the octagonal pavilion in Tapgol Park, followed by thousands of students marching and shouting for Korean independence. The procession passed through Jongno, Gwanggyo, in front of City Hall, and Namdaemun, and around sunset at 8 PM, they gathered at this Mapo Streetcar Terminal to once again loudly shout for independence. Near Yonhui College, the protest march continued without dispersing until around 11 PM. This is a place where the Korean people expressed their will for independence peacefully and nonviolently, without a single riot occurring.