Children’s Day and the Youth Movement

Also called: Children’s Movement

Bang Jeong-hwan, the Cheondogyo Youth Association and the Saekdonghoe campaigned to treat children as full persons. On 1 May 1923 the Joseon Youth Movement Association held a Children’s Day ceremony, and the magazine "Eorini" was launched.

Children were seen as appendages of adults, and many worked instead of going to school. Bang Jeong-hwan, a follower of Cheondogyo’s teaching that "man is heaven", founded the Cheondogyo Youth Association in 1921 and promoted the word "eorini" ("young person", like "neulgeuni" and "jeolmeuni") to respect children as persons. The association held the first Children’s Day on 1 May 1922.

In March 1923 Bang formed the children’s culture society Saekdonghoe with students in Tokyo and launched the magazine "Eorini". On 1 May that year the Joseon Youth Movement Association, uniting various youth groups, held a Children’s Day ceremony and issued a declaration calling for children to be "freed from traditional ethical oppression and accorded full respect as persons".

The movement spread children’s stories and songs and education. Japanese repression halted Children’s Day events around the start of the Sino-Japanese War, and after liberation Children’s Day was set on 5 May.