When independence came on August 15th, 1945, it wasn't a new idea.
Korean patriots had been crying out for it for decades, starting with the first Japanese encroachments on the Peninsula.
But those voices were ignored, and it took Japan's defeat in a world war to bring the Korean cause to the world's attention.
Oh Soo-young has this report.
In the decades before it finally gained independence, Korea's fervent cries for liberation mostly went unheard by the international community.
Before Japan annexed the country,... Korean emperor Gojong in 1907 sent envoys to an international peace conference in the Hague,... in an attempt to stall Japan's invasive actions.
However, they were shunned by foreign dignitaries, who were mostly colonial powers themselves.
The U.S., Great Britain and Russia had, in fact, struck up agreements with Japan, which supported its grounds to later force Gojong out of power,... and begin its oppressive military rule of Korea in 1910.
Despite brutal crackdowns on dissent,... resistance groups sprung up not only in Korea -- but also in nearby Manchuria, China, Hawaii and as far away as Mexico,... with the height of the independence movement coming after World War One.
Although Korea's attempt to speak out to the global community was once again ignored at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference,... Korean students in Japan drafted the country's declaration of independence in February that year.
In less than a month, the March 1st movement broke out,... with an estimated 2 million taking to the streets in non-violent protests across Korea.
Japanese authorities responded by killing 75-hundred,... and arresting 47-thousand.
But the spirit of the movement lived on, with activists forming a provisional government in China and an independence army,... until Japan's defeat in World War Two ended its rule over Korea.

"The tireless efforts of the Korean people in their fight for independence had led up to this moment,... and it was through these efforts that the Cairo Conference in 1943,... a meeting of Allied nations,... called for Korea to be free and independent,... finally recognizing Japan's occupation as enslavement."

A victorious day, but was it true liberation?
Koreans would once again find themselves under the control of foreign powers,... and face division into South and North Korea,... following the 1950 to 53 war on the peninsula.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.