Upcoming: Historical Holidays in Taiwan and South Korea this Weekend

Both Taiwan and South Korea have important historical holidays coming up this weekend.

What do they mean to our students? What vocabulary (bolded) would be interesting for them to learn? And what questions might we ask — or avoid asking?

Taiwan: February 28th Peace Memorial Holiday

First up is Taiwan’s February 28th Peace Memorial Holiday. On this day in 1947, locals in Taipei began protesting against the new national government. Protests spread around much of the island and were brutally put down. 

Soon after, the government declared martial law, suspending basic civil liberties (such as freedom of speech) and silencing its critics for nearly four decades.

After Taiwan democratized in the 1990s, the date became a national holiday in commemoration of the victims. Many memorials and parks around Taiwan are now dedicated to this incident.

As this can be a sensitive topic, you'll want to avoid mentioning it unless you are particularly close with a student or your student brings it up themself. However, the holiday usually results in a long weekend, so you can ask about your students’ plans at least.

South Korea: March 1st Independence Movement Day

A day later is South Korea’s March 1st Independence Movement Day. In 1919, activists in Seoul launched a resistance movement against Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) on this day. Protests spread around the Korean peninsula and were, like in Taiwan’s case, also brutally put down. 

However, while the movement didn’t immediately lead to independence, it successfully pressured the Japanese government into relaxing its grip on its colonies. 

After Korea’s independence, March 1st became a national holiday. Many parts of the country have built memorials and host events in its honor. In the video below, you can see the country's celebration of the 100th year anniversary of the movement in Seoul:

Korea’s colonial history is also a sensitive topic, so you won’t want to bring it up with most of your students, but what you can bring up is how they plan to spend their time off.

👋 That’s it for now!

We hope this gave you insights into some of our students’ national histories. However, as interesting as they may be, we’d recommend you focus on uncontroversial aspects of the holidays with your students.

• I heard that February 28th (or March 1st) is a day off. Do you have any plans for this day? 
• Does your city host any events on February 28th (or March 1st)?
• What memorials or parks in your city are dedicated to the February 28th Incident (or the March 1st Independence Movement)?

If students would like to share more about the history, allow them to do so, but make sure you don’t prompt them. Happy tutoring!