Soon after, the government declared martial law, suspending basic civil liberties (such as freedom of speech) and silencing its critics for nearly four decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Taiwan democratized in the 1990s, the date became a national holiday in commemoration of<\/strong> the victims. Many memorials<\/strong> and parks around Taiwan are now dedicated to<\/strong> this incident<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019 plans at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A day later is South Korea\u2019s March 1st Independence Movement Day. In 1919, activists in Seoul launched a resistance movement against Japanese colonial rule<\/a> (1910-1945) on this day. Protests spread around the Korean peninsula and were, like in Taiwan\u2019s case, also brutally put down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, while the movement didn\u2019t immediately lead to independence, it successfully pressured the Japanese government into relaxing its grip on its colonies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Korea\u2019s independence, March 1st became a national holiday. Many parts of the country have built memorials and host events in its honor<\/strong>. In the video below, you can see the country's celebration of the 100th year anniversary of the movement in Seoul:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.blog.engoo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/02\/23021639\/image2-1-1024x683.jpg\")
South Korea: March 1st Independence Movement Day<\/h2>\n\n\n\n