Shinan-gun Reexamines Island Farmers' Movement Resisting Colonial Exploitation During Japanese Occupation

Academic Conference Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Amtaedo Tenant Farmers' Dispute

Shinan-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Park Woo-ryang) will hold the "100th Anniversary Commemorative Academic Conference on the Amtaedo Tenant Dispute" on the 5th of next month at the National Assembly Library Auditorium to mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Amtaedo Tenant Dispute.

According to the county on the 26th, this academic conference is hosted by Shinan-gun and organized by the Shinan-gun Farmers' Movement Memorial Association.

The Amtaedo Tenant Dispute, which occurred in 1923, was an anti-Japanese peasant movement against the Japanese colonial government's rice production increase plan and low-price policy.

In the 1920s, when securing war supplies, especially food resources, was urgent, Japan promoted the rice production increase plan to make Korea a food supply base, and implemented a low-price policy to exploit large quantities of rice at cheap prices to Japan.

Poster for the 100th Anniversary Academic Conference on the Incineration Dispute of Amtaedo, Sinan-gun
Photo by Sinan-gun

As a result, the income of pro-Japanese landlords decreased, and the rent, which had been 40%, was raised to 80%.

The islanders of Amtaedo, including the Amtae Youth Association and Amtae Women's Association, organized the Amtaedo Tenants' Association and carried out the anti-Japanese peasant movement "Amtaedo Tenant Dispute" against the Japanese colonial government and pro-Japanese landlords.

This was the first victorious peasant movement against colonial exploitation, and the small flame that started on the island spread like wildfire, expanding tenant disputes across the country.

At this academic conference commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Amtaedo Tenant Dispute, the historical significance of the Amtaedo Tenant Dispute, its influence on the democratization movement after liberation, and its meaning today will be reexamined, shedding light on the lives and times of the Amtaedo peasants 100 years ago.

Following the keynote speech by former Ambassador to Japan Kang Chang-il, the conference will feature presentations including △ What the novel "Amtaedo" hopes for us in the 21st century by Professor Jeong Myeong-jung of Chonnam National University △ The independence movement in the 1920s and the Amtaedo Tenant Dispute by Shin Ju-baek, former director of the Korean Independence Movement Research Institute at the Independence Hall △ Evaluation of the contribution of the Amtaedo Tenant Dispute to Korean democratization by Professor Kim Jun-hyuk of Hanshin University △ Socioeconomic background of the farmers' movement in Shinan-gun in the early 19th to 20th centuries by Professor Choi Ju-hee of Duksung Women's University.

The comprehensive discussion will be chaired by Hwang Seon-yeol, director of the Humanities Research Institute Munsimwon, with participation from Park Cheon-woo, chairman of the Memorial Association, Professor Park Beom of Kongju National University, poet Kim Myung-seop, and Professor Choi Hyun-joo of Suncheon National University.

Governor Park Woo-ryang said, "The Amtaedo Tenant Dispute, which achieved victory against Japanese colonial exploitation and pro-Japanese landlords in 1923, is an indispensable part of the history of the Republic of Korea and a record of the farmers," and added, "We ask for much interest and participation in the 100th Anniversary Commemorative Academic Conference on the Amtaedo Tenant Dispute."

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