Changwon Special City Holds Ceremony to Commemorate the March 15th Uprising Anniversary

The Theme of "Creating a Brilliant Great Spring"

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam held a commemorative ceremony on the 15th at the 3·15 Art Center under the theme "Created a Brilliant Great Spring" to mark the 64th anniversary of the March 15th Movement, hosted by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

As a preliminary event, 16 key figures including the Prime Minister, the Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, leaders of the 3·15 organizations, and student representatives first paid respects at the National 3·15 Democratic Cemetery, then moved to the 3·15 Art Center where about 700 people including 3·15 merit recipients, their families, and middle and high school students attended the commemorative ceremony.

Changwon Special City held a commemorative ceremony on the 15th at the 3·15 Art Center to mark the anniversary of the March 15th Movement.

The March 15th Movement was an incident in 1960 where students and citizens in Masan protested against the fraudulent election by the Syngman Rhee Liberal Party regime. During the protest on that day, student Kim Ju-yeol went missing and was found dead on April 11 in the sea in front of Masan Central Pier with a tear gas canister lodged in his eye. This discovery sparked large-scale protests by enraged citizens and became a catalyst for the April 19th Revolution.

Designated as a government commemorative day on March 12, 2010, the March 15th Movement is recognized as the first bloody democratic movement in modern history, and since the 51st anniversary in 2011, the commemorative ceremony has been held under government auspices.

The city is constructing the Hall of Democracy in the 3·15 Marine Nuri Park area in Masanhappo-gu to commemorate the March 15th Movement and other democratization movements that occurred in the region and to inherit and develop their spirit, aiming for completion this year.

In his commemorative speech, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said, "On the occasion of the 64th anniversary of the March 15th Movement, I express my gratitude to the merit recipients and their families. We must carry on the spirit of the March 15th Movement, which laid the foundation for the development of democracy in the Republic of Korea, and realize a more mature democracy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.