Independence Hall Conducts Academic Survey of Independence Movement Historic Sites in Mexico and Cuba Regions

Intensive Investigation of Regional Chapters of the North American Korean National Assembly

The building used as the local hall of the Korean National Association in Merida, Mexico, during the 1910s.

The Independence Hall of Korea will conduct an academic survey of independence movement historical sites targeting the Mexico and Cuba regions starting from the 23rd.

Since 2002, the Independence Hall of Korea has been carrying out an academic survey project annually aimed at discovering and investigating Korean independence movement historical sites scattered around the world. The Mexico and Cuba regions were previously surveyed in 2003, 2005, and 2015.

Notably, this year holds great significance as it marks the inaugural year of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and Cuba, and also approaches the 120th anniversary of Korean migration to Mexico in 2025.

The history of Korean migration to these regions began in 1905 when about 1,000 Koreans migrated to Mexico. At that time, the Koreans were dispersed across more than 20 Eneken plantations and were subjected to harsh labor conditions for four years.

After their labor contracts ended in 1921, around 300 Koreans in Mexico migrated to sugarcane plantations in Cuba seeking better lives. However, due to the collapse of international sugar prices following World War I, they lost their jobs and had to work again at the Eneken plantations in the Yucatan area of Mexico.

At that time, the Japanese consulate pressured the Korean residents to register as Japanese overseas nationals, but they refused and instead established local branches of the Korean National Association in North America throughout Mexico and Cuba. Each local branch served as a leadership organization for the Korean independence movement, worked to guarantee the identity and protect the rights of the Korean residents, and firmly declared their status as citizens of the Republic of Korea.

This academic survey will focus on tracing the footprints of Koreans scattered across Mexico and Cuba and investigating the current status of places related to their overall lives.

Additionally, the survey plans to investigate the local branches of the Korean National Association in North America that protected the lives and property of the Korean residents and carried out independence activities, key figures, ethnic culture, and sites of Korean language schools that played a role in inheriting the spirit of independence, thereby newly organizing the status of Korean independence movement historical sites in the Mexico and Cuba regions.

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