February 28 Democratic Movement

Overview

The February 28 Democratic Movement (February 28 Daegu Student Protest) was a protest in which high school students in Daegu rose up on March 15, 1960, ahead of the presidential and vice presidential elections, opposing the government's and the Liberal Party's interference in the election. Because it was a protest organized by students themselves rather than a government-mobilized demonstration, it is regarded as the beginning of the student movement that led to the March 15 Protest and the April 19 Revolution.

Background

One month before the election, the Gyeongbuk provincial committee of the Liberal Party called in the heads of agencies and school principals in Daegu on February 10 and gave them instructions. According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, the instructions were to mobilize one person from each household for the Liberal Party rally on Saturday, February 27; to continue workplace and neighborhood-office events until the end of the Sunday, February 28, rally of Democratic Party vice presidential candidate Chang Myon; and, in particular, to have high school students attend school on Sunday so that they would not be able to go to the Democratic Party rally.

Accordingly, high schools in Daegu had their students come to school on Sunday, February 28. Gyeongbuk High School cited final examinations, Daegu High School cited a rabbit hunt, Gyeongbuk Teachers' College Affiliated High School cited a temporary class, and Daegu Commercial High School and Daegu Girls' High School cited a farewell party for graduates, all of which were improvised pretexts. As students' dissatisfaction grew, on the night of February 27 the executives of the student national defense corps (Hakdo Hoguk-dan) of Gyeongbuk High School, Daegu High School, and Gyeongbuk Teachers' College Affiliated High School gathered and resolved to stage a protest against the order to attend school.

Course of Events

At midday on February 28, Lee Dae-woo, vice chairman of the student council of Gyeongbuk High School, read a resolution from the platform at the schoolyard assembly. The time of the reading is given as 12:50 p.m. in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture and 12:55 p.m. in reports by the Maeil Shinmun, which also reports that the students rushed out through the school gate at 1:05 p.m. About 800 Gyeongbuk High School students shouted slogans such as "Give us freedom in education" and "Do not turn education into a political tool," and marched past Banwoldang intersection toward the Gyeongbuk Provincial Office (now Gyeongsang Gamyeong Park) in Pojeong-dong, Jung-gu.

Soon, students from other schools, including Daegu High School, Gyeongbuk Girls' High School, Gyeongbuk Teachers' College Affiliated High School, and Daegu Commercial High School, also came out into the streets. The encyclopedia puts the number of high school students who took part in the protest at more than 1,500. The students clashed with police as they reached the provincial office and continued the protest until about 3:00 p.m.