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A portrait of Yu Gwan-sun at Yu Memorial Hall in Cheonan

The US state of New York reportedly plans to institute an official day in honor of Korean independence activist Yu Gwan-sun (1902–1920) for the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, for which Yu was one of the key organizers.

The New York State Legislature plans to adopt a resolution to institute “Yu Gwan-sun Day” in a Jan. 14 joint meeting of its upper and lower houses, the Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY) was quoted as saying in a Yonhap News report.

Individual motions are to be raised in the Senate by Senators Toby Ann Stavisky and John Liu and in the Assembly by Assemblymen Edward Braunstein and Korean-American Ron Kim, who was elected to a fourth term in the midterms last November. All are Democrats. If the resolutions are adopted, New York State will designate Mar. 1 of each year as “Yu Gwan-sun Day” as of 2019.

During discussions on the resolution, active requests were made by KAAGNY and Korean-American community in general.

“This could be seen as indicating New York’s support for the historical meaning of the March 1 Movement at the state level,” KAAGNY told Yonhap News.

The association also announced plans for “efforts within the Korean-American community to recall the meaning of the March 1 movement for its 100th anniversary.” KAAGNY previously announced plans for a special event on Mar. 1 to recreate the independence movement in Manhattan.

In Mar. 2018, the New York Times provided a detailed account of Yu Gwan-sun’s life and its significance in a series entitled “Overlooked No More,” which spotlights women who had made historical achievements but for whom the newspaper had not published obituaries.

By Cho Il-joon, staff reporter

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