sol.ace_r

March First Independence Movement Day is commonly called a day that commemorates independence.
Whether the choice made that day was right, and whether there were other possibilities, has long been debated and revisited.

Independence was declared, yet it was not realized immediately.

Then what is it that we commemorate.
A history already achieved, or the moment of choosing despite knowing it might fail.

On March 1, 1919, those who stepped out into the streets did not move because they were unaware of the situation.
They understood the danger of speaking, and the safety of remaining silent.
Nevertheless, the choice of that day did not tilt toward silence.

Then which was the more human choice: the life one could preserve by not speaking, or the life one might lose by speaking.

As March First passes, we hang the Taegeukgi.
Yet what the flag symbolizes is less a nation itself than the weight of the imperfect choice people had to bear that day.
Before the nation, there were the choices each individual had to endure.

Toward whom was the cry of “Manse” directed that day.
Was it aimed at external oppression, or was it a shout meant to overcome one’s own fear.

Today we stand on different conditions.
We live in a time when speaking does not immediately bring danger.
And so we more easily choose silence.

To avoid discomfort, to preserve relationships, to prevent trouble.
There are many reasons, and silence appears rational.

Is every silence truly unavoidable.
Is every avoidance truly a neutral choice.
Is saying nothing really a state of having chosen nothing at all.

The weight of speaking and the weight of remaining silent still vary depending on the circumstances.
They do not tell us which choice was right.
They simply lead us, as the day passes, to reflect on the silences to which we have grown accustomed.

Am I, even now, remaining silent though I am able to speak.
Am I choosing silence even when there is no danger.

If you had been there that day, what choice would you have made.
And today, what choice are you making.