Mapo Tram Terminus March 1st Movement Protest Site

About this place

The Mapo Tram Terminus refers to the section from the current Mapo Station on Seoul Subway Line 5 to the approach of Mapo Bridge. It was the terminus of trams that ran through central Seoul from the Japanese colonial period until the late 1960s. This site is historically important as the location where, on the evening of March 1, 1919 at around 8 PM, approximately 1,000 people gathered to protest for independence as part of the March 1st Movement. On March 1, 1919, the independence declaration ceremony was held at Taehwagwan, and at 2 PM the Declaration of Independence was read at Tapgol Park's octagonal pavilion as thousands of students marched. The marchers passed Jongno, Gwanggyo, and Seoul City Hall before gathering here at the Mapo Tram Terminus at around 8 PM to again cry out for independence. The protests continued until around 11 PM near Yonhui College, entirely peaceful and nonviolent. Today a monument and historical site remain to commemorate the historical significance of the March 1st Movement.