Gwangbokjeol

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Bardise Muhammad

Photos = Bardise Muhammad

What is this Taegeukgi toy doing?

It's celebrating Korean Independence Day,  or Gwangbokjeol, where Korean people raise their flags to celebrate the day their freedom and independence was restored on Aug. 15, 1945.

In honor of this day, this Taegeukgi toy was made with its very own Taegeukgi Gawngbokjeol to celebrate this memorable day with the Korean people.

Of what does the Taegeukgi consist?

It consists of a white background, a color that has always been favored by the Korean people. The Korean people were called the "white-clad people" (백의 민족, baekui minjok) because of the way in which they love and use the color white.

In the centre of the flag, you can find the shape of Taegeuk in red and blue. The black bars are called geon (건), gon (곤), gam (감) and yi (리).

The Taegeukgi toy will teach you eight facts about Gwangbokjeol!

1. Korean Independence Day is celebrated annually in Korea on Aug. 15 and it's a public holiday.

2. Korean Independence Day is called Gwangbokjeol (광복절), which means "the day the light returned." The words gwang (광), bok (복) and jeol (절) mean "light," "restoration" and "holiday," respectively.

3. It's called the National Liberation Day of Korea or Korean Liberation Day, as well as Korean Independence Day.

4. On this day, the Korean flag can be seen hung on streetlights and public buildings. Also, the Korean flag can be seen hung from windows of flats around the country.

5. To learn more about this day, you can visit the Independence Hall of Korea (독립 기념관) in Cheonan or the Seodaemun Prison History Hall (서대문 형무소 역사관) in Seoul where the Korean independence fighters were imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese colonists.

6. The Korean government issues special pardons to prisoners on Gwangbokjeol every year.

7. Korea was liberated from Imperial Japanese colonial rule in 1945 and the Republic of Korea was established on the same day three years later, Aug. 15, 1948.

8. Yu Gwan-Sun (1902-1920) and Kim Gu (1876-1949) were two of the thousands or millions of Koreans who did their best to restore Korea's independence, and who are respected and admired by all Korean people.

Fun Fact:

Did you know that on Aug. 15 there are other countries that celebrate their independence as well?

1) Bahrain is an Arab country that declared its independence from Britain on Aug. 15, 1971.
2) India declared its independence from the U.K. on Aug. 15, 1947.

I wish everyone around the globe a very happy Independence Day. If you're in Korea don't forget to celebrate. Happy Gwangbokjeol!

wisdom117@korea.kr

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