On 1 March, 1919, the nation-wide March 1st Movement that erupted in Korea signifies the arrival of this climax. However, the March 1st movement was violently suppressed by Japanese imperialists and failed in the end. The main reasons for its failure are…Secondly, Korean nationalists fantasized that they could "beg" for Korean independence from the United States and the Paris Peace Conference, instead of relying on the Korean people to achieve independence with violence. After the failure of the March 1st movement, Korean patriots could not begin anti-Japanese struggles, and therefore went into exile overseas in great numbers.
In hard times they piteously beg help from relatives and friends, borrowing a few tou or sheng of grain to last them a few days, and their debts pile up like loads on the backs of oxen.
The utterly destitute, comprising 20 per cent, are the completely dispossessed, that is, people who have neither land nor money, are without any means of livelihood, and are forced to leave home and become mercenaries or hired labourers or wandering beggars.