Feb. 5 (UPI) -- South Korean politicians across the spectrum are seeking to elevate the posthumous status of Yu Gwan-sun, the Korean independence activist who died in prison when she was 17.
Ahead of the 100th anniversary of Korea's March First Movement, when ordinary people protested Japanese rule on March 1, 1919, South Korean lawmakers are pushing for legislation that will raise Yu's order of independence merit to a higher rank, News 1 reported Tuesday.
Yu was recognized with a "third grade" status in the order but conservatives and progressives agree the rank is low, relative to the significance of her activism and struggles under Japanese occupation.
Yu was a teenage schoolgirl when Koreans took to the streets in peaceful protest, demanding the Japanese leave the peninsula. Yu took part in the protests and distributed independence declarations in her hometown before she was arrested by Japanese military police.
Yu was imprisoned and was tortured for her continued support for Korean independence.
"Even if my fingernails are torn out, my nose and ears are ripped apart, and my legs and arms are crushed, this physical pain does not compare to the pain of losing my nation," she had written in prison, according to The New York Times.
Park Wan-joo, a lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party, introduced a bill calling for Yu's change of status to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March First Movement.
Lee Myeong-su, a lawmaker with the opposition Liberty Korea Party, motioned to adopt a resolution on changing Yu's posthumous order to first grade or rank, according to News 1.
More than 7,000 people died during the March First Movement and 46,000 were imprisoned, according to South Korean historians.