The Gwangju Student Independence Movement (Korean: 광주 학생 독립 운동; Hanja: 光州學生獨立運動), or Gwangju Student Movement, was a protest in Gwangju between October and November 1929 against the Japanese occupation of Korea. It is considered the second-most important Korean independence movement in the period of the Japanese Occupation of Korea, with the March 1st Movement considered the most important rebellion.

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It has been suggested that this article be merged with Gwangju Students Movement. (Discuss) Proposed since February 2024.

Shortly after the March 1st Movement, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established which fostered the independence until liberation from Japan was achieved on .^[1] Soon, on 1920, the provisional government led Battle of Qingshanli which is regarded as one of the most successful battles against the Japanese Empire in the independence history of Korea.^[2] As a result, the Japan Empire and Japanese General Government responded to this with cruel suppression thus the independence movement faced stalemate. However, as the new clandestine organization for the independence called the Singanhoe was formed in 1927, the independent movement became much more active with clandestine activities. Also, as the Singanhoe embraced various political spectrum in Korea, they could gain much more power to struggle against Japan.

While the movement was becoming intense, Seokchun Jang, the head of the Gwangju branch of New People's Association, arrived Seoul to report what happened in Gwangju to leaders of New People's Association. From the two conferences he held, he insisted that this movement should become a nationwide struggle for independence. Soon this idea got accepted, and New People's Association began to prepare for demonstrations in Seoul and other major cities. Even though most leaders in Seoul got arrested by the police before their protests, a few schools continued to have demonstrations. This led to the participation from other major political leaders such as Cho Byeong-ok, Han Yong-un, and Song Jin-woo. Eventually, the number of schools that participated reached 323.

The first student movement arisen on November 3, 1929, developed into a nationwide anti-Japanese movement, and lasted about 5 months. Focusing on students, about 54,000 people engaged in this movement. It spread and affected the rally and protests abroad such as in Manchuria, Kando, Kirn, Shanghai, Beijing of China, Japan and USA. After this, the spirit of the student independence movement succeeded to the secret society movement, resistance movement about oppressive draft, the grain exploitation in 1940s, and the second student independence movement in May, 1943, etc. Like this, the Gwangju student independence movement was the opportunity which identified that the students was the inner circle members of the independence movement and the trigger of the national liberation enhancement in the stagnant atmosphere of labor/peasant movement at the end of the 1920s. For these reasons, the Gwangju independence movement is evaluated as one of the most representative ethnic movements equivalent to the March 1st Movement against the imperialism of Japan. ^[4]

Although their protests resulted in the severe repression from the Japanese government, those efforts students made not only encouraged national independence movement, but also became the predecessor of student movements.^[5] Sim Hun, the Korean novelist, wrote a collection of poetry Kunali Omyeon (그날이 오면, If that day comes) to commemorate a student independence movement in Gwangju in 1930.^[6] In 1953, the National Assembly of South Korea announced the establishment of the Students' Day (학생의 날) to celebrate students' efforts on every November 3. Later, in 2006, this name soon changed into Student Independence Movement Day (학생독립운동 기념일).