From the Editor – March 2025

Weather folklore has it that “March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb,” meaning that the harsher, frosty temperatures of early March give way to the gentler, milder mercury levels of the end of the month. As March begins, the Gwangju News is “roaring” to bring you a varietyof articles for you to experience the warm and pleasant reading satisfaction that a lamb might evoke.

A loud roar of the Korean populace went out on March 1st of 1919 in protest of their occupying colonial power. Starting in Seoul, the movement spread throughout the nation. In the intervening century, protests have not disappeared. They have continued to influence today’s demonstrations in their essence but now differ in several distinct ways. In this issue, we bring you two articles linking present-day protests to the March 1st Movement and other historical instances of civil disobedience – one is by a Korean researcher, the other by a younger international resident.

As spring opens its leaf and flower buds onto us, locales throughout the province begin to open their gates with festivals of all sorts. Peruse our feature on spring and summer festivals to plan your upcoming weekend adventures. In an additional article, we focus on one of these fetes – the mid-March Gwangyang Maehwa Festival. Read this article and plan your visit to the plum blossoms before their peak season is over.

What is UNESCO doing these days? Read how one of its “bootcamps” has gifted one Korean attendee with “the power to change the world”! Read also how university life in Gwangju has impacted one Filipina exchange student.

The vast majority of our readers are related in some way to teaching and/or learning languages. If you’re considering gauging your Korean proficiency, prepare with tips from our article on the TOPIK test. If you’re a language teacher and wondering how best to handle your classes of students with differing proficiencies, dip into our article on grouping students with varying ability levels.

Check out our Environment article on the new citywide waste management plan. Learn about two important figures of the last century from the Gwangju-Jeonnam area. Experience the fun of going to away soccer games, and read our monthly sports round-up.

And of course, we have more for your March reading enjoyment.