# Singanhoe founded (15 February 1927)

URL: https://allhistories.com/south-korea/timeline/1927-singanhoe-founded
Location: Keijō, Japanese Korea
Themes: Politics

On 15 February 1927 the Singanhoe (New Shoot Society) was founded in Seoul as a legal organization uniting moderate nationalists and socialists. Its first president was the journalist Yi Sang-jae. The Singanhoe called for political and economic awakening, national solidarity and rejection of any accommodation with colonial rule. It opposed discrimination against Koreans and the Oriental Development Company, and supported freedom of speech and assembly and the women's movement. A sister organization for women, the Geunuhoe, was founded the same year. At its height it had more than 120 branches and some 30,000 to 40,000 members, making it the largest legal Korean organization of the colonial period. Police harassment and growing divisions between left and right, together with a shift in Comintern policy, led to its dissolution in May 1931. The Singanhoe was the broadest attempt at a unified domestic independence movement under Japanese rule.

## Why it matters
It showed the possibility, and the fragility, of unity between Korea's political camps.

Ruler at the Time: [Saitō Makoto](https://allhistories.com/south-korea/rulers/saito-makoto)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Singanhoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singanhoe)
- [Wikipedia — Korean independence movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_independence_movement)
- [Wikipedia — Japanese Rule (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule)