“Gungseongyo-bae,” which was forced upon Koreans during the Japanese colonial period, was the act of bowing every morning toward the Imperial Palace where the Emperor resided.

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Since people obviously weren't listening, massive campaigns (or rather, outright coercion) were launched, and they taught in textbooks and schools that Gungseongyo-bae must be performed daily. A judicial record from the colonial era shows a tragic glimpse of this. In 1940, upon seeing elementary school students gathered to perform Gungseongyo-bae, the village chief (Gujang, a position combining today's Tongjang and Ijang) Cheonjeon Seokjang called them over and started laying into them. (Cheonjeon Seokjang is a Japanese Sōshi-kaimei name; his original Korean name is not recorded.)

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Cheonjeon Seokjang (52): Where the hell are you brats rushing off to this early in the morning? / Students (5th grade elementary): We're going to do Gungseongyo-bae! / Cheonjeon Seokjang: ...What? Are you out of your minds? Go study instead of doing that crap, you punks.

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Students: We were taught by our teacher to gather and do Gungseongyo-bae even during summer vacation! / Students: Gungseongyo-bae is for His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of our nation. How is Gungseongyo-bae crazy? Even if you tell us not to, Chief, we're still gonna do it!

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Cheonjeon Seokjang: (Livid AF) How dare you talk back to an adult, you little kids!!! You just have to lie and say the teacher told you to! / Cheonjeon Seokjang: Don't do it starting tomorrow!! These little sh*ts aren't listening to an adult!!!!! So, Cheonjeon Seokjang beat the students with his tobacco pipe.

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Kids: Waaahhh ㅠㅠㅠ In the end, the children reported Cheonjeon Seokjang to the police, and he was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison.

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Japanese Court: Although Cheonjeon Seokjang was in a position to guide the villagers and knew that Gungseongyo-bae was a national ritual to thank the Emperor for his divine grace...

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Japanese Court: ...he obstructed and assaulted the students practicing Gungseongyo-bae, thereby blaspheming the Emperor’s dignity, and is thus sentenced to six months imprisonment for lèse-majesté. The elementary students, who were merely practicing Gungseongyo-bae as taught in school, likely didn't understand the old man who was unreasonably angry and tried to stop them. Likewise, the old man, born Korean and having witnessed the fall of his nation, couldn't understand the children bowing obediently to the Emperor as they were told. That moment of mutual misunderstanding perfectly encapsulated a tragic slice of history endured by one nation. Source details - Detailed search - Verdicts related to the Independence Movement.

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천전석장: 내일부터 하지마!! 이새끼들 어른이 하는 말을 안듣고!!!!! 하여 천전석장은 학생들을 담뱃대로 구타하였다.

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아이들: 으앙 ㅠㅠㅠ 결국 아이들은 천전석장을 경찰에 신고하였고 천전석장은 체포된 뒤 징역 6개월을 선고받는다.

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일본법원: 천전석장은 부락민을 지도하는 지위에 있어 궁성요배가 천황의 황은에 대해 감사하는 국민의 의례임을 알고 있음에도...

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일본법원: 궁성요배를 실천하는 학동들을 저지하고 구타하여 천황의 존엄을 모독하였으니 불경죄에 따라 징역 6월에 처한다. 그저 학교에서 배운대로 궁성요배를 실천한 초등학생들은 무작정 화를 내며 만류하는 노인이 이해되지 않았을것이고 조선사람으로 태어나 망국의 순간을 지켜본 노인에게 시킨대로 천황에게 넙죽 절하는 초등학생들이 이해되지 않았을것이다. 서로를 이해하지 못한 그 순간은, 한 민족이 겪어야 했던 비극적인 역사의 단면을 고스란히 드러낸 장면이었다. 출처 상세내용 - 상세검색 - 독립운동관련 판결문