The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that it has requested the Cultural Heritage Administration to grant cultural heritage status to an original copy of the March 1st Declaration of Independence.

The document Seoul is seeking to preserve was issued by Boseongsa, the then largest publishing company in the nation, on February 27th, 1919, two days before the historic declaration fueled a nationwide independence movement against Japanese colonial rule.

The city government said the declaration expressed the legitimacy of Korea’s independence so it judged that its original copy holds universal value for Koreans and needs to be preserved. 

Around 22-thousand copies of the declaration were printed by Boseongsa and another publishing house, Sinmungwan.