|
(LEAD) Seoul demands Japan's cooperation in tracing remains of Korean independence fighter
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's chief of patriots affairs rebuked Japan on Monday over the lack of help from the former colonial ruler in finding the remains of a renowned Korean independence fighter, saying such an "insincere" attitude hampers efforts to move ties between the two nations forward.
The criticism came as South Korea prepared to mark the 100th anniversary this week of the death of An Jung-geun (1877-1910), one of Korea's most honored independence fighters, hailed for his daring assassination of the peninsula's first Japanese Governor-General Hirobumi Ito to protest Japan's forced annexation of Korea.
Patriots and Veterans Affair Minister Kim Yang said his agency has found new Japanese records on the imprisonment of An and other independence fighters -- information that Japan has so far denied having despite Seoul's repeated requests. Kim said the new finding means that Japan is deliberately withholding information on An.
"The remains of An Jung-geun have been unable to make it back home for the last 100 years," Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affair Kim Yang said in a news conference Monday. "Our attempts (to find An's remains) were discouraged several times by Japan's lackluster response."
"These newly found documents prove how insincere the Japanese government has been to our repeated requests for cooperation in finding records related to martyr An," he added. "In order to open up a brand new century between Korea and Japan, the Japanese government must give some earnest answers."
Officials say South Korea has asked several times for Japan's cooperation in locating An's remains. But Tokyo has remained largely secretive about where An was buried, a response that has reignited anger rooting back to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.
The patriots agency said it has found new records related to An and 227 other Korean independence fighters, with the help of scholars in Japan. Most of the documents were categorized as confidential until recently, Kim said.
"The Japanese government has remained unresponsive and uncooperative ever since I was inaugurated (in March 2008). It didn't even make the effort to tell us where and how the remains of An were buried," the patriots minister said.
According to the newly uncovered records, a Japanese court sentenced An to death Feb. 14 in 1910 before carrying out the execution and burying his body on March 26 near the Lushun Prison in China where he was executed. The documents also showed that Japanese authorities turned down a request by An's siblings for his body to be returned to his family.
Patriots affairs chief Kim, the grandson of late independence movement leader and nationalist Kim Koo, also said he remains opposed to Japan's Emperor Akihito visiting South Korea, saying the resolution of pending historical issues between the two nations should come ahead of such a trip.
Japan has repeatedly apologized for the colonial rule, but many South Koreans believed the neighboring nation has not fully atoned for the past as Japanese politicians and government officials have made remarks or engaged in acts seen as beautifying the country's militaristic past.
Marking the 100th anniversary of An's death, the South Korean government has also prepared several national events this week, including a tribute ceremony in front of Seoul City Hall and a people's march across the city.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
| 
Home
