|
Seoul demands Japan's cooperation in tracing remains of Korean independence fighter
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- A top South Korean official of patriot affairs called on Japan Monday to help in retrieving the remains of a Korean independence fighter, conditioning cooperation on resolving longstanding tensions between the two countries.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of An Jung-geun (1877-1910), one of Korea's most honored independence fighters hailed for his daring assassination of the Korean Peninsula's first Japanese governor-general, Hirobumi Ito, in Harbin, northeastern China, in October 1909.
The assassination was a watershed moment in Japan's 36 years of colonial rule of Korea from 1910. An was executed at a Japanese prison in China on March 26, 1910.
"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."
South Korea launched a 29-day mission to China in 2008 to locate and bring back An's remains. The effort was unsuccessful, as the Japanese government remains largely uncooperative and secretive about where An was buried.
"We believe Japan has records that will make a difference in finding the remains of martyr An," Kim added. "In order to open up a brand new century between Korea and Japan, the Japanese government must give some earnest answers. We do not want to bequeath our pained history to our children."
Kim, the grandson of late independence movement leader and nationalist Kim Koo, has been one of the most outspoken critics of President Lee Myung-bak's policy that Seoul should not seek an apology from Japan over its forced annexation for the sake of practical and future-oriented ties.
In January, Kim bluntly opposed President Lee's purported plan to invite Japanese Emperor Akihito to Seoul this year, saying the resolution of pending historical issues between the two nations should come ahead of such a trip.
The Japanese government did offer apologies for some of the crimes committed during its colonial occupation, though incidents including former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to a Tokyo shrine venerating war criminals and Japan's ongoing territorial claim over the Dokdo islets have continued to fuel anger here.
Kim said the fact-finding mission this year will put more focus on gathering information on An's remains from Japan.
"The Russian government has promised to provide us with the records we need in tracking An's life in Harbin. We are hoping to receive such answers from Japan, also," he said.
Harbin, where An assassinated Ito, is located just south of China's border with Russia.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
| 
Home
