China aids hunt for hero’s body

Ahn Joong-geun

The Korean government is expected to send a team of experts to Lushun, China, to conduct a detailed search for the remains of Ahn Joong-geun, one of the best-known Korean independence activists in the struggle against the Japanese occupation.
The Chinese government has temporarily halted a construction project underway in the area where Ahn is believed to have been buried after being executed by the Japanese.
The Foreign Ministry said the Chinese government has promised “full cooperation” in the project to excavate Ahn’s remains from the site where the Lushun Prison, controlled by Japan, was located in the early 20th century. Ahn was put to death in 1910 after killing Hirobumi Ito, a Japanese military governor who played a crucial role in colonizing Korea.
“We will send a team to the site as soon as possible to begin the excavation project,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong. He also said the government is mulling over coordinating the project with North Korea, which has also made great efforts to find Ahn’s body.
Ahn, born in 1879 in Haeju, now in North Korea, is considered a national hero in both Koreas for his assassination of Ito. The Japanese media at the time called him a “terrorist.”
Experts from both North and South Korea have conducted several searches of the site where Lushun Prison was located, so far with no success.
But the area recently became a construction site for a new apartment complex and the Korean government asked Chinese authorities to leave it intact until Korean experts can begin another round of digging.

By Jung Ha-won Staff Reporter [hawon@joongang.co.kr]