S. Korean, Chinese leaders keep Japan in check over history issues

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping attempted to hold Japan in check over South Korean independent fighters during a meeting in the Hague, the Netherlands on Sunday before attending the Nuclear Security Summit.

At the start of the meeting, the Chinese president said he had given "direct instructions" for the construction of a memorial hall in Heilongjiang Province, China in honor of Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun, who in 1909 assassinated Hirobumi Ito, the first Japanese governor general of Korea. "It has become an important symbol of the ties between the peoples of our two nations," he said. He also noted that China plans to unveil a memorial stone at the former barracks of the Korean Liberation Army in the northwestern Chinese city of Xian, Shaanxi Province.

The construction of the memorial hall and the stone monument has made significant progress since President Park made the requests during a summit in Beijing in June last year with her Chinese counterpart. The Chinese leader`s mention of the joint project is interpreted as his intention to keep Japan in check over Tokyo`s distortion of its wartime atrocities ahead of the South Korea-the United States-Japan trilateral summit on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.

The South Korean president responded by saying that the construction of the memorial hall for Ahn, who is respected by the peoples of both countries is "a good object symbolizing the South Korea-China friendship and cooperation." She appreciated the progress made in the construction of the monument in honor of the Korean Liberation Army.

Regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, the Chinese president said Beijing clearly opposes Pyongyang`s nuclear possession and is implementing the United Nations Security Council`s resolution on sanctions on the North. He added that Beijing will cooperate with Seoul to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

With regard to China`s proposal to resume the six-party talks on the North`s denuclearization, President Park said that various options can be studied "if there are guarantees that real progress can be made in denuclearization efforts and that North Korea will be prevented from advancing its nuclear capabilities."