Japan’s chief cabinet minister calls ‘Ahn Jung-geun is criminal’

Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief government spokesman and chief cabinet minister, expressed discontent about President Park Geun-hye’s comments on installation in China of a monument stone for the late Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun on Tuesday, by saying “Ahn Jung-geun is a criminal in Japan.” The Foreign Affairs Ministry in Seoul refuted the Japanese chief cabinet minister, saying that “If Japan reflects on what it committed to neighboring countries at that time, the Japanese chief cabinet minister would not make such remarks.”

In a regular press conference on the day, Suga said, “(The erection of a monument stone for Ahn Jung-geun) will not be helpful to improving Korea-Japan relations. Thus far, Japan has been reiterating to the Korean government that Ahn Jung-geun is a criminal.” At the Korea-China summit meeting last June, President Park told Chinese President Xi Jingping that “Compatriot Ahn is a historical figure who is respected by both the Korean and Chinese peoples, and I would like to ask China to cooperate to erect a commemorative monument stone at Harbin Station, where he conducted patriotic act (by assassinating Japan’s political leader Hirobumi Ito).” Park also expressed gratitude to Yang Jiechi when the Chinese state councilor for foreign affairs was visiting Korea on Monday, saying that “The project to erect monument stone in honor of Compatriot Ahn is smoothly proceeding.”

“Compatriot Ahn Jung-geun was a figure who sacrificed his life to secure Korea’s independence and peace in Asia, and we regret that Japan uses the expression‍ ‘criminal’ on this person,” said Seoul’s Affairs Ministry spokesman Cho Tae-young on Tuesday. “We once again strongly urge Japan to humbly reflect and accurately view past history.”