| An Jung-geun | |
| Hangul | 안중근 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 安重根 |
| Revised Romanization | An Jung-Geun |
| McCune–Reischauer | An Chunggŭn |
Ahn Jung-Geun or An Jung-Geun (September 2, 1879 - March 26, 1910) (Christian name: Thomas) was a Korean independence activist who assassinated the first Prime Minister of Japan, Itō Hirobumi, following the signing of the Eulsa Treaty, with Korea on the verge of annexation by Japan.
Biography
An was born in Haeju, Hwanghae province, to a family of the Sunheung An lineage. He worked first in education, later joining the armed resistance against the Japanese colonial rulers.
He also cut off several part of his fingers and using the resulting blood to write "Korean Independence" on the Korean national flag.[citation needed]
An Jung-geun assassinated Ito Hirobumi on the railway platform in Harbin, Manchuria in 1909. After firing upon Hirobumi, he is said to have yelled for Korean independence and waved the Korean flag. Afterwards a Japanese colonial court sentenced him to death. The execution by hanging took place in Port Arthur, then also known as Ryojun. Itō's death resulted in the acceleration of the final stage of the colonization process.
An Jung-Geun was an admirer of Emperor Meiji of Japan. One of the 15 'charges' An leveled against Ito was that he had deceived the Emperor of Japan, whom An felt desired peace in East Asia and Korean independence. An requested that Meiji be informed of his reasons for his assassination of Ito in the hopes that if Meiji understood his reasons, the emperor would realize how mistaken Ito's policies were and would rejoice. An also felt sure that most Japanese felt similar hatred for Ito, an opinion he formed from talking with Japanese prisoners in Korea.[1]
For his actions as a resistance fighter, he was awarded South Korea's Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1962.
In popular culture
He is commemorated in the martial art Taekwondo with the Joon Gun pattern being dedicated to him.
Novelist Bok Geo-il's 1987 novel Looking for an Epitaph (碑銘(비명)을 찾아서) is an alternate history story, which is set in the 1980's of Korea that remained a permanent colony of Japan, as a cascade effect of An's failure to assassinate Ito. The Korean movie 2009 Lost Memories is very loosely based on the novel but tells a completely different story.
In the PC game Civilization IV expansion pack, Beyond the Sword, An Jung-geun is a Great Spy.
See also
References
- ^ Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912 by Donald Keene, Columbia University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-231-12340-X
External links
- 2009 Lost Memories at IMDb
- "Catholic Church in Korea and the Nationalist Movement". Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea.
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