Japanese hotel to remove monument to colonial-era Korean independence activist

The Korea Times

Japanese hotel to remove monument to colonial-era Korean independence activist

A hotel in southwestern Japan has decided to remove a stone monument honoring a Korean independence activist from the early days of Japan's colonial rule, its website showed Thursday, after protests from the conservative bloc in the country. Kochi Kuroshio Hotel, located in the Kochi Prefecture, said in a notice it will remove the monument to Ahn Jung-geun from its compound by Friday, according to the website. The monument was erected Saturday with an initiative led by a Seoul-based organization dedicated to honoring Ahn's legacy and the Japan-Korea Friendship Association. Ahn, one of the most revered independence fighters in Korea, is known for assassinating Hirobumi Ito, then the Japanese resident-general of Korea, in the Chinese city of Harbin in 1909, less than a year before Korea was formally annexed by Japan. On Wednesday, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported strong backlash from conservatives in Japan was behind the hotel's decision to remove the monument. The stone monument carries an inscription highlighting bilateral friendship between Korea and Japan and "peace in the East

Go to News Site

Google Play

App Store