A memorial hall in honor of Ahn Jung-geun, a Korean independence fighter who assassinated Hirobumi Ito, the first Japanese resident-general of Korea, on Oct. 26, 1909, opened in Harbin, northeastern China, Sunday, the South Korean foreign ministry said.
Ahn shot Ito to death, following the signing of the Eulsa Treaty, with Korea on the verge of annexation by Japan.
Ahn was executed at a Japanese prison in the northern Chinese city of Ryojun, now called Lushun, on March 26, 1910.
Historical data on the incident are on display in the memorial hall at the Harbin Station, the assassination site.
South Korea and China began work to set up the memorial hall for the revered independence activist, after leaders of the two countries discussed the matter at a summit last year.
The opening of the memorial hall comes at a time when diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan, and China and Japan, remain strained.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit last month to a controversial shrine has exacerbated political and diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Tokyo, and Beijing and Tokyo.
The Yasukuni shrine honors 2.5 million war dead, including 14 class-A criminals. South Korea, China and other Asian countries see the shrine as the symbol of Japanese militarism during World War II (1939-1945).
Ahn shot Ito to death, following the signing of the Eulsa Treaty, with Korea on the verge of annexation by Japan.
Ahn was executed at a Japanese prison in the northern Chinese city of Ryojun, now called Lushun, on March 26, 1910.
Historical data on the incident are on display in the memorial hall at the Harbin Station, the assassination site.
South Korea and China began work to set up the memorial hall for the revered independence activist, after leaders of the two countries discussed the matter at a summit last year.
The opening of the memorial hall comes at a time when diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan, and China and Japan, remain strained.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit last month to a controversial shrine has exacerbated political and diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Tokyo, and Beijing and Tokyo.
The Yasukuni shrine honors 2.5 million war dead, including 14 class-A criminals. South Korea, China and other Asian countries see the shrine as the symbol of Japanese militarism during World War II (1939-1945).
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