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Question:

Q: This year marks the 99th anniversary of the death of AN Jung-geun and the centennial of his assassination of ITO Hirobumi in Harbin. The activities he had carried out to defend and liberate Korea are already well known, but there seems to be a growing interest in his thoughts and ideas. His "Vision for East Asian Peace," in particular, is garnering great interest. What is it about and what is its significance?

Answer:

Vision for East Asian Peace

AN Jung-geun assassinated ITO Hirobumi, the chief instigator of Japan's colonization of Korea, at Harbin Station on October 26, 1909. He was arrested and held at Lushun Prison. "Vision for East Asian Peace" is an unfinished mini thesis An wrote during his imprisonment. The original plan consisted of five sections: Foreword, Past, Present, Future, and Question-and-Answer. However, he only managed to write the "Foreword" and the "Past," with the latter speculated to be incomplete.

An began working on "Vision for East Asian Peace" after March 15, 1910. With the date of his execution not yet finalized, An requested that the execution be pushed back by about a month in order for him to complete his thesis. When the judge of the Japanese colonial high court of Kwantung presiding over his case accepted the request, An relinquished his right of appeal and began working on the thesis. However, contrary to what was promised him, Tokyo expedited the execution, which was carried out on March 26. Thus, An only ended up with about 10 days to work on "Vision for East Asian Peace."

Key points of "Vision for East Asian Peace"

Although incomplete, An's thesis proposes that genuine peace in East Asia will be realized if Korea, China, and Japan do not invade one another and unite as three independent states to defend against Western encroachment. Although not included in "Vision for East Asian Peace," An talked about the specific measures for trilateral cooperation among Korea, China, and Japan for realizing East Asian peace when he met with the Japanese high court judge of Kwantung on February 17, 1919. This is how the outline of An's vision for peace in East Asia came to be known.

His key proposals are as follows: establishment of the East Asia Peace Conference, to be attended by the representatives of Korea, China, and Japan; opening and co-governance of Lushun; establishment of a common tri-nation bank and the issuance of a common currency; organization of a tri-nation army corps and fostering the development of a peacekeeping force through bilingual education; advancement of commerce and industry and the promotion of mutual economic development; and the official recognition of the emperors of the three nations by the Pope. In a nutshell, it was a call for East Asian peace based on regional cooperation and co-existence.

Lessons for today

It is remarkable that anyone would have proposed a vision for East Asian peace and conceived of a Northeast Asian community 99 years ago when the aggression of imperialist powers and the resistance of weaker nations were at their peak. Needless say, today's East Asia is a lot different from the East Asia of a century ago. Nevertheless, An's "Vision for East Asian Peace" could serve as a useful long-term model that may help Korea, China, and Japan overcome their differences and move toward the building of an East Asian community.

Given the significance of An and his thoughts, the Northeast Asian History Foundation is planning a large-scale academic conference for this October on "An Jung-geun's Vision for East Asian Peace and the Future of a Peaceful Northeast Asian Community."