뉴스레터

When we say Ahn Jung-geun, what comes to mind is his assassination of Ito Hirobumi (伊藤博文) in Harbin on October 26, 1909. But killing off Ito Hirobumi was not, in itself, his goal; his ultimate goal was to stand international trial afterwards so that he could let the world know about imperial Japan's aggression on Korea and defend Oriental peace. That explains why he shouted 'Ura, Kareya (Independence for Korea)' in Russian instead of Korean and submitted himself to arrest on the spot of assassination.

Ahn Jung-geun clearly stated the cause and goals of what he did: "As a man with an understanding of the overall global situations and leading a difficult life abroad, I wouldn't normally take the life of another man, but have made the resolute decision to do so at the expense of the comfort of myself or my family because I believed that Hirobumi's policy was detrimental to Oriental peace." He said he held no personal grudge against Ito Hirobumi and he would be unforgivable if he killed Ito for personal grudges. As a man "with an understanding of the overall global situations," he had the conviction that his assassination of Ito Hirobumi was not only for Korea's independence but also for Ito Hirobumi's country Japan and Oriental peace, and that his true intentions would be revealed someday, if not immediately.

While his assassination was successful, his ambitious plan to promote Oriental peace far and wide across the world was thwarted by imperial Japan's illegal trial. However, Ahn Jung-geun clearly showed the world the philosophy of Korea's independence through five months of struggle in prison and the essence of his assassination of Ito Hirobumi by writing the "Theory of Oriental Peace." Even the Japanese public prosecutor in charge of interrogating Ahn Jung-geun called him "the martyr of the East." Ahn Jung-geun's conviction demonstrated in prison was a lamp that shone a light which helped mankind see the liberty and peace that they needed to seek in the maelstrom of imperialism in the early 20th century. That is why Ahn Jung-geun's patriotic deed a hundred years ago still shines today.

At a time when Russia, Japan, and the Western powers were competing for supremacy over the Chinese territory of Manchuria, Ahn Jung-geun's assassination of Ito Hirobumi, the mastermind behind Japan's aggression who was visiting Harbin to divide and occupy Manchuria, was an international sensation. Manchuria at that time was where not only imperial Japan with a burning desire for expansion into the continent but also other imperial powers with conflicting interests, such as Russia, the U.S., and the U.K. were in a sharp confrontation with one another. By the time Ahn Jung-geun was about to kill Ito Hirobumi, the coalition between Russia and Japan after the Russo-Japanese War for exclusive rule over Manchuria had reached a peak. Against this backdrop, Ahn Jung-geun's assassination of Ito Hirobumi emerged as an international issue that shook Northeast Asia and the world.

Ahn Jung-geun's thought and ideology for Korea's independence and Oriental peace was conceived a long time ago. Since his exile abroad, Ahn Jung-geun had established his philosophy of independence movement while incessantly engaging himself in military struggle or enlightenment movement in regions across Manchuria and Primorsky Krai in Russia. And that philosophy is none other than the 'Theory of Oriental Peace.'

The gist of the 'Theory of Oriental Peace' by Ahn Jung-geun was that in order to maintain Oriental peace against the Western aggression, it was necessary for the three nations of Korea, China, and Japan to unite, while maintaining the independence of each. The Oriental peace that he advocated encompassed Thailand and Myanmar as well as Korea, China and Japan. He believed that true peace could be established when all of these nations maintained independence, and that maintaining Oriental peace would require these nations to unite and fend off the Western invasion.

Immediately after the Russo-Japanese War, Ahn Jung-geun sought exile in Shandong or Shanghai in China. At that time in Shanhai, he heard about the border dispute in Alsace-Lorraine from priest Le Gac, and this led to his decision to start education movement in Korea. Le Gac, who was from Alsace-Lorraine, had advised him that "if you flee the country and leave it empty in times of foreign invasion, you make it more vulnerable to foreign invasion. Furthermore, once you leave, it is difficult to return." Both the priest Wilhelm (Korean name Hong Seok-gu) who had a great influence on Ahn Jung-geun and the bishop Duman (Korean name Ahn Se-wha) who helped out Ahn Jung-geun while in prison were from Alsace-Lorraine. Ahn Jung-geun was already well aware of the suffering they had to endure during the transition of Alsace-Lorraine from French to German territories. From the experience of Alsace-Lorrain, he tried to derive solution to the survival of the weak (Korean Empire) amidst the strong invaders. And this effort is thought to have a great influence on the development of his Theory of Oriental Peace. The logic of the strong is to seek peace while owning (invading) the land of others. By contrast, Ahn Jung-geun's Theory of Oriental Peace aims for peace through the submission of one's land to joint management, and it is also in line with the theory of peace that those from Alsace-Lorraine were passionate about.

When he arrived at Dalian on his way to Harbin, Ito Hirobumi asserted peace in the Far East (Oriental peace) in his speech at the reception dinner on October 21, 1909. He insisted that the instability of the East was due to security concerns in Manchuria, and if Japan took control of security in Machuria, not only would Russia and China become safe but trade could be stimulated, leading to economic development. He continued his sophistic argument by saying that Japan's occupation of Manchuria would be the starting point of Oriental peace. This explains why the Chinese people praised Ahn Jung-geun's assassination of Ito Hirobumi.

The Theory of Oriental Peace by Ahn Jung-geun was not simply for the Oriental peoples and nations alone. The case for fending off the Western invasion was not about excluding or denying the West itself, but about defending independence and peace against the Western imperialism invading the East. This is not only confirmed in his Catholic view of the world, and also demonstrated in his argument that Japan should abandon their aggressive nature and join the efforts to establish Oriental peace. In other words, the Theory of Oriental Peace is based on the case for eliminating the cause of war and conflict between countries and peoples, whether in the East or the West. Therefore, he was never blinded by racism, nor was the thought of Oriental peace inconsistent or conflicting with the thought of world peace. As such, the Theory of Oriental Peace by Ahn Jung-geun proposed the idea of Oriental Peace as a high-level principle that nationalism should be the basis of maintaining internationalism.

That was clearly distinct from Japan's Principle of Asian Solidarity, a logic of hegemonism and imperialism. The Principle of Asian Solidarity was nothing but imperial Japan's aggression policy. On the surface, it calls for solidarity of the three Asian countries under the invasion of the Western powers for establishing the order of Oriental peace. But the proposed solidarity of the three countries was not equal, but of vertical relations. In other words, this was a ruler-subjects scenario in which imperial Japan was set up as the leader of Asia. And another essential aspect of the Principle of Asian Solidarity is that it is nothing but a policy to maintain the independence of Japan itself. A product of Japan's selfish political tactics, the Principle of Asian Solidarity was nothing but a means to cover up Japan's aggression policy and national interests. Therefore, from the outset, it was different from the Theory of Oriental Peace by Ahn Jung-geun which aimed for true peace based on the assumption of the independence of the three countries.

Ahn Jung-geun insisted on opening Port Arthur and placing it under the joint jurisdiction of the three Northeast Asian countries, and organizing a peace conference of the representatives of the three countries as a starting point for Oriental Peace. He also suggested specific ideas in areas from economics to military, such as financing through joint investment and organizing corps comprised of youths of the three countries.

But what is needed most in order to accomplish Oriental peace is to keep Japan's aggressiveness in check. In that regard, Ahn Jung-geun's assassination of Ito Hirobumi was the beginning of Oriental peace in its truest sense. It was on such theory of Oriental peace that Ahn Jung-geun's insistence in court, "I killed Ito Hirobumi to save the Japanese people," was based. What he meant to say was that he had punished Ito Hirobumi for disturbing Oriental peace by undermining the independence of the three Northeast Asian countries, and that doing so would ultimately ensure Japan's independence and Oriental peace. Ahn Jung-geun's such thought was of a humanitarian significance that may be difficult to appreciate from imperialist perspectives.