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International Conference in Commemoration of Ahn Jung-geun

The international conference in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the heroic act of patriot Ahn Jung-geun entitled "Ahn Jung-geun's thesis on peace of East Asia and the future of Northeast Asian peace community" was successfully held on October 26 (Monday) ~ 27 (Tuesday), 2009 at the Members' Conference Hall of the Korea Chamber of Commerce. There have recently been many events to celebrate the centennial of Ahn Jung-geun's famous deed, but this conference is characteristic because it was intended to illuminate the historical significance of Ahn's act from a future-oriented perspective and get a message from his proposal "On Peace in East Asia" indicating that forming a Northeast Asian peace community is possible.

Ahn Jung-geun emphasized in his unfinished essay "On Peace in East Asia" that he killed Ito Hirobumi for true peace in the East and the undertaking was not based on a personal agenda. He also argued that he shot the enemy commander in action as the lieutenant general of the Korean Righteous Army. He proposed that in order to fend off the Western invasion, the three nations of East Asia should establish joint forces and form an economic community by establishing a bank that would issue a common currency. This essay he wrote in prison indicates one direction in which Korea, China and Japan should go 100 years later. The conference was designed to note that Ahn's act was not just part of one Korean's resistance movement against Japan but a grand declaration for securing peace in Northeast Asia, and to pursue mutual prosperity and peace of the three nations by inheriting Ahn's spirit. A lot of scholars from the three nations gathered together and open-mindedly participated in heated presentations and debates for two days.

Where the research on Ahn Jung-geun should go

The first day began with the keynote presentation titled "The direction in which the research on Ahn Jung-geun should go" by Yun Byeong-seok, honorary professor at Inha University. The foremost authority in research on Ahn Jung-geun, professor Yun offered an overall review of the research on him conducted over the 100 years after Ahn's heroic act in Harbin and comprehensively presented the direction of Ahn research. And in the presentation titled "The origin and lineage of the modern Korean views on peace in East Asia - and Ahn Jung-geun," I evaluated that Ahn's ideas "On Peace in East Asia" inherited the general Pan-Asianism of the Korean elite at that time, especially in line with the racist discourse on Asianism of advocates of civilization, but his proposal was unrivaled in that it envisioned a peace community in Northeast Asia joined by Korea, China and Japan on an equal footing.

Professor "Zuyong" at Peking University gave a presentation titled "Japan's expansionism and Ahn Jung-geun's ideas on peace in East Asia" where he appreciated that Ahn's essay has historical significance in that the thesis "On peace in East Asia" reflected his insights into East Asia's traditional principles for peace. Etsuro Totsuka, professor at Ryukoku University, identified that Ahn Jung-geun was prosecuted for murder at the Japanese colonial court in Lushun, China and was tried under the criminal law of the Japanese Empire, as well as the fact that the trial was illegal according to international law, precedents and the legal assessment of the Joseon-Japan Treaty of 1905.

In his presentation titled "Unrealized idea on peace in the East ? Its ideaological lineage and possibility," Shinichi Yamamuro, professor at Kyoto University, focused on the notion "No one has the right to take away another's life given from heaven" and "criticism on civilization" as the premise of Ahn Jung-geun's vision on peace in the East, and gave great importance to Ahn's thoughts that recognized world citizens by pursuing world peace beyond peace in the East. He also valued Ahn's ideas "On Peace in East Asia which pursued peace against militarism through the concept of generosity. During the last presentation on the first day, Seoul National University professor Cho Dong-sung, co-president of the "association for Ahn Jung-geun and Harbin," analyzed, based on "the theory of environment creation," the success story of Harbin City that created the Ice and Snow Festival by utilizing its unfavorable natural environment.

Ahn Jung-geun in the context of East Asian History

In the first presentation on the second day, Eiji Makino, professor at Hosei University, compared Ahn Jung-geun's ideas "On Peace in East Asia" with Immanuel Kant's Perpetual Peace, and discussed them in relation to the idea of the European Union and the vision of an East Asian community. Do Jin-sun, professor of history at Changwon University, criticized for the neglected reality that Ahn's descendants went through oppression and suffering despite their outstanding dedication to the movement for national independence, reunification and peace after Ahn's heroic act in Harbin. Wang Won-ju, professor at Peking University, classified images of Ahn Jung-geun depicted in Chinese literature and examined changes in perceptions of him.

Lee Tae-jin, honorary professor at Seoul National University, who paid attention to Ahn Jung-geun's act in Harbin and its relation with Emperor Gojong, revealed, through relevant documents, a new argument that the emperor circle first planned Ahn's assassination, and then the righteous army in the Maritime Province of Siberia carried out the mission as well as the fact that the emperor tried to move Ahn from the local court in Lushun to the Russian court by hiring international lawyers. In his presentation titled "Ahn Jung-geun's act's influence on China and its evaluation," Choi Bong-ryong, professor at Dalian University, traced Ahn's activities and changes in his ideas in China, and explained Chinese evaluations of Ahn's deed in Harbin and the status of memorial facilities in honor of Ahn Jung-geun in China.

During the comprehensive debate, Kim Yong-deok, former president of the Northeast Asian History Foundation, and Cho Byeong-han, professor of history at Seogang University, urged the participants to conduct research on Ahn Jung-geun with a whole view on the East Asian history, not to define him as a figure in the Korean history. Cho Kwang, professor of Korean history at Korea University, chronicled the history of Ahn Jung-geun studies and presented a direction for research on Ahn. Hiroshi Miyajima, professor of Academy of Asian Studies at SungKyunKwan University, contended that Joseon's ideas emphasizing Confucianism as a universal civilization rather than the nation or the people supported the vision on peace in East Asia to be born in Korea, not in Japan which had insufficient Confucian tradition.

Meanwhile, on the sideline of the conference, the "peace concert in honor of Ahn Jung-geun" was held at Seoul Namsan Gugakdang on the night of October 26, featuring Choi Woo-jeong, professor of composition at Seoul National University, and soprano professor Kim In-hye. It was attended by speakers, panelists and citizens who solemnly commemorated the centenial of Ahn Jung-geun's heroic act in Harbin.