Most Popular
![[Exclusive] Hyundai Mobis eyes closer ties with BYD](http://res.heraldm.com/phpwas/restmb_idxmake.php?idx=644&simg=/content/image/2024/11/25/20241125050044_0.jpg&u=)
-
6
[Herald Review] 'Gangnam B-Side' combines social realism with masterful suspense, performance
![[Herald Review] 'Gangnam B-Side' combines social realism with masterful suspense, performance](//res.heraldm.com/phpwas/restmb_idxmake.php?idx=644&simg=/content/image/2024/11/25/20241125050072_0.jpg&u=)
-
7
Jung's paternity reveal exposes where Korea stands on extramarital babies
-
8
Why S. Korean refiners are reluctant to import US oil despite Trump’s energy push
-
9
Agency says Jung Woo-sung unsure on awards attendance after lovechild revelations
-
10
Prosecutors seek 5-year prison term for Samsung chief in merger retrial
![[Herald Review] 'Gangnam B-Side' combines social realism with masterful suspense, performance](http://res.heraldm.com/phpwas/restmb_idxmake.php?idx=644&simg=/content/image/2024/11/25/20241125050072_0.jpg&u=)
일본 정부 대변인인 스가 요시히데(菅義偉) 관방장관이 19일 박근혜 대통령의 안중근 의사 표지석 설치 언급과 관련, 안 의사는 일본에는 "범죄자"라고 밝혀 논란이 일고 있다.
우리 정부는 이런 '망언'에 대해 "대단히 유감"이라고 강하게 비판했다. 인터넷 등에도 스가 장관의 발언을 비판하는 목소리가 커지고 있다.
스가 장관은 이날 오전 정례 회견에서 박 대통령이 지난 18일 방한한 양제츠(楊
潔지<兼대신虎들어간簾>) 중국 외교담당 국무위원에게 지난 6월 한중 정상회담에서 논의된 안중근 의사 표지석 설치가 원만하게 진행되고 있다고 사의를 표명한 데 대해 "이러한 움직임은 한일관계에 도움이 되지 않는다"고 정면 비판했다.
그는 특히 "일본은 그동안에도 안중근에 대해 범죄자라는 입장을 한국 정부에 밝혀왔다"면서 "일본의 주장을 분명히 한국에 전달하겠다"고까지 말했다.
앞서 아베 신조(安倍晋三) 일본 총리는 안 의사 표지석 설치가 처음 제기된 직후인 지난 7월 TV프로그램에 출연한 자리에서 안 의사의 저격으로 사망한 이토 히로 부미는 "존경받는 위대한 인물"이라며 "그 점은 (한일이) 상호 존중해야 한다"고 말 했다. 아베 발언보다 한층 수위를 높인 이번 스가 장관의 발언은 일본이 국권 강탈과 식민지배라는 '거대 범죄'로 한민족의 거족적 저항에 원인을 제공한 사실을 외면 한 문제 발언이었다.
정부 대변인으로서 말실수가 드문데다 업무처리가 냉정해 '아베 총리의 신경안정제', '실질적인 2인자' 등으로 불릴 정도로 아베 총리의 절대적 신임을 받는 스가 장관은 정권 안에서 '한국에 양보하면 안 된다'는 대한(對韓) 강경론을 주도하는 것으로 알려졌다고 한 외교 소식통이 전했다.
스가 장관의 발언에 대해 조태영 외교부 대변인은 이날 오후 정례브리핑에서 "우리나라 독립과 동양 평화를 위해 목숨을 바친 분을 범죄자라고 표현하는 것은 대단히 유감"이라고 밝혔다.
조 대변인은 "일본 제국주의, 군국주의 시대에 이토 히로부미가 어떤 인물이었는지와 일본이 당시 주변국에 어떤 일을 했는지를 돌이켜보면 스가 관방장관의 발언과 같은 발언은 있을 수 없다"고 비판했다.
조 대변인은 일본 정부가 안 의사는 범죄자라는 입장을 한국 측에 전달해 왔다는 스가 장관의 발언은 사실이 아니라고 부인하면서 "일본의 책임 있는 정치인들이 과거 제국주의 침략 역사를 겸허히 반성하고 직시할 것을 촉구한다"고 말했다.
그는 "(안중근 의사)표지석 설치 관련한 한중간 협의는 원만히 진행되고 있다"고 덧붙였다.
스가 장관은 오후 늦게 열린 기자회견에서 한국 정부의 유감 표명에 대해 "과잉 반응"이라며 "기존 우리나라의 입장을 담담히 밝혔을 뿐이다"라고 다시 맞받았다.
한편 일본 언론들도 박 대통령의 안 의사 관련 언급 내용을 자세히 보도하는 등 민감한 반응을 보였다.
이와 관련, NHK는 박 대통령이 중국과 연대를 강화해 일본에 압력을 가하려는 의도가 있는 것으로 보인다고 보도했다.
이런 가운데, 중국 외교부의 훙레이(洪磊) 대변인은 19일 정례 브리핑에서 어떤 이유에서 중국 정부가 안 의사 표지석 설치에 협조하는지 묻는 말에 "안중근은 중국 에서도 존경받는 저명한 항일의사"라고 추켜세웠다.
훙 대변인은 "중국은 외국인 기념시설 규정에 따라 안 의사 표지석 설치 관련 작업을 추진할 것"이라고 덧붙였다.
<관련 영문 기사>
China praises Korean independence fighter
China and South Korea are to cooperate on a memorial to a Korean national hero who assassinated a Japanese official a century ago, provoking a diplomatic row Tuesday.
Relationships between all three neighbors are heavily colored by history, while both Beijing and Seoul are embroiled in separate territorial rows with Tokyo over disputed islands.
The latest flashpoint between them is Ahn Jung-Geun, who shot and killed Hirobumi Ito, then Japan's top official in Korea, at the railway station in Harbin in northeast China in 1909.
Ahn, a Korean nationalist, killed Ito in response to Japan's colonial designs over the Korean peninsula where its influence had been growing.
He was hanged the following year, when Korea also formally became a Japanese colony, heralding a brutal occupation which lasted until the end of World War II in 1945.
Japan already held territory in mainland China at the time and went on to invade Manchuria in the 1930s before occupying most of eastern China during the war.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye met China's top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi on Monday in Seoul. Both said work was progressing on a monument to Ahn in Harbin, according to a statement by the presidential Blue House in Seoul.
"Ahn Jung-Geun is a very famous anti-Japanese fighter in history,"
Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular briefing Tuesday. "He is respected by the Chinese people as well."
"China will in accordance with relevant regulations on memorial facilities involving foreigners make a study to push forward relevant work."
Ito, Japan's first prime minister, was one of the most significant figures in the country's modern politics and Tokyo vehemently opposes the monument.
"We have been telling the South Korean government that Ahn Jung-Geun was a criminal," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, said on Tuesday.
"I'm afraid this is not good for relations between Japan and South Korea."
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young fired back with a defence of Ahn, who is also a hero in North Korea.
"Martyr Ahn sacrificed his life not for the country's independence but regional peace as well," Cho said.
"It is highly regretful to call such a person a criminal. We again strongly urge Japan to face truth in history and repent on its past wrongs."
Japan's occupation has left a bitter legacy in China and both Koreas.
Ahn remains a potent symbol. In July fans in Seoul unveiled a giant banner of his image at an East Asia Cup football match between South Korea and Japan.
Another banner read: "There is no future for a people that have forgotten history," a reference to Japan's perceived reluctance to acknowledge its colonial and militaristic past.
South Korea and China have both refused to hold formal summit meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, seen by both countries as hawkish on the issues of territory and history.
So far their leaders have only met Abe, who took office in December 2012, at regional summit meetings. (AFP)
China praises Korean independence fighter
China and South Korea are to cooperate on a memorial to a Korean national hero who assassinated a Japanese official a century ago, provoking a diplomatic row Tuesday.
Relationships between all three neighbors are heavily colored by history, while both Beijing and Seoul are embroiled in separate territorial rows with Tokyo over disputed islands.
The latest flashpoint between them is Ahn Jung-Geun, who shot and killed Hirobumi Ito, then Japan's top official in Korea, at the railway station in Harbin in northeast China in 1909.
Ahn, a Korean nationalist, killed Ito in response to Japan's colonial designs over the Korean peninsula where its influence had been growing.
He was hanged the following year, when Korea also formally became a Japanese colony, heralding a brutal occupation which lasted until the end of World War II in 1945.
Japan already held territory in mainland China at the time and went on to invade Manchuria in the 1930s before occupying most of eastern China during the war.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye met China's top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi on Monday in Seoul. Both said work was progressing on a monument to Ahn in Harbin, according to a statement by the presidential Blue House in Seoul.
"Ahn Jung-Geun is a very famous anti-Japanese fighter in history,"
Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular briefing Tuesday. "He is respected by the Chinese people as well."
"China will in accordance with relevant regulations on memorial facilities involving foreigners make a study to push forward relevant work."
Ito, Japan's first prime minister, was one of the most significant figures in the country's modern politics and Tokyo vehemently opposes the monument.
"We have been telling the South Korean government that Ahn Jung-Geun was a criminal," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, said on Tuesday.
"I'm afraid this is not good for relations between Japan and South Korea."
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young fired back with a defence of Ahn, who is also a hero in North Korea.
"Martyr Ahn sacrificed his life not for the country's independence but regional peace as well," Cho said.
"It is highly regretful to call such a person a criminal. We again strongly urge Japan to face truth in history and repent on its past wrongs."
Japan's occupation has left a bitter legacy in China and both Koreas.
Ahn remains a potent symbol. In July fans in Seoul unveiled a giant banner of his image at an East Asia Cup football match between South Korea and Japan.
Another banner read: "There is no future for a people that have forgotten history," a reference to Japan's perceived reluctance to acknowledge its colonial and militaristic past.
South Korea and China have both refused to hold formal summit meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, seen by both countries as hawkish on the issues of territory and history.
So far their leaders have only met Abe, who took office in December 2012, at regional summit meetings. (AFP)
![[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ Jin single hits Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 53](http://res.heraldm.com/phpwas/restmb_idxmake.php?idx=642&simg=/content/image/2024/11/26/20241126050076_0.jpg&u=)