Conflict
9:30 A.M. October 26, 1909 - Harbin, China
"Sacrificing one's life for the good of one's country is the duty of a true soldier."
- Ahn Jung-geun
Ito Hirobumi strived to expand Japan's borders after the entire state was rapidly industrialized through the Meiji Restoration. The annexation of the Korean peninsula, the Sino-Japanese War (1894), and the Russo-Japanese War (1904) showed that Japan was a growing power in the Eastern Hemisphere. Planning to discuss matters with the Russian representative of Manchuria, Vladimir Kokovtsov, Hirobumi was set to arrive at Harbin Station in present-day China on October 26, 1909. Taking this as an opportunity, Ahn was committed to shoot Hirobumi. Video (bottom) is a clip of Ahn Jung-geun getting off his train at Harbin Station. |
Ahn shot Ito Hirobumi, the first prime minister of Japan.
The killing of thousands of innocent Koreans along with the unprecedented murder of the respected Queen Myeongsung provoked Ahn to kill Ito Hirobumi. But, more than anything else, Ahn thought the only way that Asia could be peaceful was by killing Hirobumi, one of the key figures who was constantly acquiring new territory from Korea and China. A parallel can be drawn between what Hirobumi wanted for Japan and what Napoleon Bonaparte successfully achieved for France.