By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
China has expressed its willingness to cooperate on South Korea's plan to recover the remains of An Jung-geun, a renowned independence fighter who assassinated Japan's first Resident General Ito Hirobumi in 1909 in an attempt to frustrate Japan's annexation of Korea, the government said Tuesday.
Beijing decided to delay construction of buildings in an area where An's remains are believed to have been buried and informed Seoul of the plan Monday, Cho Hee-yong, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told reporters.
``The government will begin recovering the remains of An at an early date after informing China of the excavation project,'' said Cho. ``China told us that once South Korea begins the project, it will fully support it.''
Last week, the ministry requested Beijing to preserve the site near the Ryojun prison where An was executed to excavate his remains.
An assassinated Ito Hirobumi on a railway platform in Harbin, Manchuria, four years after Japan forced the Ulsa Treaty on Korea in 1905, which took away the country's sovereignty.
The Japanese court sentenced him to death. The execution by hanging took place in Port Arthur, also known as Ryojun, on March 26, 1910.