President eyes repatriation of independence fighters' remains in China as possible summit agenda
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a policy briefing by the defense and veterans affairs ministries held at the defense ministry building in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
President Lee Jae Myung instructed the government Thursday to hold consultations with Beijing on repatriating the remains of Korean independence fighters in China, raising the issue as a possible agenda item for a potential summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Lee made the remarks after Veterans Minister Kwon Oh-eul briefed him on plans to excavate and bring home the remains of Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910), which Kwon said are believed to be buried near Lushun Prison in the northern Chinese port city of Dalian.
"In the case of excavation and repatriation of remains, consultations with China are essential," Lee said during a policy briefing by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs in Seoul.
Lee instructed the ministry to push ahead with consultations with Beijing as a potential summit agenda item, saying there is the possibility of a summit with Xi "soon."
Kwon said he plans to visit China to help locate Ahn's remains, adding that the ministry is also working to bring back the remains of three independence fighters from the period of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.
Ahn was executed at the prison in 1910 for the assassination of Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi in China's Harbin the previous year. He had requested that his remains be returned to Korea after independence, but that wish has yet to be fulfilled.
Lee held his first summit with Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Korea on Nov. 1, where the two leaders agreed to hold follow-up talks in China, which are widely expected next month.