Tuesday: The Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch is hosting a lecture with Franklin Rausch, titled “The Legitimacy of Force: Ahn Joong-geun’s Killing of Hirobumi Ito.”
As Japanese power in Korea increased during the first decade of the 20th century, many Koreans took up arms to resist Japanese forces. Among them was Ahn, a Catholic nationalist who considered himself to be a “righteous soldier.” In 1909, when he killed Ito, a Japanese military governor in Korea, he stated he had acted to protect Korean sovereignty. The French leadership of the Catholic Church accepted Japanese power in Korea as legitimate and so condemned Ahn’s actions.
Today, Koreans, especially Catholics, seek to assert the legitimacy of Ahn’s deeds, as the characteristics of his life and thought enable Koreans of vastly different political views to unite around him.
Rausch is a Junior Fulbright Scholar researching the relationship between nation, state, religion and the legitimization of force in the late Joseon Dynasty.
Admission is free for members and 5,000 won for non-members.
The lecture will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the second floor lounge of Somerset Palace, located opposite the Japanese Embassy in central Seoul.
Anguk Station, line No. 3, exit 6, or Jonggak Station, line No. 1, exit 2
For more information, call (02) 763-9483 or visit www.raskb.com.