Korean History › Opening & Korean Empire › Eulsa Treaty (Japan–Korea Protectorate Treaty)
An Jung-geun
1879–1910; Harbin, October 26, 1909· Person· Society, economy & people
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Korean independence fighter who shot former Resident-General Ito Hirobumi at Harbin station in 1909 and was executed in 1910.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
An Jung-geun (안중근), from Haeju in Hwanghae Province, was a Catholic convert and school founder who joined armed resistance in the Russian Far East after 1905. On October 26, 1909, he shot Ito Hirobumi, Japan's former Resident-General of Korea, on the platform at Harbin. Tried by a Japanese court at Lüshun (Port Arthur), he was hanged on March 26, 1910. In prison he wrote calligraphy, an autobiography and an unfinished essay, 'On Peace in East Asia'.
Why it matters
He became Korea's best-known martyr of resistance, honored in both Koreas and in China; in Japan he is often viewed as an assassin, a split that still surfaces in diplomacy.
Legacy and how we know
Japanese interrogation and trial records, his autobiography and prison writings, surviving calligraphy, and press reports from Harbin and Lüshun.
Still debated
Where he is buried is unknown. Whether the killing sped up annexation is debated, since Japan's cabinet had approved annexation in July 1909.
Connections (2)
▸An Jung-geun shot Ito Hirobumi, architect of the Eulsa Treaty (Japan–Korea Protectorate Treaty)Well documented
The connection
Ito forced the 1905 treaty through and served as the first Resident-General until mid-1909. Under interrogation An listed fifteen charges against Ito, including the coerced protectorate treaty and Empress Myeongseong's murder. He said he acted as a lieutenant general of a Korean righteous army, not as a private assassin.
When and how
Harbin railway station, Manchuria, about 9:30 a.m., October 26, 1909, as Ito arrived to meet Russian finance minister Vladimir Kokovtsov.
How we know
An's own statements in Japanese interrogation and trial records, eyewitness reports, and Russian railway police files.
Debates and open questions
Ito had favored slower, indirect control; some historians argue his death removed a voice for caution, others that annexation was already decided.
▸An Jung-geun was executed months before Japanese colonial rule of KoreaWell documented
The connection
Japan hanged An at Lüshun Prison on March 26, 1910. Five months later, on August 29, 1910, annexation ended the Korean Empire. Koreans see his act as the last great blow of resistance before annexation; his unfinished prison essay argued Japan's course would wreck peace in East Asia.
When and how
Lüshun (Port Arthur), in Japan's leased Kwantung territory; trial February 7–14, 1910; execution March 26, 1910.
How we know
Court and prison records, newspaper reports of the execution, and the dated annexation treaty, signed August 22 and proclaimed August 29, 1910.
Debates and open questions
His body was buried secretly near the prison and never recovered; South Korean, North Korean and Chinese searches have so far failed.