Guns, bullets, and canonization

Well, it looks like the Catholic Church in Korea is again trying to put nationalism ahead of church teachings — minor things like "Thou Shalt Not Kill" — by seeking the beatification and eventually canonization of uber-patriot Thomas An Chunggŭn (HT to occasional Marmot's Hole commenter Kuiwon, who has an interesting blog).

From the UCA News, Asia's most trusted independent Catholic news source:

Seoul archdiocese’s Preparatory Committee for Beatification and Canonization held a symposium yesterday at the Catholic Center to discuss the possibility of canonizing a “Catholic patriot,” Thomas An Jung-geun.

Thomas An assassinated Ito Hirobumi, Japan’s first prime minister and the first Japanese resident general of Korea, on October 26, 1909, in Harbin, northeastern China. He was later executed by the Japanese on March 26, 1910.

Koreans regard An’s killing of Ito as a symbol of Korea’s resistance against Japanese imperialism. Korea suffered greatly under Japanese colonial rule which ended in 1945.

For years the Catholic Church condemned the murder, but changed its position when the late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan of Seoul officiated at a Mass for An in 1993, during which he said: “An acted in righteous defense of the nation. The Catholic Church does not regard killing committed to defend the nation from unjust aggression as a crime.”

The overwhelming view of the symposium yesterday was that An should eventually be canonized.

Readers of Monster Island may recall when this has come up in the past, like in March 2010, the anniversary of An's eventual execution for the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister and retired Governor-General of Korea, Itō Hirobumi, when Korea's cardinal made apparently "ambiguous" comments about Thomas An and his patriotism in the eyes of the Catholic Church.

And they would no doubt have seen some of my other posts on An, namely this one and this one from October 2009, which lay out my well reasoned views on An (and have resulted in some of the more contentious comments sections on this blog):

At the very least, I find it distasteful that someone like An Chunggŭn — whose importance goes little beyond having killed someone else — has become revered as a hero. Rest assured, however, many people born and raised in Korea also question this, particularly Catholics. I also find myself returning to the same conclusion that Korean kids are taught all about An and Itō because it was the highest level assassination by a Korean freedom fighter, and thus the importance and justness of the assassination is trumped up to make the act worthy of reverence.

As one can see, I certainly don't toe the party line on this our Thomas Templar and his Catholicism-divergent moral code. Historically, my view of An Chunggŭn (also spelled An Junggeun) is one of intense ambivalence, for while I admire anyone willing to die for a truly righteous struggle, I think he had the wrong target for revenge and his actions predictably led to an irrevocable drive by forces in Japan to push through the takeover of Korea.

But religiously and ethically, I'm far less ambivalent, for the Catholic Church is fairly clear on this kind of thing. Itō was an unarmed old man who had retired from politics, much like Jimmy Carter, and though he was representing Japan as an emissary, he did not seem to qualify as a valid military target in the struggle for Korea's freedom.

And while that view puts me in line with popular opinion about as much as my feelings about kimchi, I know that I'm not alone in that view in Korea. Sadly, though, people who feel as discomfited as I about the patriotic glorification and possible coronation of a man whose primary act was to kill an unarmed human being who was in no position to effect a change in Imperial Japan's ruthless aims in Korea in 1909, have generally felt that they need to keep their opinions to themselves, lest the Netizens try to ruin their day, or their livelihood.

UPDATE:
Writing in the Korea Times, Andrew Salmon takes a somewhat nuanced view of Itō. Perhaps the Times they are a changin'.

...

Catholic Church again reveals its ambiguity about An Chunggŭn

The Korea Times is reporting on Cardinal Nicholas Chŏng Chinsŏk [정진석] stirring controversy on the centennial of uber-patriot An Chunggŭn's execution for the assassination of Japan's former Resident-General of Korea, Itō Hirobumi, "Ahn's patriotic act" (the KT author's decidedly subjectivity-soaked words) which many believe triggered or at least provided cover for Imperial Japan's forced annexation of the Taehan Empire, as Korea was officially called at the time:

In his sermon this week, which marks the 100th anniversary of Ahn's patriotic act, Cheong said the church's decision 'to suspend the priesthood of a Western priest for three months for his sympathetic involvement in Ahn's final days before the latter's execution was a "best decision" to protect the priest, Hankyoreh said.

Indeed, it seems the KT writer decided to do a bit of a smear job on Catholics in general rather than addressing the Cardinal's remarks about An Chunggŭn specifically:

Some Catholic priests' acts in Korea under the Japanese colonial era drew mixed views from scholars.

While some Western priests in Korea at that time were sympathetic toward the Korean underground fighters against Japanese occupiers and helped them, some also tipped the activities of the underground Korean fighters to the Japanese authorities, leading to, for example, the arrest of the 105 Korean patriots, it said, citing theologian Park Young-dae.

I don't know who he is, but I'd be willing to bet dollars to donuts that Park Youngdae is either a Presbyterian with an agenda or is relying on "scholarship" produced by Presbyterians with an agenda. While the vast, vast, vast majority of Catholics, Protestants, and Buddhists in Korea have engendered a spirit of mutual co-existence and even friendship (witness President Lee's own recent remarks about the recent deaths of respected Buddhist and Catholic figures), some have sought to take a page out of the Fundamentalists' playbook back in the US, sowing seeds of religious or sectarian intolerance where there hasn't been much in the past century. Bringing up the allegedly collaborationist activities of other Catholic clergy in a discussion about the one related to the case of An Chunggŭn seems an example of that.

In the past (see here and here) I've stated my own views on An Chunggŭn, who I think saw himself as a patriot but who ultimately played a predictable negative role in Korea's history, though he is nevertheless celebrated — and his narrative distorted — solely because he struck a blow to such a prominent Japanese politico of the day.

I think it is wrong that discussion of his role, whether positive or negative, is stifled by people who make use cries of "anti-patriot" or "pro-Japanese" like some sort of neo-McCarthyism. One can reasonably feel, as I do, that Imperial Japan's takeover of Korea was cruel, unnecessary, illegal, reprehensible, and by no means inevitable, while also feeling that An Chunggŭn should not be revered as a hero.

UPDATE (3/29/2010):
The Western Confucian notes that the purpose of the Cardinals words was to express "regret that 'the Korean Catholic Church hadn’t recognized An as a good Catholic.'" Though I disagree with this point and feel it is the Catholic Church in Korea caving in to nationalist sentiments, it seems all the more that the Cardinal and the church has been the target of a sectarian smear.

The Western Confucian also links to a more thorough and accurate retelling of the Cardinal's words.

Searching for the bones of a ghost

John Glionna of the Los Angeles Times has an interesting piece on seventy-nine-year-old Kim Young-kwang [김영광], a former intelligence officer who is trying to unlock the mystery of the location of the remains of An Chunggŭn [안중근], the Korean assassin who killed Japan's former Resident-General to Korea Itō Hirobumi because he blamed him for Imperial Japan taking over Korea:

For more than two decades, Kim has traveled across the region to sift through yellowing archives, interview witnesses and amass a vault of evidence, all in hopes of answering a nagging question:

Where are the remains of Ahn Jung-geun?

On Oct. 26, 1909, the 30-year-old Korean nationalist walked into a crowded train depot in Harbin, China, and fired six shots at Japanese statesman Ito Hirobumi. Three of the bullets hit their mark; Ahn had killed the man he blamed for Imperial Japan's move to annex his homeland. Five months later, an unrepentant Ahn was hanged in a prison in Japanese-occupied northeastern China.

Before going to the gallows, Ahn asked that his body be returned to his native Korea, a request denied by his captors, according to Japanese diplomatic documents.

From there, the record fades. Papers kept by Ahn's captors are unclear about where his body was buried.

The uncertainty has kept alive visceral feelings among both Japanese and Koreans -- about the assassination and Japan's 20th century record of imperialism. The emotions can't be put to rest, many feel, until Ahn receives a proper burial.

"This mystery is complicated because Ahn is such a polarizing historical figure," said Kim, now 79. "He is revered in Korea, but demonized in Japan."

I myself find An Chunggŭn to be someone who shouldn't be so highly respected, as I've stated here and here, but my judgement aside (and the judgement of no small number of Koreans, especially Catholics), it is true that he is considered among the highest in the pantheon of Korean patriots, one of Korea's few successful blows against a relentless oppressor back then, and so naturally stories like this occur.

I'm not so certain, however, that finding An's bones will put anything to rest.