Patriot Ahn Junggeun. Feat and Ideologic Heritage. Proceedings of International Scientific Conference. Moscow, October 19, 2012

Еditor: Yurij Vanin

Москва, 2013, 272 p.

The book includes the materials of the International Scientific Conference, held in Moscow on 19 October 2012. It was dedicated to the 22nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Republic of Korea and the 103rd anniversary of the feat of Ahn Junggeun. Eminent scholars in Korean studies from Russia, the Republic of Korea, China, and Japan took part in this Conference. Shortly before the Conference the book “Ahn Junggeun – National Hero of Korea” was published, and its presentation was at this Conference. The main objective of this book is a study of heroic deed of Ahn Junggeun, defining his place and role in the Korean national-liberation movement. The authors of the book show that Ahn Junggeun is the outstanding, most revered figure of national-liberation movement in Korea 1905 – 1910. They investigate in detail the reasons, the course of preparation and an attempt on Ito Hirobumi on Harbin station on 26 October, 1909 on the basis of studying of new materials of the Russian archives, the Korean and Japanese sources; show, that attempt on Ito Hirobumi was not the act of individual terror, but was a part of the armed struggle of Korean patriots against Japanese aggressors. The participants of the Conference, basing on the evidence of this book and a variety of other sources, in their reports traced the short, but bright, full of patriotic deeds of Ahn Junggeun’s life. These reports contain a lot of interesting opinions, guesses and suppositions which are not always sufficiently reasoned. There are also mixed views. But all of this does not affect the appreciation of the materials presented at the Conference by scientists of four countries. It is also important that these reports specifically show the historiography of Ahn Junggeun’s feat in these four countries that will be useful for future studies on this topic. This collection of the reports presented at the International Scientific Conference, is undoubtedly newsmaker in the World Korean studies. The book is meant not only for specialists, but also for all who are interested in the history of the liberation struggle of the Korean people.