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China removed all accounts of pre-1948 Korean history, including Koguryo history, from the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
The Chinese government, having received strong protests from the Korean government concerning distortions of Koguryo history, decided on this course of action Monday and informed the Korean government through diplomatic channels.
The Chinese government, however, is not acceding to strong Korean demands that it restore the section on Koguryo history back to the description of Korean history on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website (www.fmprc.gov.cn), and it's latest response measure of deleting all Korean history prior to the foundation of the Republic of Korea on August 15, 1948 is being condemned as an attempt to "evade the truth."
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Chinese reporters (left line) hold a bull session with Korean Foreign Ministry beat reporters at the Foreign Ministry office on Thursday afternoon.
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Concerning this, the Korean government expressed its regret and disappointment through diplomatic channels in Seoul and Beijing on Wednesday, and strongly demanded that China stop distorting Koguryo history and make corrections.
Accordingly, the controversy surrounding the Koguryo historical distortion issue has entered "Round 2," and attention is focusing on which additional positions the Chinese will adopt next.
Park Joon-woo, the director general of Asia-Pacific Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, was sent to Beijing on Thursday afternoon, where he will stay until Saturday and meet with high-ranking Chinese Foreign Ministry officials to demand the Chinese government's clear position on this along with immediate countermeasures to correct the situation and ensure that this problem not take place again.
The Chinese government also removed accounts of pre-World War II Japanese history from its Foreign Ministry homepage.
About this, Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil said Thursday that, "The Korean government expressed its disappointment and regret concerning these Chinese government measures through diplomatic channels in Seoul and Beijing on Wednesday, and conveyed our position that Koguryo history is an indivisible part of our people's history, a historical fact on which we cannot yield."
Shin said, "The government also strongly demanded that China take measures to stop and correct distortions of Goguyro history that are taking place within regional authorities and published materials like university textbooks."
He added, "The government is pressing that immediate measures to stop distortions of Koguryo history be taken by the Chinese government in the spirit of good neighborliness and friendship, as Koguryo history is the root of our people and a grave matter connected to our identity. We will closely scrutinize the attitude of the Chinese government with deep interest."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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