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NO : 196 Date : Aug/10/04 15:38
Name : gohomestay/ E-mail : <info@gohomestay.com>
Subject : Government, party to form panel on Goguryeo
With diplomatic tensions escalating, government officials and lawmakers agreed yesterday to work together in pursuing Seoul's "history war" with Beijing over the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo.
Top officials at the Foreign Ministry and lawmakers of the ruling Uri Party agreed yesterday to work together to form a joint taskforce to counter China's distortion of the history of the ancient Goguryeo Kingdom.

Members of the Uri Party, including floor leader Chun Jung-bae, called on Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck for a rare meeting as public anger remained high over China's latest move last week deleting all Korean history pre-1948 from its Foreign Ministry Web site.

They agreed the government had to take a strong stance and actively pursue correction of the records on Goguryeo, an ancient Korean kingdom that controlled the upper part of the Korean Peninsula from 37 B.C. to 668 A.D. Much of it is in China's Manchuria, still home to millions of ethnic Koreans.


Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck (right) talks with a ministry official at a meeting with key ruling par-ty officials on China`s distortion of the history of Korea`s ancient kingdom of Goguryeo. [The Korea Herald]

"We will also expand support for academic institutions studying the Goguryeo Kingdom," Rep. Ahn Young-keun, Uri Party's chief policy coordinator, said. "It reflects our resolution to get tougher on the issue."

A review is underway to see who should oversee the proposed joint taskforce, officials said. It is most likely to be under the umbrella of either the National Security Council or the Prime Minister's Office.

The decision followed President Roh Moo-hyun's order a day earlier for the advisory body of the Presidential Committee on Northeast Asian Cooperation Initiative to conduct a comprehensive study of the histories of Korea, Japan and China.

Shortly after Lee met Uri lawmakers, leading members of the main opposition Grand National Party visited the Foreign Ministry, urging Minister Ban Ki-moon to step up action and take a "dignified" stance with China

"Bilateral relations are important but the government must pressure China for the correction (on Goguryeo) in a dignified way when dealing with an issue that has to do with our roots," said Rep. Park Jin, who chairs the GNP's foreign relations committee.

"The Foreign Ministry must take a more active stance with dignity so that our history is not distorted and practice diplomacy in line with national interest."

Ban promised the ministry will keep strong pressure on China, saying the ministry remains firm "any distortion of our history or damage to our roots is completely unacceptable."

The conflict emerged as a diplomatic issue between Seoul and Beijing earlier this year after a state-funded Chinese research project claimed Goguryeo was a provincial government of China.

That claim led to the last week's Chinese action to delete from its Foreign Ministry Web site all references prior to 1948 of Korea's history, including the ancient kingdom.

China's move is viewed as a major embarrassment to Seoul, which has been demanding Beijing restore the references to Goguryeo that were removed in April from the introduction to Korean history on the ministry Web site.

* Ref : http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/08/10/200408100023.asp
           
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