(2nd LD) U.S. envoy tours museum honoring Korean nationalist leader amid history row

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By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- The top U.S. envoy in Seoul toured a local museum
Saturday that honors an ill-fated Korean nationalist leader and former
independence fighter whose government-in-exile was recently disputed in an
official South Korean booklet.
U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens stressed that her visit was due to a personal
academic interest, but it comes shortly after a prominent group of former
liberation fighters threatened to relinquish their government-awarded medals in
protest of a booklet that disputes the legitimacy of their regime-in-exile formed
during the Japanese colonial period.
"I don't follow day-to-day" on historical Korean issues, Stephens told reporters
before beginning her one-and-a-half-hour tour. "What I do know is that learning
Korean history, studying Korean history is an ongoing project for all of us."
The booklet, released in October, describes the 1919-1948 provisional government
as lacking the qualities of an authentic political body but plays up the
legitimacy of its successor, elected exclusively in the South under U.S. military
occupation.
Seoul's culture minister has expressed regret over the row and pledged to make
revisions, but the group remains up in arms, accusing the conservative government
that took office early last year of attempting to rewrite history in favor of
anti-communist leaders.
Kim Koo, in whose honor the museum is dedicated, was the last president of the
government-in-exile and campaigned to bridge the chasm between Soviet-backed
Pyongyang and U.S.-sponsored Seoul after Korea was liberated from Japan in 1945.
He was accused of appeasing communists and assassinated just a year before the
1950-53 Korean War broke out, decisively splitting the peninsula.
"I know there's much to learn here. So that's how I came to visit today,
something I've been waiting to do almost two years," Stephens said, adding she
has wished to make the visit since meeting with Kim's family in 2007 and reading
his autobiography.
"My knowledge of (Korean history) is not terribly deep, but I did really enjoy
reading the translated biography," said Stephens, who speaks fluent Korean and
has an extensive academic background in Asian history. "I think it gives us a lot
of insight into ... a very, very important and challenging time in Korean
history."
Stephens, a career diplomat, made headlines when she took office here in
September, having taught English in South Korea as a Peace Corps volunteer more
than three decades ago. Her Saturday tour marked the first any incumbent American
ambassador has made to the museum, according to the South Korean veterans affairs
office.
Stephens toured the 2002-built museum with her son, James, and was guided by
Kim's grandson.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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