It was on this day in 1909 that Prince Ito Hirobumi, the first Prime Minister of Japan, was assassinated in Manchuria by the deranged Korean An Jung-Geun. The Prince will always have an honored place in Japanese history, having played a crucial role in the establishment of modern Japan. In setting up a new system of taxation, the peerage system, normalizing relations with the Qing Empire and his work to restore order in Korea after the war with Russia, his accomplishments speak for themselves. It is, however, a pity that his assassin is today held up as a hero by bigoted elements in Korea as if he were some sort of hero for independence. The fact that this is mindless bigotry is proven by the fact that the Prince actually opposed the annexation of Korea, fearing it would be too big of a burden on Japan, and preferred it to remain a protectorate while the celebrated murderer of the Prince oddly claimed to revere the Japanese Emperor and to love Japan while his action only accelerated the issue of annexation, being upheld as an example that lawlessness would prevail if Japan did not take control of Korea.
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