A former South Korean diplomat who spent more than a decade in Japan recently published a book on the roles of Hirobumi Ito, Japan's first prime minister and widely considered the archenemy of the Korean people, in the modernization of Japan.
Song Yeong Geol, 63, who is now a professor at Kyungwon College, said it is a problem that Ito's contribution to Japan's modernization is not generally known in his country. "I want to objectively present the facts and leave the judgment to readers," he said.
Ito (1841-1909), a prominent figure in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), is widely considered the archenemy of the Koreans, along with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the warlord who invaded Korea in the 16th century.