Seoul, November 12 (IANS). The remains of South Korean independence fighter Lee Ui-gyeong will be repatriated from Germany this week after 105 years. Veteran Ministry gave this information on Tuesday
Lee is best known for the autobiographical novel ‘The Yalu River Flows’, which depicts life during Japan’s colonization of 1910-45.
Lee’s remains will arrive at Incheon International Airport on Saturday after a memorial and farewell ceremony held at his mausoleum in the southern German municipality of Greifelfing, according to the ministry.
The funeral ceremony will be held on Sunday at the National Cemetery in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a ministry statement.
Born in Haeju, in the modern-day North Korean province of South Hwanghae, in 1899, Lee joined the independence movement, but was forced into exile in Shanghai later in 1919.
In 1920 Lee went to Germany, where he helped raise awareness of the independence movement and published ‘The Yalu River Flows’. Later this book was included in German school textbooks.
Lee died of stomach cancer in 1950.
South Korea has been engaged in repatriating the remains of independence activists since 1946. According to the ministry, Lee’s remains will be the 149th to be brought home.
–IANS
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