Pyongyang, April 28 (KCNA) -- Emperor Kojong of Korea was murdered by poison in January 1919. This case is a historical proof of the brutality and viciousness of the Japanese imperialists who mercilessly killed anyone against their colonial rule.

At that time, anxious about the ever-increasing moves of the Japanese imperialists to invade Korea, Emperor Kojong resolutely rejected their demand for the conclusion of the "Ulsa Five-point Treaty" and later refused all the forcible demands aimed at seizing the sovereign rights.

When the Japanese imperialists illegally cooked up the "treaty", Kojong maintained his anti-Japanese stand through secret diplomatic activities to neutralize it.

At last, the Japanese imperialists formed a cabinet with pro-Japanese traitors to reduce the power of the emperor. With the Hague emissary case as an occasion, they plotted to dethrone and kill Kojong.

After forcibly dethroning Kojong by applying persistent pressure and trickeries, they cruelly poisoned him. In order to cover their atrocities, they took those who had examined the body of the emperor into custody and assassinated even the waiting maids who had witnessed his death.

The "Second Declaration of Independence", published by the Korean "provisional government" in China in 1921, says that Kojong's eyes were blood-colored and his whole body was marked with many red spots after he died.

Ten-odd years ago, a diary of the then director of the auditing bureau at Japan's royal office in 1919 was made public at an international academic conference. The diary disclosed the fact that Terauchi, the first governor-general in Korea, ordered the commander of the Japanese army in Korea to poison Emperor Kojong who refused to recognize the "Ulsa Five-point Treaty".

As seen above, the case was a heinous state-sponsored terrorist act committed by the Japanese imperialists in an organized and planned way. -0-