Historians protest reported Trump-Xi talk of 'Korea as part of China'

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean historians and activists rallied in downtown Seoul Friday angered by a report that U.S. President Donald Trump quoted Chinese leader Xi Jinping as saying the two Koreas "used to be a part of China."

The members of the Institute of Korean Cultural Studies and other history institutions lambasted Xi for "absurd remarks." They demanded Xi apologize and the international community act against "the disingenuous and irrational fabrication of history."

After the rally, the protesters marched to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul and handed over a statement that criticizes Xi's misunderstanding of history and urges China to stop their attempt to distort facts to place Korea as part of its history.

Trump made the remark while sharing what was discussed during their recent summit in a April 12 interview with the Wall Street Journal.

The quote was not included in the article but the WSJ later posted the full transcript online, in which Trump quoted Xi as saying, "He then went into the history of China and Korea. Not North Korea, Korea. And you know, you're talking about thousands of years... and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China."

The report sparked widespread outrage in South Korea, prompting the foreign ministry to contact the governments in Washington and Beijing to confirm what actually happened.

namsh@yna.co.kr
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