SKETCHES OF HISTORIC TRIAL

[Anchor Lead]

Drawings showing Korean independence activist An Jung-geun being tried in court for assassinating the Japanese resident-general of Korea have been unveiled for the first time. They were drawn by a Japanese journalist who attended the trial at the time.

[Pkg]

Independence activist An Jung-geun, who shot dead Japanese Resident-General Hirobumi Ito, disembarks from a train and is arrested by police. To attend his trial held the following year, An was brought to the court in a horse-drawn carriage. He appeared in the courtroom along with his comrades who also participated in the independence movement. The faces of the judges and prosecutors.... Korean attorneys looking at An from their seats... And even the images of the audience causing a commotion in the courtroom... These drawings vividly depict each step of the trial process.

[Soundbite] LEE JU-HWA(AN JUNG-GEUN MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION) : "There were photo journalists, but the Japanese judges ordered them out of the courtroom. Only graphic journalists were allowed to stay. These croquis drawings were drawn on the spot."

A ticket to the court hearing left by the Japanese journalist who drew the images says it was the fourth of the six hearings. The drawings, the ticket and even An Jung-geun's handwritten pieces have been donated by the journalist's relatives.

[Soundbite] LEE HYE-KYUN(AN JUNG-GEUN MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION) : "The reporter's family asked us to take very good care of the drawings. We are grateful to them."

These are the only remaining records of An Jung-geun's trial, including its exact date, the list of participants and the atmosphere in the courtroom.

[Soundbite] CHUNG YUN-SEO(SEOUL CITY GOVERNMENT) : "It was an unfair trial, with the judges, prosecutors, translator and attorneys all being Japanese. These drawings are a priceless document that can prove that."

The Seoul City government has requested the Cultural Heritage Administration to designate the drawings and the trial ticket as national cultural properties, and An Jung-geun's handwritten materials as as a treasure.