China on Monday rejected the "protest" from Japan about the establishment of a memorial for a Korean who assassinated a prominent Japanese colonial leader a century ago, urging Japan to reflect on their own history.

Ahn Jung-geun, the commemorated Korean, shot dead Hirobumi Ito, who had served as the prime minister of Japan four times before becoming resident-general of Korea in 1905, at Harbin railway station on October 26, 1909.

China on Sunday unveiled the memorial hall at the railway station in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said Monday that Tokyo had told Beijing and Seoul it considered the monument "extremely regrettable," labeling him a "terrorist."

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Monday said the memorial is completely reasonable and justified.

Ahn was hanged in 1910. Korea formally became a Japanese colony in the same year until 1945.

Hong described Ahn as "a renowned anti-Japanese activist" who has been respected by the Chinese people, and stated that China does not accept the so-called protest by the Japanese side.

South Korea's foreign ministry on Monday welcomed the memorial. "We hope that the museum will offer an opportunity for Northeast Asian countries to set the path for genuine peace and cooperation based on correct historical awareness," it said.

In a statement released later in response to Suga's remarks, Seoul described Ahn as a "hero who had sacrificed himself for the independence of Korea and for true peace in Asia."

Tokyo enraged both Beijing and Seoul last month and made diplomatic tensions rose further when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals along with Japan's war dead.

Agencies - Global Times