Japanese Builders of Daegu Mercury Pond

Suseongmot Pond is a fairly large pond in Suseong-gu, Daegu, and currently a lake park is built.

This pond was built by a Japanese man named Rintaro Mizusaki who settled in Suseong as a pioneer farmer during the Japanese colonial period and decided that irrigation facilities were insufficient, so he created a union with Koreans and received investment from the Japanese Government-General of Korea

When Lintaro died while maintaining Suseongmot Pond for the rest of his life, he was asked to bury it in the place where Suseongmot Pond was visible, so there is his tomb nearby.

As part of the friendship between Korea and Japan, Suseong-gu has held an annual memorial service for him as a local citizen, but has suspended the event due to anti-Japanese sentiment caused by the Korea-Japan trade dispute.

The following is a summary of the opinions on Rintaro Mizusaki’s memorial service.

A He is no different from the invaders who developed our land without permission during the Japanese colonial period.

Although he claims to be well-intentioned, he has clearly benefited from this construction and is not sure it was for the sake of the region. Also, the fact that the money of the Governor-General of Korea was spent is inevitable to be criticized. If so, should those who laid railways and electricity in Joseon be honored as righteous people?

Apart from the inevitable times, his actions were clearly in the local interest.

Whatever the hidden intention, it was used well as agricultural water in the past, but now it is a resting place for citizens, so not only the bad Japanese but also the Japanese who helped us can go on the path of friendship between Korea and Japan.