South Korean President Lee Jae-myung attended the 100th anniversary ceremony commemorating the founding of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea at its former site in Shanghai, emphasizing that only by respecting and remembering history can trust between nations be maintained.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee stated in his speech at the ceremony on the 7th that Shanghai is the place where independence activist and founding father of Korea, Baekbeom Kim Gu, wrote his autobiography "Baekbeom's Memoirs," as well as the site of Korean national hero Yun Bong-gil's heroic deed. The Provisional Government's philosophy of democratic republicanism has continued, ushering in the era of true national sovereignty for South Korea.
Lee Jae-myung emphasized that only by correctly understanding history can we better create the future. The intense struggles by the peoples of both China and Korea for national independence and liberation have been recorded in history and have become the foundation of friendship between the two countries.
Lee also remarked that only by respecting and remembering history can trust between nations be maintained. During his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he called for China's attention to the excavation of the remains of independence activist Ahn Jung-geun and the protection of sites related to the Korean independence movement in China.
Before the anniversary ceremony, Lee Jae-myung went to the first floor of the memorial hall to lay flowers and pay respects before the bust of Kim Gu, and wrote in the guest book: "The place where the Republic of Korea began, the Republic of Korea must be protected." In addition, at Lee Jae-myung's invitation, Kim Yong-wan, the great-grandson of Kim Gu and a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, accompanied him to the event.