Piece of Korea's Provisional Gov't found with a single photo
- 5 years ago
사진 한 장으로 찾은 광저우 임시정부 청사 '동산백원'
100 South Korean students made a special trip to China in July, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Korea's Provisional Government's establishment.
For the final instalment of our series, Our Lee Ji-won gets us better acquainted with the recently discovered government complex used in the 1930s.
On a sunny day, students run around the streets of Guangzhou city, searching for something,... with papers clutched in their hands.
"Our mission is to find the city's Provisional Government's complex."
After a bit more running,... students finally arrive infront of a residential building,... the 'Dong San Baek Won'.
It's what Korea's Provisional Government used as a complex for two months in July of 1938, as they hid from Japanese soldiers during Japan's colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
This is one of the many historical sites on the tour for 100 students taking part in the South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry's event to revisit the sites of the provisional government in China, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Korea's first administrative body.
But this site is all the more special as it was only discovered three years ago.
Dong San Baek Won appears in historical documents, but it was thought to have been bombed during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
In 2012, South Korea's Consulate General in Guangzhou and historians tried to search for an approximate area of the site, until they found the old address of the complex in 2015.
They later discovered that the complex was also used by Academia Sinica in 1928, a prominent academic institution, now based in Taiwan.
"We asked various Taiwanese institutes for information about the building. And in 2008, Academia Sinica gave us a picture of the entrance of the building back in the 1920s. We then searched for one that looks similar to the picture, and eventually we found it."
After careful verification, South Korea's Foreign Affairs Ministry announced the discovery in early 2017.
The students, who were given the chance to search for the complex with just a few clues, say they could understand the hardship.
"It was really hard with only limited pieces of evidence. It's a good thing the site has been found, as many were lost with China's development. But I think it's also important to restore and try to preserve them."
In fact, there's not much that shows the building was once used by Korea's Provisional Government.
"The building was designated as historical architecture of modern history by the Guangzhou government in 2018. Thus it cannot be bought or sold. But also, there are people who are living there, and people who claim property rights on it. So it's not so simple for the Chinese government to give us access to the building."
Still, the historian says the building will never again be forgotten,... and she believes one day, their continued efforts will result in at least a single sign that says the building was once a home to the Korean Pro
100 South Korean students made a special trip to China in July, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Korea's Provisional Government's establishment.
For the final instalment of our series, Our Lee Ji-won gets us better acquainted with the recently discovered government complex used in the 1930s.
On a sunny day, students run around the streets of Guangzhou city, searching for something,... with papers clutched in their hands.
"Our mission is to find the city's Provisional Government's complex."
After a bit more running,... students finally arrive infront of a residential building,... the 'Dong San Baek Won'.
It's what Korea's Provisional Government used as a complex for two months in July of 1938, as they hid from Japanese soldiers during Japan's colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
This is one of the many historical sites on the tour for 100 students taking part in the South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry's event to revisit the sites of the provisional government in China, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Korea's first administrative body.
But this site is all the more special as it was only discovered three years ago.
Dong San Baek Won appears in historical documents, but it was thought to have been bombed during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
In 2012, South Korea's Consulate General in Guangzhou and historians tried to search for an approximate area of the site, until they found the old address of the complex in 2015.
They later discovered that the complex was also used by Academia Sinica in 1928, a prominent academic institution, now based in Taiwan.
"We asked various Taiwanese institutes for information about the building. And in 2008, Academia Sinica gave us a picture of the entrance of the building back in the 1920s. We then searched for one that looks similar to the picture, and eventually we found it."
After careful verification, South Korea's Foreign Affairs Ministry announced the discovery in early 2017.
The students, who were given the chance to search for the complex with just a few clues, say they could understand the hardship.
"It was really hard with only limited pieces of evidence. It's a good thing the site has been found, as many were lost with China's development. But I think it's also important to restore and try to preserve them."
In fact, there's not much that shows the building was once used by Korea's Provisional Government.
"The building was designated as historical architecture of modern history by the Guangzhou government in 2018. Thus it cannot be bought or sold. But also, there are people who are living there, and people who claim property rights on it. So it's not so simple for the Chinese government to give us access to the building."
Still, the historian says the building will never again be forgotten,... and she believes one day, their continued efforts will result in at least a single sign that says the building was once a home to the Korean Pro