By Xu Aiying and Kim Young Shin
Photos = Yonhap News

During his four-day state visit to China, President Moon Jae-in visited Chongqing in southwest China, one of the country's four direct-controlled municipalities.

Chongqing was once home to the Korean Provisional Government, managed by Kim Gu (김구, 金九) (1876-1949), a leader in the Korean independence movement. Chongqing also housed the military camp of the Korean independence army. Today, Chongqing is a key location in Beijing's Western Development plan, and is the starting point of its “One Belt One Road Initiative.”

President Moon has now become the first Korean president to visit the Korean Provisional Government building in Chongqing. During his visit there on Dec. 16, he said, “The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea is our foundation, our tradition.” He also visited Hyundai Motor’s Chongqing factory and have encouragement to the workers there.

After the establishment of diplomatic ties between Seoul and Beijing in 1992, Korean presidents paid visits to some Chinese cities, besides Beijing, during their state visits. In September 1992, the first Korean summit to go on a state visit to China, former President Roh Tae-woo, headed to Shanghai. Shanghai was also visited by former President Kim Young-sam in March 1994, former President Kim Dae-jung in November 1998, and former President Roh Moo-hyun in July 2003.

One of the common destinations of the presidents was the Korean Provisional Government building in Shanghai, established on April 13, 1919. Various Korean presidents also held meetings with Korean business leaders in China, and visited various landmarks in the city that leads mainland China’s economic growth.




Former President Lee Myung-bak was the first Korean president to visit Qingdao, Shandong Province, where some 10,000 Korean small- and medium-sized enterprises are located, during his state visit to China in May 2008. He visited some local Korean offices there, too.

In June 2013, former President Park Geun-hye visited Xian, the capital of Shaanxi Province, on the final day of her state visit to China. The city was the starting and ending point for the Silk Road, and is renowned for its rich historic landmarks. President Park visited the construction site of a semiconductor plant being built by Samsung Electronics, and the Terracotta Army.

“Korean presidents paid extra visits to provincial cities across China to visit historical sites important to Korea, or to emphasize their administrations’ policies,” explained Director Lee Hee Ok of the Sungkyun Institute of China Studies. “The cities also served as bridges in the Korea-China relationship.”



xuaiy@korea.kr