This photo of pro-independence activists Kim Koo (Gu) (left) and Yun Bong-gil was taken in 1932. (Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs)

By Koh Hyunjeong

A government study will cover all sites related to Korea's pro-independence movement scattered around the world.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs on Feb. 25 announced its planned launch next month of a fact-finding study of 1,032 such sites in 24 countries including China, Japan and the U.S.

The Korea Independence Movement History Research Institute, an affiliate of the Independence Hall of Korea, will conduct the three-year study through 2028. Academic and fact-finding studies were done annually at about 60 sites but have been plagued by blind spots in management in which no work was done for over a decade.

China has the most known sites related to the movement (483), followed by the U.S. (159), Russia (123) and Japan (69).

From 2027-28, the study will cover the remaining 774 sites across the Americas, Europe, Russia and Asia in that order.

Minister Kwon Oh-eul said, "The government will ensure that these sites are systematically preserved and managed, and will also actively promote them so that both the Korean people and the international community can experience and remember the history of Korea’s independence."

hjkoh@korea.kr