중국 내 대한민국 임시정부 기념관 건립 경과와 현황

Abstract

Currently, 719 historical sites associated with the Korean independence movement are confirmed and verified in 17 countries worldwide. Among these countries, China encompasses almost a half (48%) of the entire historical sites (354 sites), because the Korean independence movement had been majorly deployed in China during Japanese annexation of Korea. In southern parts of China, numerous historical sites related with the 27 year-long provisional government of the Republic of Korea are preserved. Although many of those are identified anonymously or with their addresses only, a few sites have been fully restored with their original shapes and even with memorial halls. In China, 5 provisional government offices of the Republic of Korea have been restored with memorial halls, and are open to domestic and international visitors. In addition, in spite of not being a part of governmental offices, a few historical sites related with Korean provisional government were restored with memorial halls. While the restoration and construction of the historical sites were supervised by both Korean and Chinese governments, the current management is being solely executed by a local Chinese government. The China government utilizes the history of the provisional government of the Republic of Korea as a source of a cultural history and tourism attractions. The restored government offices and their exhibition halls in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Changsha, Liuzhou and Chongqing are exemplary monuments. However, the succinct summary of the memorial halls’ foundation processes and their current status in China are largely missing. Unfortunately, even the Independence Hall of Korea, which sponsored the foundation and restoration of the provisional governments in China, has not archived nor organized related records well. In this manuscript, we aim to clarify the foundation rationales and processes, and current status of the five provisional government offices and their corresponding exhibition halls according to the field work in China. The provisional government of the Republic of Korea represents legitimacy in our national history of the era of division, and serves as a precious national monument that enables us to claim the preemptive priority of reunification. In addition, it also serves as a world-wide monument to share historical values together with China and with the international community. What will be ways to commemorate the provisional government of the Republic of Korea, which has been faithful to the constitutional values, in three years ahead of the 100th anniversary of the exile government establishment? As a part of the ways, this manuscript justifies to build another memorial hall for the provisional government domestically by examining the current status of the provisional government of the Republic of Korea assembled in China.