As President Lee Jae-myung, on a state visit to China, is set to visit Shanghai on the afternoon of the 6th, local media highlighted the shared "anti-Japanese" history of Korea and China and said Lee's Shanghai visit is intended to exert political pressure on Japan.
On the 6th, the Shanghai Liberation Daily reported this while introducing anti-Japanese sites in Shanghai in a story titled "There are historical emotions and memories here, and more importantly, a broader opportunity for cooperation."
The Liberation Daily mentioned the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea building in Shanghai's Huangpu District, the site of Patriot Yun Bong-gil's 1932 operation, and the Yun Bong-gil Memorial Hall, explaining, "After Japan began its invasion of the Korean Peninsula in the early last century, local patriots came to Shanghai and devoted themselves to the national independence movement."
Citing Li Ning, a researcher at the Center for Northeast Asian Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, it said, "President Lee Jae-myung hopes to set Korea's political direction straight through this (Shanghai) visit, and on the other hand, by coming to China before visiting Japan and making such (Provisional Government, etc.) inspections in Shanghai, he showed an intention to apply political pressure on Japan over historical issues."
It added that during Lee's tenure as Gyeonggi governor, he promoted field trips for middle school students to overseas anti-Japanese sites such as Shanghai and Russia's Primorsky region, and said it was "true education" to instill proper historical awareness in youth, the future of the Republic of Korea.
On the third day of his state visit to China, Lee will meet in succession with Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's No. 2 and No. 3 in protocol order, and then visit Shanghai in the afternoon. In Shanghai, a dinner with Party Secretary Chen Jining and visits to sites including the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea building are scheduled.