As President Lee Jae-myung pays a state visit to China and plans to visit the Shanghai Provisional Government building on the 7th, Samsung's "Songshan (嵩山) Project," which pushed for the building's restoration 33 years ago, is drawing renewed attention.
Samsung C&T, which had been preparing to enter the Chinese market since 1990, before the formal establishment of diplomatic relations with China (Aug. 1992), learned that the Shanghai Provisional Government building was on the verge of disappearing without a trace and decided to push ahead with a restoration project.
The building restored at that time is the place that served as the heart of the Provisional Government for about six years from July 1926 until April 1932, when the Provisional Government moved to Hangzhou. Left neglected as a private home for a long time, it had been so severely damaged that it was hard to recognize its original form.
Samsung C&T published a booklet titled "Our history introduced incorrectly" in Dec. 1990 and, using that as a starting point, held an in-house "event idea contest" to expand cultural projects.
Lee Jae-cheong, Director General in charge of sales at the Distribution Division, who had just returned from a business trip to Shanghai, China, proposed "the restoration of the Shanghai Provisional Government building," and the project, selected as the grand prize, passed the headquarters management meeting and was named the "Songshan (嵩山) Project." The aim was to elevate Korea's legitimacy and inspire the succession of the patriots' spirit.
Samsung C&T, with cooperation from the Ministry of Culture and the Independence Hall of Korea, adopted a restoration agreement with Shanghai authorities in China in 1991. It provided relocation expense support to the residents living in the building and repaired details such as staircases and window frames. After extensive inquiries, it collected tables, chairs, beds, and other items used in the 1920s and recreated the conference room, kitchen, reception room, office, and accommodations exactly as they were during the Provisional Government era.
At the completion ceremony held on Apr. 13, 1993, to coincide with the anniversary of the Provisional Government's establishment, about 100 people attended, including Kim Sin, former Minister of Transportation and son of Chairman Kim Gu; Ahn Chun-saeng, former head of the Liberation Association and nephew of independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun; Yoon Ju-ung, grandson of independence fighter Yoon Bong-gil; Choi Chang-gyu, director of the Independence Hall of Korea; and Shin Se-gil, president of Samsung C&T.
In a thank-you letter sent to Samsung C&T at the time, Yoon Ju-ung said, "Seeing the Provisional Government building, which my grandfather must have entered and left from time to time with a heavy heart, being restored, I cannot fully express in words the excitement that wells up in my chest," and added, "I am truly grateful to Samsung C&T, the Independence Hall of Korea, and our government officials for their efforts that fortunately made it possible to preserve this building in this way."
Alongside the restoration of the Shanghai Provisional Government building, Samsung C&T conducted a survey of Korean cultural assets scattered across China, unearthed more than 1,400 items, and compiled and published related booklets in China and in Korea.