South Korea’s presidential office says South and North Korea and China agree in principle to a joint project to excavate a famed Korean independence activist during Japan’s colonial rule. 

Presidential Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said during a regular press briefing on Tuesday that trilateral consensus on finding the remains of freedom fighter Ahn Jung-geun has been verified through various channels. 
 
However, he said the three countries have yet to reach a stage where they can specify how to work together on the project.

This comes after President Moon Jae-in stressed the importance of the project at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day ahead of the centennial of the March First Independence Movement. 

Mentioning an unsuccessful attempt made during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, also in cooperation with North Korea and China, Moon said a resumption of such efforts will be significant and more successful than before. 

Ahn was executed by the Japanese at a prison in China in 1910 after he assassinated Hirobumi Ito, a four-time prime minister of Japan and the first resident-general of Korea in 1909.