China has reportedly agreed to cooperate with South Korea's search for the remains of an early 20th-century Korean independence fighter.

An official at the South Korean consulate in Shenyang said Thursday that the Liaoning provincial government said it would cooperate in locating the remains of the historical figure An Jung-geun. The remains are believed to be in the city of Dalian in the northeastern Chinese province.

The official also said the search could be delayed until next month as the South Korean Ministry of Patriots and Veteran Affairs has not given the consulate details of its search plan.

An is believed to have been buried near a prison in Dalian, where he was held after assassinating Ito Hirobumi, the Japanese colonial governor of Korea, in 1909. An was executed in March 1910.

Japanese authorities at the time kept the burial site a secret for fear that it could become a rallying point for the Korean independence movement.