As former Chinese President Jiang Zemin entered Yeongmyeong, the relationship with Jeju is also being highlighted.
According to the Chinese Consulate General in Jeju on the 3rd, former President Zhang died at the age of 96 in Shanghai, China on November 30, and an incense burner was set up at the Consulate General in Jeju.
The deceased, who became the country’s president in 1993, held a summit meeting with then-President Kim Young-sam at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in November of that year.
In November 1995, he visited Korea for the first time as a Chinese president. He held a joint press conference during his five-day visit to Korea and became the first Chinese head of state to address the National Assembly.
Despite their busy schedules, they visited Jeju and made friends. In particular, he announced the beginning of his private exchanges while visiting the Bonsai Art Institute (now Thinking Garden) located in Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju-si.
In 1998, then vice-president Hu Jintao and in 2005, then Xi Jinping, then secretary of Zijing Province, visited the Garden of Thought one following another to add meaning to the visit of the deceased.
Since then, the Garden of Thought has served as a stepping stone for private exchanges between the two countries. On November 5, a ceremony was held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and China.
On the 3rd, Jeju Governor Oh Yeong-hoon paid condolences at the incense burner at the Chinese Consulate General in Jeju, expressing condolences for the deceased and exchanges between the two countries.
Governor Oh left a note in the condolence log, “I wish the rest of former President Jiang Zemin, who cherished Jeju, and convey my condolences to the bereaved family and the Chinese people.”
Then, he conveyed his condolences to the Chinese consul general in Jeju, Wang Luxin, on behalf of the people of Jeju, and expressed his intention to cooperate in strengthening exchanges between Jeju Island and China.
