The president paid his respects to Kim Koo, the first head of the provisional government, and other key members.

He also visited the empty burial site reserved for Ahn Jung-geun, who in 1909 assassinated Ito Hirobumi, a four-time prime minister of Japan and the first resident-general of Korea, at China's Harbin train station.

Ahn was executed by colonial Japan in China, but his remains have yet to be discovered despite years of search by the South Korean government.

Moon's trip to the cemetery also highlights his recognition of the provisional government as the legitimate predecessor of the current government, unlike former conservative administrations that had often promoted the government established after the country's liberation in 1945 as the start of the current democratic government. (Yonhap)