China to double size of memorial hall for Korean independence fighter: report

China will double the size of a memorial hall dedicated to a revered Korean independence fighter by the end of 2018, a Chinese news report said Saturday.

The hall honoring Ahn Jung-geun opened at Harbin station in the northeastern Chinese city of the same name in January 2014. Ahn is a historic figure who assassinated the Korean Peninsula's first Japanese governor-general, Hirobumi Ito, at the station in October 1909.

Harbin municipal authorities and railway authorities plan to expand the hall while reconstructing the station to double its size from the current 200 square meters, according to xinhuanet.com, which is operated by the official Xinhua news agency. China will pay for the relevant costs.

"Ahn is a hero of the anti-Japanese independence movement and is widely revered among the Chinese," the report quoted a municipal official as saying. "Even now, about 60 percent of visitors to the hall are Chinese."

About 300,000 people are estimated to have visited the museum since its opening.

The hall showcases various materials related to Ahn's life and work and a large glass window through which visitors can see the site of the assassination. (Yonhap)