Traces of Baekje palace found in Gongsanseong Fortress

The entrances to a palace and traces of large-scale construction works have been discovered at an excavation site of Gongsanseong Fortress in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province. The city of Gongju and the Gongju University Museum have found in an excavation they began in June last year that gates to what seems to be the royal palace and traces of construction works for related facilities, the Cultural Heritage Administration said Tuesday.

The entrance facility, in the form of a palace gate with the structure of soil compaction, is 50 meters in length, 36 meters in width and 3.5 meters in depth. On an inclined slope, ordinary stones and trimmed stones were both used to prevent a landslide. Also, a row for pillars longer than 30 centimeters was found at a wide, flat square. On the highest northern ground, traces of several platforms were uncovered, which are assumed to have been closely related to the status of a nation or a royal authority.

The latest excavation reveals that Gongsanseong Fortress is a large-scale national facility that Baekje constructed after it moved its capital from Hanseong to Ungjin. “The entrance facility is assumed to be a palace gate,” an excavation team said. “The construction structure, such as the large soil compaction and facilities to protect an outer wall, seems to be pointing to the largest construction works of Baekje found since Pungnaptoseong.”


Jong-Yeob JO jjj@donga.com