[Opinion] Goguryeo Relics

The Unbong hydroelectric plant at Amnok River, also known as Yalu River in Chinese, was created by a joint venture between China and North Korea in 1964 to equally share the generated electricity; however it is currently under Chinese control. North Korea and China face each other with a river between them, so half of the dam is in North Korean territory. The recent discovery of approximately 2,300 ancient Goguryeo tombs and the ruins of an old castle has brought attention to this location. Chinese media call it Yunfeng Dam, but the Korean equivalent of Yunfeng, which is Unbong, is derived from a village in North Korean side called Unbong-ri.

For a long time, academics already knew the fact that ancient Goguryeo tombs were submerged under the dam. The relics surfaced to the world because China lowered the water level in order to repair the dam. The existence of about 2,300 ancient tombs means that the people who constructed them ruled the area for a prolonged period and that it was a very powerful group. The focus of attention is the type of people they were. China’s Xinhua News Agency quoted a Chinese expert and reported the discovery of the relics, claiming that they were “tombs and a castle constructed during the Han Dynasty.”

Our scholars consider it just as absurd. Han Dynasty castles are earthen castles built from mud which are explicitly distinguished from Goguryeo’s stone castles. The recently discovered castle is a stone castle, making it a Goguryeo castle. Despite the uncovering of a vast archeological site, China started to fill the dam even without excavating the site. I wonder that if it is a Chinese cultural relic as they claim, why are they hurrying so much to submerge the site? Korean academics explain that Chinese authorities are attempting to bury the issue before Korea suggests a joint examination.

Unbong Dam’s “co-owner” North Korea reportedly requested to South Korean scholars, “North Korea will deal firmly with Japan’s distortion of history. Instead, South Korea should deal well with China’s distortion of history.” The silence of North Korea, claiming to be “self-reliant” but endlessly weak against China, might be accepted, but South Korea should openly request a joint examination. There are concerns among Korean academics that China’s Northeast Project, which plans to incorporate Goguryeo into Chinese history, is in the finishing stage with only history textbooks remaining to be changed.

Hong Chang-sik, Editorial Writer, chansik@donga.com