Goguryeo Sites Found near DMZ

Three hundred Goguryeo tombs and large-scale stone-age sites were found in the DMZ area of Hoengsan-ri, Joong-myun, Yeonchun in Gyeonggi.

“We recently heard from one of the residents, and the sites found are the biggest in scope among those that were ever found in South Korea so far,” said Choi Moo-jang, an archaeology professor at Konkuk University and Lim Hyo-jae, a professor of archaeology at Seoul National University. The entrance to this military area has been restricted to the general public and access has only been allowed for some local residents in the area.

The professors confirmed that the style of the tomb building is “accumulated stones with packets of mud,” which is typical of Goguryeo tombs. “The construction age for the tombs would be around the late fifth to early sixth century after the capital of Goguryeo was moved to Pyeongyang,” said Choi.

Also supporting the claim are the pieces of Goguryeo hardened earthenware found around the tombs. Lim emphasized that “There can be murals to be found in the tombs.”

Meanwhile, large-scale stone-age artifacts were found on a ginseng farm near the Imjin River, one kilometer away from the tomb sites. “Just a surface soil examination revealed 300 items from the Stone Age, including 13 fist axes, which are typical stone-age artifacts,” said Choi. Professor Bae Gi-dong of Hanyang University, who discovered Joengokri stone-age sites, commented, “Compared to the 1978 Joengokri ruins where there were only 30 fist axes were found, this sites have high potential.”

Chae-Hyun Kwon confetti@donga.com