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Once upon a time, Alexander the Great was envisioning a country. Was it present-day Macedonia? And, is the ideal country envisioned by Genghis Khan present-day Mongolia? Couldn't it be, perhaps, that our proud King Gwanggaeto the Great envisioned a country much greater and more wonderful than the one envisioned by Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan? And will the Republic of Korea qualify as such a country?
Launched in 2006 to promote a correct understanding of our nation's history and lay a foundation for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, the Northeast Asian History Foundation has held History Concerts since 2011, a series of events designed to inspire young citizens with correct perception and insight into our nation's history. The 5th History Concert, co-hosted by cyber-diplomats VANK, was held in the National Museum of Korea auditorium for three hours from 2pm to 5pm on October 28, 2012. With about 400 students and the general public participating, the concert was held on the theme 'A Country Envisioned by King Gwanggaeto the Great' commemorating his 1,600th death anniversary.

'History Concert,' Where Youths Can Gain a Correct Understanding of History and Connect with Others

As with the four previous events, the 5th History Concert was designed to give youths a correct perception of historical conflicts in Northeast Asia get them involved so that they could better understand history and connect with others. In particular, in a survey run before the event, the young participants had voted King Gwanggaeto the most dynamic and proud figure in the history of Korea. Accordingly, the 5th History Concert built its theme around King Gwanggaeto. By arranging experts to answer the questions that the youths might have about King Gwanggaeto, Koguryo's history and culture, this event is believed to have helped the youths of Korea deepen their understanding of Koguryo.

There was more excitement than ever in this History Concert consisting of pre-concert events, including experiencing a rubbing of the Gwanggaeto Stele inscriptions and quiz, and the main events: A Story of King Gwanggaeto the Great (Jang Gi-chang, the writer of the KBS Drama "King Gwanggaeto the Great"); A Story of the Kings and History of Koguryo (Seoul National University of Education Professor Im Gi-hwan, NAHF Research Fellow Geum Gyeong-sook); and A 21st-Century Story of King Gwanggaeto the Great (Youth Participation Space), followed by a congratulatory performance by 'Ureuk,' the Chungju Municipal Band for Korean Traditional Performing Arts. One particularly impressive contestant for the pre-concert quiz knew all the names of Koguryo kings by heart, from the 1st to 28th ones, reminding me once again that Korean students were highly interested in Koguryo.

The 'Leadership' of King Gwanggaeto Viewed from the point of the 21st Century and the 'Northeast Project' of China

One of the talks guests invited to the main event of this History Concert was Jang Gi-chang, who wrote the KBS epic drama 'King Gwanggaeto the Great.' He gave a speech on 'The Leadership of King Gwanggaeto the Great and the 21st Century,' in which he talked about how he had come to discover leadership unique to King Gwanggaeto the Great in the process of making historical epic dramas. According to the writer, King Gwanggaeto, although widely known as a ruler of conquest, was also a tolerant king who embraced the culture of a certain region, once he conquered it, rather than always forcing that region into Koguryo's territory. The writer said he had realized that the 21st century also called for powerful, embracing leadership modeled after that of the tolerant King Gwanggaeto, and emphasized that we should embrace North Korea and the whole world, and use economic power more than military power, and use culture more than economic power, in doing so.

As the second talk guest, SNUE professor Im Gi-hwan gave a speech on 'evaluation of King Gwanggaeto,' drawing attention with his argument that while territorial expansion was important to King Gwanggaeto, what was more important to him was to make Koguryo, a nation surrounded by power states at that time, the 'center of the world,' and that his efforts to stabilize the social system of Koguryo to this end warranted rethinking him as a ruler of social reform.

And NAHF Senior Research Fellow Geum Gyeong-sook took over and moved on to the subject of the Northeast Project of China. She started with the exact definition of the Northeast Project, and went on to explain to the youths the background of the project, its nature as a carefully planned state project of which preparation went back as far as to 1992 when the ROK and China established diplomatic relations, and proposed our stance on it and the roles of youths. As she noted in the conclusion of her speech, China's approach to the history of Koguryo is completely different from ours. As she also emphasized, while China is treating Koguryo sites simply as tourist attractions and doesn't really care about the history of Koguryo, we not only know well what is ours, but also has special feelings for it, so the history of Koguryo is obviously part of ours.

A Country Envisioned by King Gwanggaeto the Great, A Country Envisioned by Korean Youths

China is emerging as a new absolute power surpassing the United States in politics and economy, Japan is still dominant in the world as a powerful economy, although slightly weakened by recent economic struggles, and Korea is opening a new chapter for the tale of the Three States of Northeast Asia along with the two. And for the youths of Korea, the History Concert by the Northeast Asian History Foundation is no doubt a perfect place to gain a correct perception and understanding of history. In particular, as exemplified in the recent disputes between Korea and Japan over Dokdo, and between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands, conflicts among the three Northeast Asian nations are approaching real and extreme territorial disputes going beyond simple disagreement in theoretical, historical perception. Accordingly, the tension that political and economical competition might lead to military confrontation is getting more intense than ever. If our young people of the Republic of Korea, who will be the future leaders of their country, are to carry out the duty of fulfilling the sacred goal of co-prosperity in the world not only as citizens of the Republic of Korea but also as mature member of the East Asian community and beyond, I believe that the first step should be giving them more opportunities more often to nurture correct perception of, and strong belief, in history. In this respect, I believe that the more new good programs like the NAHF's History Concert we have, the sooner the Republic of Korea will become a wonderful and beautiful country envisioned by Korean youths. Hopefully, the History Concert will see active involvement from more youths.