뉴스레터

An academic conference was held in Vladivostok for two days on November 28 and 29, 2011 under a subject titled "A new horizon for studies of the histories of Koguryo and Balhae". Valdivostok is a city located in the state of Primorsky Krai of Russia with a population of around 600,000. The city was the naval base for the Far East Fleet of the former USSR and is also well known to us as the eastern end of the Cross-Siberia Railway. But, not many people know that this is the place closely linked to our national history since the very beginning of our history, and the area that used to belong to Koguryo and Balhae was the base for the two countries' vibrant marine activities. The international academic conference held in Vladivostok in early winter of 2011 had a special meaning perhaps because there was a dramatic element in it that the past and the present were meeting together despite the existence of such a long time gap between the two.

The histories of Koguryo and Balhae that can be obtained through remaining sites and items.

There was a valid reason why the title of the academic conference incorporated 'a new horizon'. The amount of written records of Koguryo and Balhae is not much and everything that could be known has already been known to the world. Therefore, it becomes increasingly harder to obtain new findings on the histories of Koguryo and Balhae through already known written records while our interest, on the other hand, gets increasingly larger. If so, isn't there any possibility that we will be able to reproduce the histories of Koguryo and Balhae in a richer and more colorful way? It will not be appropriate to give a pessimistic answer in a hurry. It is because we can obtain resources left by the peoples of Koguryo and Balahe in forms other than written words through their remaining sites and items. Through these remaining sites and items, we will still be able to view the histories of Koguryo and Balhae in more details through a spectrum of diversity.

Therefore, deciding 'A New Horizon' as the title of the academic conference is an expression of our cautious but optimistic confidence that we will be able to raise our knowledge of the histories of Koguryo and Balhae to the next higher level through understanding newly discovered remaining sites and items left by the peoples of Koguryo and Balhae.

Such optimistic confidence did not just come from vague hopes. Our Foundation has been jointly excavating a sacred site of Balhae in Kraskino near Valadivostok for 5 years since 2007 together with the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences which has also planned and organized this academic conference together with our Foundation. The Kraskino site has been assumed as the place of government for Yeomju (鹽州), one of the 62 regional administrative divisions of Balhae which had 5 major cities, 15 provinces and 62 regional administrative divisions. From this site, a large quantity of items have been found that were used by Balhae's people for their everyday life and ceremonies in addition to the fortress walls, temple, building sites above the ground, roads and tools. Due to the excavation of the Balhae's walled fortress site in Kraskino, we have obtained material evidences that help us to understand Balhae's regional administrative organization, goods distribution network and people's life styles in a three-dimensional picture.

Korea and Russia are not the only ones who have had successful experiences. The vast area that used to be governed by Koguryo and Balhae has now been divided into territories of Korea, Russia and China. In countries where remaining sites of Koguryo and Balhae are scattered, historical sites and items of Koguryo and Balhae are surveyed vigorously, and the abundant results of these surveys provide scholars in this field with encouragement and energy. Time has now arrived that scholars from Korea, Russia and countries where the relics of Koguryo and Balhae exist and those interested in the relics should gather together to share their experiences and discuss the future direction of their researches.

Opening a new horizon for researches on the histories of Koguryo and Balhae

This academic conference was attended by a large group of scholars including a delegation of Korean scholars mainly consisting of our Foundation's researchers on the histories of Koguryo and Balhae, scholars who participated in surveying the relevant relics of Koguryo and Balhae in North Korea, Russia, Japan, etc. and those carrying out research activities vigorously based on the survey results. About 40 scholars from 5 countries participated in the two-day academic conference during which about 30 papers were presented. Besides the size of the conference, it was the first academic conference so far attended by researchers from almost all countries interested in the histories of Koguryo and Balhae, and was particularly meaningful in that South and North Korean scholars gathered together in about 5 years.

The papers presented in this academic conference can be categorized broadly into three subject areas. Papers in the first category were about the state of researches on the histories of Koguryo and Balhae in each of the participating countries. Papers in the second category dealt with the histories of Koguryo and Balhae through recent archeological achievements, and papers in the third category were studies of historical documents relating to the histories of Koguryo and Balhae. Among the presented papers, the papers in the second category received central attention attracting most vigorous discussions, as mentioned by Professor JEONG Young-jin (Yanbian University) in his concluding remark. Among those attracting particular attention during this academic conference were papers on: the mural tombs of Koguryo discovered in places including Okdo-ri near Pyongyang, North Korea; Balhae's fortress site in Kraskino; a fortress site of Balhae in Bugeo-ri, Hamgyeongbuk-do, North Korea; Balhae's Sanggyeongseong site; Hongjuneojang grave site; Grave sites along the northeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula and; the Koksharovka site. The sites and discovered items will become precious historical remains that will help develop new and important perspectives in studies of Koguryo and Balhae.

Participants in this academic conference highly assessed the results and meanings of the conference, saying that it was held at the right time with appropriate content. And they all expressed their hope that such an academic conference will be held on a regular basis. Both Koguryo and Balhae constitute valuable historical assets of our nation. Therefore, it is our duties to encourage scholars expressing their interest in the histories of Koguryo and Balhae to study and discuss freely and further develop the studies to a higher level. Interpretation and verification of new materials from diverse perspectives will enrich the histories of Koguryo and Balhae which then will be born again and tell us valuable stories about them.