Gwanmiseong

Gwanmiseong (關彌城) was a fortress of the Three Kingdoms period of ancient Korea.

It has been pointed out as either an alternative spelling of Gakmiseong (閣彌城), which appears in the entry for Yeongnak 6 (396) of the Stele of King Gwanggaeto (廣開土大王陵碑), erected in the early 5th century, or an error in the records for Gwanmiseong.¹

Overview

Originally part of Baekje (百濟) territory, it was regarded as an important fortress, "a key stronghold on the northern frontier." However, in the winter of 391, in the tenth month, King Gwanggaeto of Goguryeo (高句麗) divided his forces into seven routes, attacked the fortress for more than twenty days, and captured it. As a result, King Jinsa of Baekje died in the eleventh month of 391, and King Asin was enthroned that same year. In the eighth month of 392, King Asin of Baekje dispatched the left general Jinmu (眞武) to attempt to recapture Gwanmiseong, but the attempt failed.

According to the Gwanggaeto Stele, in Yeongnak 6 (396), King Gwanggaeto of Goguryeo, who attacked Baekje, received the surrender of King Asin, took 58 fortresses and 700 villages that had been under Baekje rule, and returned; Gakmiseong appears as one of these 58 fortresses.

If the two fortresses are regarded as the same place, there is a chronological discrepancy between the records: the Samguk Sagi states that it was conquered in 391, while the stele inscription states that it was conquered in 396. Considering that the stele inscription was written in a manner that comprehensively summarizes King Gwanggaeto's achievements, it is thought that the Baekje campaign was recorded in the entry for 396, when that campaign was concluded.

Location

The Samguk Sagi, in the Annals of Goguryeo (高句麗本紀), describes the terrain of Gwanmiseong as having "steep cliffs on all four sides, surrounded by seawater."

Regarding the present location of Gwanmiseong, several theories have been proposed: one identifies it with present-day Gyodong Island (喬桐島) in Ganghwa County (江華郡), Gyeonggi Province (京機道) (Lee Byeong-do); another holds that it lies near Gaeseong (開城) (Takeda Yukio); another identifies it with Odusanseong (烏頭山城) in Gyohan-myeon (交河面), Paju County (坡州郡), Gyeonggi Province (Yun Il-nyeong); and another places it on the Shandong Peninsula (山東半島).

Notes

Footnotes

1. 武田幸男, 《高句麗史と東アジア》, 岩波書店, 東京, 1989, 171쪽; 이병도, 《한국고대사연구》, 박영사, 1976, 한국교육학술정보원, 379쪽. ↩