Haengjusanseong Fortress, Goyang

In February 1593 the Japanese army that had taken Seoul marched out to destroy a Korean force that had dug in on this bluff above the Han river. General Gwon Yul had about 2,300 soldiers, monks and townspeople inside an old earthen fortress; the attackers numbered around thirty thousand. They assaulted nine times in a day and were beaten back each time, and withdrew to the city. It was one of three victories that turned the war, and the one that has stayed in everyday language. The story that the women of the town carried stones up to the fighters in their aprons gave the Korean word for an apron, haengju-chima, its folk etymology — the historians doubt it, and everyone uses it anyway. The fortress itself is a ring of earth on a hill, older than the battle by a thousand years; the shrine, statue and monuments were added from 1602 onwards. The reason to climb is the view: the Han, the bridges, the towers of Seoul, and the airport approaches, all from the ground the general held.

Original Text

Where it is

Region

Goyang, Gyeonggi

Designation

Historic Site · 사적