Yuposeokbo

In the Joseon period, a bo (堡) was an auxiliary defence facility supporting the various garrisons (jin); as a small fortress on the front line it served the important functions of monitoring enemy movements, evacuating nearby residents, and fighting when necessary. Beacon mounds were also set up around each bo, so that signals or the sound of cannon fire could immediately alert residents in the surrounding area, nearby regions, and further inland. According to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Yuposeokbo (柳浦石堡) was first built as a wooden palisade fortress in 1450, the founding year of King Munjong, at the suggestion of Jeong Bun, Military Commander-in-Chief of the Three Provinces, in order to defend against Japanese pirates. In 1452, the second year of King Munjong, Jeong Bun again proposed rebuilding it as a stone fortress in place of the palisade, and several rounds of discussion followed. Construction began in earnest in 1455, the first year of King Sejo, when it was decided to build the new fortress 5 li from the existing palisade, and it is said to have been completed in 1459, the fifth year of King Sejo. As a strategic military site for defending against Japanese pirates, it was garrisoned by 300 soldiers from Ulsan and Gyeongju, rotating in three shifts, under the command of the Left Army Commander of Gyeongsang Province. The total circumference of the fortress is about 755m; it enclosed the low flatland and valley at the foot of a hill within a narrow perimeter wall. The best-preserved section today, near the East Gate, has a wall height of about 220cm. During the Japanese colonial period large stones were removed from the fortress for use in building the breakwater at Jeongja Harbour, causing damage, but it remains a site of high historical and scholarly conservation value.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Buk-gu, Ulsan

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물