Geumjeongjin Government Office Site

Geumjeongsanseong Fortress (Historic Site No. 215) is a stone-walled mountain fortress built in 1703, the 29th year of King Sukjong, by Gyeongsang Governor Jo Tae-dong to defend against Japanese invasion. It measures 9,011 bo in circumference and 15 cheok in height, with gates on all four sides - east, west, south and north - and is the largest surviving mountain fortress in Korea. In 1707, when the Dongnae magistrate Han Bae-ha built the middle wall (jungseong) of Geumjeongsanseong Fortress, he also established the Geumjeongjin government office to administer the fortress and its surrounding area, comprising a six-kan hall of duty, flanking wings of five kan each, a four-kan weapons store, a one-kan gunpowder store, a three-kan inner magistrate's hall and a four-kan hall of separate audience. In 1824, the Dongnae magistrate Yi Gyu-hyeon built further buildings within the fortress and stationed a garrison commander there. In ordinary times, monks from Haewolsa and Gukcheongsa temples within the fortress were responsible for its repair and maintenance, but during the Japanese colonial period the Geumjeongjin government buildings inside the fortress were destroyed and the weapons kept there were confiscated by the Japanese colonial authorities. Documentary sources such as the "Government Buildings" section of the Dongnaebuji (Gazetteer of Dongnae) and the 1872 Map of Geumjeongsanseong Fortress Garrison describe the relative positions of the facilities within the fortress with reasonable accuracy, and record the scale and layout of the Geumjeongjin government office buildings. In addition, a 2004 trial excavation of part of the Geumjeongjin government office site confirmed the remains of stone-built structures made of cut stones ranging from 20 to 50 cm in size, and remnants believed to be walls or stone foundations of the government office can still be seen with the naked eye above ground, though only in places. The Geumjeongjin Government Office Site is the remains of a defence facility that administered Geumjeongsanseong, the longest mountain fortress in Korea, built after the Japanese and Manchu invasions to guard against foreign attack; it is a site that sheds light on the scale, operation and organisation of the government office, as well as on the daily life of the government troops and monk soldiers who were stationed and lived there.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Geumjeong-gu, Busan

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료