[Article] Castles in North Korea #2: Ryŏngsak Castle and Ŭiju Castle in North Pyongan

By Timo Schmitz

In the last article, I introduced one of the most important Koryŏ castles during the Khitan invasion in 1018, in which the Koreans defeated the 100,000 men strong Khitan army, as well as an old Kokoryŏ Castle which fell in the Koryŏ dynasty during the Khitan invasion due to the arrogance of the Korean commander. The ruins of both castles are situated in northwestern North Pyongan Province. In this article, I want to continue describing castles in northwestern North Pyongan.

Ryŏngsak Castle is situated near Ryŏngsak Town in Cholsan County. It goes back to the 4^th year of the reign of Munjong of Koryŏ in 1050 of our calendar. Originally, it was a town called Anŭijin which was later fortified and became a castle in 1050 being renamed into Ryŏngsak. The area became a military administrative region in the 9^th year of King Hyŏnjong in 1018, which is commonly known as ‘Ryangkye’ (Two Borders) in Korean language, referring to the northern and eastern areas of Korea. [1] The eastern border (Tongkye) mainly covered the Hamgyong Provinces and northern parts of Kangwon, while the northern border included the nowadays Pyongan Provinces. [2] They were ruled by military leaders since 989. The military leaders served as provincial ministers or governors but seemingly had some autonomy. Munjong would be the first king to fully unite the kingdom under his power. As Ryŏngsak was situated in the Northern Border military area, there was always a regular army present. Ri Ki-baek proposes that one can talk of the provincial army in this case, since there were standing armies at that place to fight at any crisis time, at day or night, even during farming period. [3] The fortification process in the area probably began in 995 on the king’s command to pioneer the northwestern area under General Sŏ. [4] The great amount of hazelnut was reported and back-then Anŭijin was probably a hazelnut farming town. Also keep in mind that two years before, the Khitan led their first invasion in the area [5], so despite pioneering, it seems evident to me that the fortification process mainly served for border protection purpose. Of course, pioneering was important as well, since one has to know the terrain to be able to defeat the enemy in the best way. The castle would be mentioned in historical records again in the Ri-Dynasty in 1486 under King Sŏngjong. Interestingly, at that time, it was already a historical site as the text puts the word ‘ko’ in front of the name, thus calling it Koryŏngsak, indicating that it is an ancient place. The record mentioned that the fortification was built on the hazelnut farm in 1050 by King Munjong to defeat the enemy. The circumference of the fortress was 7,760 Chŏk. [6] The record reports that the side would be abandoned ‘now’ and that there are three wells left inside the ruins. It served as Koryŏ Border Guard Station [7] and one can assume that at some time in history, the Korean border went around this place. Nowadays, it is Nr. 142 on the list of cultural assets of the DPRK.

Ŭiju Castle is situated in the town of Ŭiju, just a few kilometers away from the northern district of Sinŭiju (meaning New Uiju). The latter is the provincial capital of North Pyongan. Both, Sinuiju and Ŭiju immediately border China through the Yalu River (Amrokgang). Additionally, Ŭiju Town is the county seat of Ŭiju County. A few areas within Ŭiju County were designated part of the Sinŭiju Special Administrative Zone (a provincial level unit) in 2002, which was de facto never established. Ŭiju Castle was built during the Ri dynasty and Ŭiju ought to serve as main town in the border area. It was one of the most important gateways of northern defense during the Ri-dynasty, however, the area was already fortified since the Kokoryŏ period and there has been built a military fortress during Koryŏ dynasty. In 1520, the Koreans set up a temple and built a new castle in Ŭiju, probably including parts of the old fortress. [8] In the early 17^th century, Rim Kyŏng-ŏp was in charge of Ŭiju Castle. After defeating Ming rebels who crossed the border, Rim was awarded a title by the Ming court and he became an ally with the Ming. Both, his Ming affiliates and Rim had to surrender to the Qing troops in 1642. The castle surrounding the town is about 8.3 km in circumference. There were gates to the east, west, south and north, and 43 wells in the castle. The walls were built with rough square stones and the walls have a height of up to five meters. [9] Though much of the castle was later destroyed by the Japanese, some things are well-preserved, such as the remains of the south gate which has a majestic dragon gate style of Confucian Chinese architecture. The stone pavement of the Tonggun pavilion is preserved in its original form. [10] The pavilion was built in 1117 and is situated in the northwestern part of the town, east of the local railroad. The ruins of the preface of a gate is preserved as well, and next to it, one can find a wooden-cross. [11] Ŭiju Castle is Nr. 153 on the list of cultural assets of the DPRK. Other castles in the county include Pongsu and Maknyŏng Castle which are both situated in the village of Chungdan.

 

[1] 관리자: 고령삭면, 그 이름의 유래. 고령삭면 면민회, 2009년. http://krsm.or.kr/index.php?mid=history&document_srl=8712&listStyle=viewer, retrieved on 27 July 2019.

[2] 김남규: 양계 (兩界). 한국민족문화대백과사전, 1995년. http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Item/E0035401, retrieved on 27 July 2019.

[3] Kwan, 2009.

[4] cp. ibid.

[5] Michael Seth: A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011, p. 86; Timo Schmitz: Castles in North Korea #1: Kuju Castle and Tongju Fortress in North Pyongan. 12 September 2019.

[6] Kwan, 2009.

[7] ibid.

[8] 김희만: 의주읍성 (義州邑城). 한국민족문화대백과사전, no date. http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Item/E0070816, retrieved on 27 July 2019.

[9] ibid.

[10] ibid.

[11] see photo in Kim, no date.

 

Published on 13 September 2019.