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Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, “Gojoseon and Goguryeo Part of Korean History”

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, “Gojoseon and Goguryeo Part of Korean History”

Posted May. 29, 2007 06:48,   

한국어

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is a national academy of China. It is a renowned think tank which deals with domestic and foreign affairs. The Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Science (東北工程) is one of the academy’s research projects conducted by the society’s sub-organization, the Research Institute of the History of Chinese Northeast Borderland (邊疆史地硏究.) The project concluded that Gojoseon, Goguryeo and Balhae are part of the history of China.

Those ancient kingdoms were located in the northeast borderland (邊疆) of present-day China. The project claims that any part of what is now China is defined as having been part of that greater Chinese state. The project sparked public uproar among Koreans as an attempt to make a flawed and politically motivated rewriting of history.

However, the project’s claim is in contrast with what the society has said in its publications. In November 2005, a book was released to give an outline about nations all over the world. In the book about South Korea, the society acknowledges that Gojoseon and Goguryeo are the ancient kingdoms of Korea.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is publishing a series of books titled “Record of Nations (列國誌)” to raise the people’s awareness about the nations of the world. This publication project is the biggest and most systematic since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

On page 42 of “Record of Nations – Korea,” titled “Ancient History – Gojoseon Period,” the society stated, “Gojoseon was the first state on the Korean peninsula.”

On page 43, titled “Ancient History – Three Kingdoms,” the book added, “After the fall of Gojoseon and Jin, the three kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Shilla were established. Those are the ‘Three Kingdoms’ in history."

The book has been edited by 11 professional institutions and their experts under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Therefore, this book is attracting public interest as it can be referred to as academically denying what scholars of the Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Science have claimed.

But “Record of Nations – Korea” doesn`t recognize the history of Balhae as part of Korean history. It deals with the transition period from Unified Shilla to Goryeo, without any reference to Balhae. It states, “During the Unifed Shilla period, Goryeo was established in Songak (松嶽, present-day Gaesong) in 918 after a coup d`état.”

One official of the Korean Embassy in China said, “This book has a great significance as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences objectively describes the history of Korea, regardless of what the society’s sub-organization, Research Institute of the History of Chinese Northeast Borderland, has claimed.“



orionha@donga.com