• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Exhibits Showing Might of Koguryo

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

    Pyongyang, September 30 (KCNA) -- The Korean Central History Museum in Pyongyang is visited every day by some 1,000 people. Several thousand pieces of relics showing the long Korean history from the primitive age to modern times are displayed in 19 rooms of the museum.
    Among them are more than 400 pieces of relics belonging to the period of Koguryo (B.C.277-668 A.D.).
    They show well the might of Koguryo, which existed as a powerful state in the East in the mediaeval history of Korea.
    It has been proved by the historical documents -- "Samguksagi" of Korea and "Bei Shi", "Wei Guishu" and "Tang Huiyao" of China-- in a scientific way that Koguryo had existed from the 3rd century before Christ.
    The 1,800-letter inscription on the stone monument to King Kwanggaetho's Mausoleum (imitation 6.34 meters high), a cultural heritage of Korea, conveys details of the Koguryo foundation and a story about the territory expanded in the period of King Kwanggaetho.
    Also on display in the museum are a map showing main forts, and cavaliers clad in armour, models of horses, swords, maekgung (a kind of arrow designed and made to give horror to the enemy with its sound) and other weapons, and tomb murals portraying the Koguryo people's habit of attaching importance to military affairs. All this eloquently shows how the Koguryo people defended its independence and sovereignty for nearly 1,000 years.
    The exhibits representing the Koguryo people's struggle against invaders fully reflect the indomitable stamina of the Korean nation with a strong sense of patriotism and justice.
    Meanwhile, many relics show the developed culture of Koguryo, a civilized state.
    An astronomical map, the oldest one of its kind in the world, is indicative of the astronomical development of Koguryo. Marked on the map are 1,464 asterisms centering on the North Pole, and the equator, ecliptic, longitude, Galaxy, etc.
    Buddhist scriptures written with gold dust, various kinds of metal ornaments, vessels, attires, musical instruments and tomb murals preserved in their original color concentrically show the then culture.