Geumjeongsanseong (literally Geungjeong Mountain Fortress or Geumjeong Fortress) is the largest mountain fortress in the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...

today. It is located on

Geumjeongsan Geumjeongsan (or Geumjeong Mountain) is a mountain in the city of Busan in South Korea. It covers a large surface that extends into Dongnae-gu in the south, Buk-gu in the west, Geumjeong-gu in the east, and the city of Yangsan in the north. Its ...

in the

Busan Metropolitan City Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

. Following the Japanese invasion of 1592 and the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

invasion in 1627 and again in 1637, awareness of the necessity of national defence was heightened, especially against attacks from the sea. As a result of this awareness, this fortress was built in the 29th year (1703) of the reign of King Sukjong. The inner and the outer walls were mainly built of natural stones, but weak portions were reinforced with artificially worked square stone blocks. The walls are about 17 kilometers in length and from 1.5 meters to 3 meters in height. The area surrounded by the fortress is about 8.2 square kilometers. It is clear that fortresses had been already built on this site before 1700. Yi Chi-hong, a naval commander, left a record in 1667 in which he mentions traces of an old fortress on the site. The construction of the fortress began in 1701 at the recommendation of

Jo Tae-dong Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy * ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series *"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us'' *"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from ''Lambs Anger'' * Jo a fictio ...

, the Governor of

Gyeongsang-do Gyeongsang ( ko, 경상도, ''Gyeongsang-do''; ) was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon dynasty. Gyeongsang was located in the southeast of Korea. The provincial capital was Daegu. The region was the birthplace of the Kingd ...

, and was completed in 1702. In 1707 the walls were built around the main structure of the fortress. This fortress fell to disuse because it was too large to maintain. After lying empty for a century, it was repaired in 1807, the seventh year of the reign of King Sunjo. Oh Han-won, the Dongnae Magistrate, took the responsibility for building the west gate in 1807, and the other gates the following year. There is a

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

recording the building of the gates. The fortress was destroyed during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945), but began to be restored in 1972. The East, West and South gates were restored by 1974 and the north gate was rebuilt in 1989. Today, thanks to the restoration efforts, much of the walls and the four gates still stand. Of the 4 existing observation towers, the tower number 1 (제1망루) located on the south-west side was destroyed by the typhoon Rusa on the morning of September 1, 2002. The area around the South Gate is a popular resting place. The West Gate, even though it is the most impressive of the four, is the less frequented one due to its lack of accessibility.

Restoration work

Since much of the fortress had been destroyed during the Japanese occupation, restoration work was started in 1972. In 1974 The East, West and South Gates were restored and the North Gate was rebuilt in 1989. More restoration works, commissioned by the Busan City Council, are currently under way. This restoration is taking place over a period of 15 years and is divided in 3 phases of 5 years between 1996 and 2010. * Phase 1 (1996–2000) covers the west region, going from the North Gate down to the West Gate. * Phase 2 (2000–2005) covers the section of wall on the east side, running between the North Gate and the East Gate. It include the observation towers 3 and 4. * Phase 3 (2006–2010) covers everything south of the West and East Gates, including the South Gate and the observation towers 1 and 2.

References

{{Castles in South Korea Tourist attractions in Busan Castles in South Korea Culture of Busan Buildings and structures in Busan