The monument to the Kirin Cave was unearthed in 2012 on Moran Hill in Pyongyang.

Kirin, or unicorn, is a mythological animal known from ancient times in Eastern Asia. Its name Kirin is combination of two Chinese characters, ki “male” and rin “female”.

In general, kirin denotes a sage or a genius. A sage is said to have ridden a kirin and kept it in a cave.

It is written in Tonggukyojisungnam (Handbook of Korean Geography) and other old documents that King Tongmyong, founder king of Koguryo (277 BC-AD 668), rode Kirin to go up to and down from the heaven.

A research group of Koguryo history of the academy had a detailed investigation into the historical documents in the course of which it discovered on Chongnyu Cliff in Moran Hill the traces of the Kirin Cave and a monument inscribed with its name.

The two-tiered monument consists of a stone inscribed with the Kirin Cave in Chinese characters and a pedestal stone that was made in later years. The main body of the monument is split into two.

The Korean classics, Chronicles of Koryo and Sejong Sillok (Chronicles of King Sejong), published in the 15th century recorded that there had existed from olden times a monument related to a kirin cave on Moran Hill in Pyongyang.

It is believed that Koguryo people erected monumental structures related to King Tongmyong on Moran Hill while moving their capital from the Taesongsan Fort and the Anhak Palace to the Walled City of Pyongyang in 586, intended to build their new capital in a way to worship and revere King Tongmyong and display the might of Koguryo.

Koryo (918-1392), orthodox state succeeding to Koguryo, persevered and handed down those relics through generations, in high reverence for King Tongmyong. It was reflected in the writings by Ri Kyu Bo, famous civil official and great writer of Koryo, and the poems by poets Ri Sung Hyu (1224-1300) and Kim Kuk Gi (late 12th century-early 13th century).

The discovery of the monument to the Kirin Cave is attracting the worldwide attention. The following day after the release of the news in November 2012 the Daily Mail in Britain, Segye Ilbo in south Korea and other mass media of the world reported that a home of a unicorn (kirin), a mythical animal, was unearthed in the DPRK. They continued that the discovery proved the unicorn’s relation to the myth of King Tongmyong, founding father of Koguryo, and the fact that Pyongyang was the centre of Ancient Joson (early 30th century BC-108 BC) covering the period of Koguryo.

The discovery of the Kirin Cave showed that Koguryo played a leading role in the development of the Korean history, and that Pyongyang, the capital of Ancient Joson and Koguryo, was a centre of the birth and development of the ancient culture.