A symposium on the history and culture of Koguryo took place at the Academy of Social Sciences on November 28.

Present there were officials concerned, researchers, lecturers, writers, journalists and editors in the fields of science, education, art and literature, media and the protection of national cultural heritage.

Speeches were made by Kang Se Gwon, PhD, associate professor and section chief of the History Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences, Ri Yong Sik, PhD, associate professor and lecturer at the history faculty of Kim Il Sung University, Cha Tal Man, PhD and head of the historical site excavation team at the Archaeology Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences, Kim Jong Chol, section chief of the Korea National Heritage Preservation Agency of the National Authority for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (NAPCH) of the DPRK, and Pak Sin Jong, researcher at the Folklore Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Speakers said that they conducted in-depth scientific studies of the history and culture of Koguryo, the first feudal state of Korea and a powerful state that had existed in the East for a thousand years.

They made clear once again that Koguryo, the strongest Eastern power in the history of Korea, was a country founded by the Korean nation both in name and in reality, on the basis of the explanation that it has been recognized as an independent country and a legitimate state of the Korean nation from the olden times.

The archaeological finds unearthed in the areas of Mt Taesong and Rangnang District and elsewhere in Pyongyang corroborate that Koguryo continuously advanced toward the Pyongyang area from the 1st century and that Pyongyang was not only the capital of Ancient Joson, but also the political and military centre of Koguryo from the early period, they said.

They noted that the typical old tombs and relics newly unearthed in South Hwanghae Province show the good qualities of the Koguryo culture and the fact that the area of Anak County developed into an important regional base of Koguryo.

As they represent the great golden age of Koguryo which boasted of the enormous national power and civilization in East Asia well over a thousand years ago, the Koguryo relics in Pyongyang embracing various architectural heritage sites of Koguryo are important wealth of the Korean nation and of great value in the world history as well, they stressed.

The Korean national costume had already taken shape in the period of the Koguryo Kingdom, they said, adding as it suited the climatic conditions of the country, the sentiments and likings and production activities of the Korean people, it was inherited and steadily developed with no marked change through the long historical course after the Koguryo period.