[News Today] Baekje royal tombs identified

[LEAD]
Gongju, once the Baekje Kingdom's capital, is home to royal tombs including King Muryeong's. Others looted during Japanese rule remained nameless, until now. One has been identified, 100 years after its discovery. And for the first time, audio from the 1971 excavation of King Muryeong's tomb has been released.

[REPORT]
Summer of 1971, Korean archeologists are brimming with excitement.

"Tell Yoon Hong-ro to bring the chronological table!"

It's the tomb of King Muryeong, the 25th monarch of the Baekje Kingdom, and thankfully no grave robber got to it.

"What king is that? It's the year 526. It's King Muryeong of Baekje!"

Thousands of relics were also found in the king's tomb.

Late Kim Won-ryong / Then-director of Nat‘l Museum of Korea
It's the first time we found the tomb of a monarch from the exact era and he has a name.

But four other tombs to the northeast of King Muryeong's tomb have been damaged by looting and remained nameless for nearly a century.

One of them, tomb number 2, has been finally identified after 98 years.

The decisive clues were two molars found during re-investigation.

Prof. Lee U-young / The Catholic University of Korea
Judging by the smaller molar, which had little wear, the teeth probably belonged to a teenager.

The tomb has been found to belong to King Samgeun, the 23rd monarch of Baekje. He was the only teen among King Gaero's direct descendants.

He was King Muryeong's cousin. He was killed at the age of 15, just two years after ascending the throne.

This made the archeologists presume that the tomb next to King Samgeun's belongs to a direct relative from the royal family.

Hwang In-ho / Director, Buyeo Nat’l Research Inst. of Cultural Heritage
King Munju and Samgeun were direct descendants of King Gaero. They died only two years apart. From an archeological perspective, the tomb is located very close with nearly identical size and structure.

Jade glass excavated from the tomb was found to contain Thai lead.

It serves as proof that despite a political turmoil following the transfer of the capital, the trade network continued to operate all the way to Southeast Asia.

■ 제보하기
▷ 전화 : 02-781-1234, 4444
▷ 이메일 : kbs1234@kbs.co.kr
▷ 카카오톡 : 'KBS제보' 검색, 채널 추가
▷ 카카오 '마이뷰', 유튜브에서 KBS뉴스를 구독해주세요!

KBS