This ancient civilization could be the catalyst for a modern conflict.
A fierce debate is under way between China and the two Koreas about an ancient royal dynasty that all three claim as part of their history.
The dispute about the Koguryo kingdom is viewed by some as the first stage of a wider battle for influence over the Korean peninsula and north-eastern China.
To Beijing, the claims of North and South Korea to Koguryo history risk exciting separatist sentiment among the estimated 2m ethnic Koreans in north-east China.
To Seoul and Pyongyang, Beijing's attitude reflects its fear of a powerful, reunified Korea and its desire to dominate the peninsula.
At about the same time the United Nations added Koguryo relics in China and North Korea to its prestigious list of World Heritage sites China has improved protection on world heritage sites.
China has enhanced real-time monitoring of its 20 state-level heritage sites including those World Heritage sites with remote sensing technologies. "We purchase high-definition satellite pictures twice a year, and compare present situations of heritage sites with what they used to be. Changes are clearly at a glance."
The central government will send inspectors to the sites to monitor local governments' management and use of the sites. Provincial and municipalities' governments will also send inspectors to lower governments administering certain sites. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-07/05/content_1574802.htm
-Am
China and the Koreas spar over dynasty By Andrew Ward in Seoul Published: July 5 2004 19:26 / Last Updated: July 5 2004 19:26
A fierce debate is under way between China and the two Koreas about an ancient royal dynasty that all three claim as part of their history.
The dispute about the Koguryo kingdom is viewed by some as the first stage of a wider battle for influence over the Korean peninsula and north-eastern China.
Koguryo ruled the northern part of the Korean peninsula and a large swathe of north-east China from 277BC to 668AD. Beijing, Pyongyang and Seoul have been bickering for months about whether the kingdom should be considered Korean or Chinese. The issue was highlighted last week, when the United Nations added Koguryo relics in China and North Korea to its prestigious list of World Heritage sites.
To Beijing, the claims of North and South Korea to Koguryo history risk exciting separatist sentiment among the estimated 2m ethnic Koreans in north-east China.
To Seoul and Pyongyang, Beijing's attitude reflects its fear of a powerful, reunified Korea and its desire to dominate the peninsula.
By recognising Koguryo sites in both China and Korea, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation avoided endorsing either side of the argument. Overcoming their modern differences, North and South Korea had joined forces to lobby for Korean sites to be given World Heritage status.
Unesco's decision has sparked a fresh war of words between the claimants to Koguryo's legacy.
China's official Xinhua news agency described the kingdom this week as a "subordinate state that fell under the jurisdiction of the Chinese dynasties and was under the great influence of China's politics, culture and other areas".
South Korea's ruling Uri party said China's stance undermined efforts to secure regional peace, while the main opposition Grand National party accused Beijing of distorting history.
"China is wary of nostalgia for the kingdom of Korea, which could lead to a civic and political movement claiming the lost territory in the Manchurian region," a South Korean activist told Seoul's Yonhap news agency. "This would deal a blow to Beijing's control over its other 55 minority races."
Chinese and South Korean academics have launched rival, state-backed studies into the history of Koguryo.
The debate shows how history continues to cause tensions within north-east Asia, in spite of the increasing integration of the region's economies. China, Japan, Korea and the kingdoms that preceded them have all engaged in conflict with one another many times over the centuries.
Some analysts fear the growing economic and military power of China and the likely future reunification of the Korean peninsula could revive these longstanding rivalries. South Korea and China both have territorial disputes with Japan over small islands.
Unesco included the remains of about 70 tombs and three cities in its list of Koguryo relics deserving special protection. It was the first time secretive North Korea had been represented in the 788-strong list of the world's most important heritage sites.
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter Seoul will ask for the Chinese government's clarification of the recent reports by some Chinese media, which claimed the ancient kingdom of Koguryo belonged to its own history, a Foreign Ministry official said Monday.
``As Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has clearly stated earlier this year, the South Korean government will never tolerate any attempt to undermine the spirit of our history,'' Park Heung-shin, director of the Culture and Foreign Affairs Bureau, told The Korea Times. ``Koguryo is an inseparable part of the history of the Korean Peninsula.''
Lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties also launched strong criticism against what they called China's move to have Koguryo incorporated into Chinese history by distorting historic facts.
Opposition Grand National Party's floor leader Kim Deog-ryong, suggested both South and North Korea should join forces to cope with the Chinese claim.
While reporting that Koguryo artifacts, currently spread in the territories of North Korea and China, had been added to UNESCO's World Heritage list, China's official Xinhua News Agency and the People's Daily claimed the kingdom was a regional administration that received its authority from Chinese dynasties.
The People's Daily, for example, quoted a university professor as saying ``Koguryo was a regime established by ethnic groups in northern China some 2,000 years ago, representing an important part of Chinese culture.''
These reports from China's major state-run media provoked anger in South Korea. Most Koreans believe the Koguryo Kingdom (37 B.C.-668 A.D.) to be an essential part of its own history, whose territory in its heyday extended from the northern part of the Korean Peninsula to the greater part of Manchuria.
Seoul and Beijing have so far been sharing a common position that the thorny issue should be dealt with in an academic and scientific approach and should not develop into a diplomatic and political row between the two countries.
``We'll have to check the Chinese government's position through diplomatic channels,'' Park said. ``After that, our government will prepare proper measures to cope with the issue.''
The Korean people, both Southern and Northern, take pride in the legacy of the ancient regime that straddled borderlands, especially its independent spirit, military might and cultural achievements.
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