Gwanggaeto Stele Erected

Also called: Gwanggaeto Stele, Hotaewang Stele

King Jangsu raised a 6.39 m stele east of Gungnae-seong recording the deeds of his father, King Gwanggaeto.

Its four faces carry about 1,775 characters: the founding myth, the royal line, Gwanggaeto’s campaigns and rules for the tomb guardians.

After its rediscovery around 1880, Japanese scholars cited the "Sinmyo year (391)" passage as proof that Wa ruled Baekje and Silla. Disputes over the reading and damage to the text, and the fact that the whole inscription celebrates Goguryeo, have led most historians, in Japan as well as Korea, to reject that claim.