Local history194 BC – 200718 events
Pyongyang
From Wanggeom-seong of Gojoseon to the inter-Korean summits — capital of Goguryeo, Western Capital of Goryeo, the great city on the Taedong
At a glance
| Period | Event | Key points |
|---|---|---|
| Gojoseon | Wiman takes power | Capital Wanggeom-seong; iron; entrepôt trade |
| Gojoseon | Fall of Gojoseon | Han Wudi attacks; Wanggeom falls → Lelang |
| Goguryeo | Lelang expelled | King Micheon, 313; Taedong basin won |
| Baekje · Goguryeo | Attack on Pyongyang | Geunchogo attacks; Gogugwon killed |
| Goguryeo | Capital to Pyongyang | King Jangsu, 427; push south |
| Goguryeo | Fall of Goguryeo | Silla–Tang take Pyongyang; Andong Protectorate |
| Goryeo | Myocheong’s rising | Imperial title, war on Jin; put down by Kim Bu-sik |
| Goryeo | Jo Wi-chong’s revolt | Western Capital governor vs. military regime, 1174 |
| Joseon | Pyongyang retaken | Joseon–Ming army (Li Rusong); monk soldiers |
| Opening era | General Sherman incident | Burned on the Taedong → US expedition 1871 |
| Korean Empire | Daeseong School | Founded in Pyongyang by Ahn Chang-ho (Sinminhoe) |
| Colonial era | Korean Products Promotion | Cho Man-sik’s society, 1920 |
| After liberation | North–South talks | Kim Gu, Kim Kyu-sik in Pyongyang |
| Kim Dae-jung gov’t | First inter-Korean summit | June 15 Joint Declaration |
| Roh Moo-hyun gov’t | Second summit | October 4 Declaration |
The theme on the map
18 events in this theme
- 194 BCWiman Seizes Gojoseon
Wiman, who had come from Yan with about a thousand followers, ousted King Jun and took the throne; Jun fled south and called himself King of Han.
- 109 BC – 108 BCFall of Gojoseon
Emperor Wu of Han captured Wanggeom-seong and destroyed Gojoseon, setting up four commanderies including Lelang.
King Micheon of Goguryeo drove out the Lelang Commandery, winning back the old Gojoseon heartland on the Taedong River.
- AD 371Baekje Attacks Pyongyang
King Geunchogo and Crown Prince Geungusu struck Pyongyang with 30,000 men; King Gogugwon of Goguryeo was killed by an arrow defending it.
King Jangsu moved the capital from Gungnae-seong to Pyongyang and turned Goguryeo’s expansion southward.
- AD 668Fall of Goguryeo
Allied Silla and Tang forces took Pyongyang and King Bojang surrendered, ending Goguryeo.
- AD 935 – AD 943Policies of Taejo and the Ten Injunctions
Wang Geon both embraced and checked the regional lords, pursued a northward policy, and left his successors the Ten Injunctions before he died.
Myocheong and Jeong Ji-sang of the Western Capital urged moving the capital there, proclaiming an emperor and attacking Jin; rebuffed, they rebelled in Seogyeong and were crushed within a year by government forces under Kim Bu-sik.
- 1173 – 1176Revolts of Kim Bo-dang and Jo Wi-chong
Against the military regime, Kim Bo-dang rose in the northeast in 1173 to restore Uijong, and Jo Wi-chong, governor of Seogyeong, rose in 1174; both were suppressed.
Ming relief forces under Li Rusong and Joseon troops retook Pyongyang, and Konishi Yukinaga's army fell back south.
When the American merchant ship General Sherman sailed up the Daedong to Pyongyang demanding trade and plundering, Governor Park Gyu-su and the townspeople burned it.
- 1894 – 1895First Sino-Japanese War
Qing and Japan fought over Korea. Victorious at Pungdo, Seonghwan, Pyongyang and the Yellow Sea, Japan ended Qing suzerainty over Korea and took Taiwan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki.
- 1907 – 1911Sinminhoe (New People’s Association)
Ahn Chang-ho, Yang Gi-tak and others founded the secret New People’s Association, aiming to recover sovereignty and build a modern republic by fostering education and industry and setting up independence bases abroad.
- 1913Songjukhoe
Teachers and students of Sungui Girls’ School in Pyongyang formed the secret society Songjukhoe, raising funds for the independence movement and helping families of exiled activists.
- 1920 – 1923Korean Products Promotion Movement
Jo Man-sik and others founded the Korean Products Promotion Society in Pyongyang to urge Koreans to buy Korean goods. A national body formed in Seoul in 1923 and the movement spread.
Opposing a separate election in the south, Kim Gu and Kim Gyu-sik met northern leaders in Pyongyang, without result.
The first inter-Korean summit since division was held in Pyongyang, and a joint declaration was issued.
President Roh Moo-hyun and Chairman Kim Jong Il held the second inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang and issued a declaration on inter-Korean development and peace and prosperity.
Key people
- Kim Jong Il1941 – 2011
Son of Kim Il Sung and leader of North Korea (1994–2011). Named successor in 1980; ruled as chairman of the National Defence Commission under "military-first" politics. North Korea gives his birth year as 1942
- Wiman
Refugee leader from Yan who ousted King Jun and took the throne of Gojoseon
- King Jun
King of Gojoseon who lost the throne to Wiman and fled south
- King MicheonAD 331
Fifteenth king of Goguryeo, who seized Xi’anping and drove out the Lelang Commandery
- King GeunchogoAD 375
Thirteenth king of Baekje, who absorbed Mahan and attacked Pyongyang in its golden age
- King JangsuAD 394 – AD 491
Twentieth king of Goguryeo, who moved the capital to Pyongyang and took the Han River basin
- King MunmuAD 626 – AD 681
Thirtieth king of Silla, who destroyed Goguryeo, expelled Tang and completed unification
- Taejo Wang GeonAD 877 – AD 943
Songak magnate who served Gung Ye, took Naju, overthrew Gung Ye to found Goryeo in 918 and reunified the Later Three Kingdoms in 935–936