Digitally-revived history of Korea Pyongyang Castle of Koguryo

In today’s Pyongyang, it is fairly difficult to catch a glimpse of the past.Japan's colonial rule and developments that occurred in the 1960s drastically changed Pyongyang's appearance.
Except for a few structures and the castle surrounding Moran Hill, it is not easy to discover traces of Pyongyang prior to the Japanese occupation.
It would be even harder to find traces of Jangan Castle, which used to be the capital of the kingdom Koguryo until it's fall approximately 1,350 years ago.
This is especially true because it is not readily accessible for exploration.
Hence, we have had to seek new and different ways that haven't been tried so far.

Recently in Korea, digital restoration is being carried out on various forms of cultural heritage. Digital restoration has also been utilized to replicate Korea's ancient capital cities such as those of the kingdoms Silla and Baekje. Already, there have been several operations to digitally restore the royal capital of Silla.
However, restoration of the royal capital of Koguryo has not yet been actively carried out. Digital restoration efforts have only been focused on tombs such as the Anak Tomb No. 3. This is mainly because, unlike Silla's capital Gyeongju or Baekje's capital Sabi, it is difficult to conduct enough basic research necessary for such restoration.
In fact, even a minimal level of restoration is impossible to execute from partially restoring the layout of Koguryo's capital based on insufficient investigation and research.
As a result, we decided to pursue unconventional research methods.

The scale of Pyongyang Castle is substantial. Grandeur is bound to possess multitudes of diverse details, which means the restoration process will be challenging.
Of course, the outcome might turn out to be much better than expected. However, it is unlikely to be able to accomplish such an achievement within a short span of time.

The first step has only just been taken.
"At the beginning stage of this large-scale project, we will first attempt to do topographic restoration, which is usually the most basic step in restoring historical remains. We will also simultaneously attempt to restore Pyongyang Castle so that its exterior outline can be recognized at a single glance."

A span of time far greater than one thousand years must have brought about considerable changes to Pyongyang's topography. We started by collecting and reviewing any material that was available.
Then, we began to examine the differences between the current and former topographic features of Pyongyang.
For this purpose, we organized the materials under a classification of ancient documents, including geographical records, topographical maps from during the Japanese colonial rule, survey results of excavations from after the Japanese colonial rule, and maps of Giseong (Giseong is an old name of Pyongyang) from the late Joseon dynasty.
If we can link topographical maps produced from around the Japanese colonial rule with a traditional depiction of Pyongyang in the late Joseon dynasty through maps of Giseong, we may be able to recreate an image of what Pyongyang must have looked like even further back in time.

After reviewing various collections at several different museums, we were finally able to understand the changes in topography around the time maps of Giseong were created.
Imperial Japan produced a considerable amount of topographic material according to their needs. Among such material, cadastral maps from the 1910s and earlier maps of the Pyongyang Castle's inner section provided us with a view of Pyongyang's topography before full-scale development was conducted by Imperial Japan.
Based on cadastral maps from the 1910s and other various topographic maps, we also attempted topographic restoration, which is the most basic stage of restoring the Pyongyang Castle.
We cannot say that topographic restoration has been completed just yet. We are still on the lookout for new material.
Whenever material is newly acquired, we will compare it with what we've worked on so far and make corrections until a new outcome emerges. This process will be repeated constantly. What we need to keep in mind is that topographic restoration will always be future-oriented.
Maps of Giseong have been more helpful in restoring the castle than the topography. We paid particular attention to two collections of them. One was from the Songam Art Museum, and the other from the Korea Army Museum. The collection at Songam Art Museum is known to be the oldest.
The collection at the Korea Army Museum was produced at a different time from the one at the Songam Art Museum and offers an excellent portrayal of geographic features, including the castle.
We compared the two collections as part of our research for restoration. From the collection at the Songam Art Museum, stonework could easily be detected on the lower parts of masonry walls forming the outer and middle section of the castle, whereas mostly earthen wall construction could be witnessed from the collection at the Korea Army Museum. Further research on material other than maps of Giseong allowed us to be able to identify details that would require modification.
For example, the precise location of Jujak Gate, the south gate of the castle's inner section, has had to be corrected whenever new material surfaced.
In this respect, restoring the castle is similar to restoring topography in that the ending is open and most likely to change in the future. We have so far learned much more through research for restoration. Land division in the castle's outer section is an issue that always comes up whenever the Pyongyang Castle of Koguryo is discussed.
However, our survey this time has been able to clearly verify that a similar form of land division also existed in the castle's middle section as well.
We also learned that earlier views presuming that the palace site was spread across multiple locations cannot be ignored.

Through this whole process, we created a primary conceptual map of the capital city's plan, which can provide a rudimentary understanding of the Pyongyang Castle of Koguryo. Based on this map, we were able to build prototypes of the Pyongyang Castle's internal structure during the kingdoms of Koguryo and Joseon. We even attempted to make a rough three-dimensional visualization of Pyongyang as the royal city of Koguryo.

Re-examination of existing data, verification and organization, maps of Giseong, research on the castle and topography, and digital restoration... A series of such stages is gradually shaping the Pyongyang Castle of Koguryo.

(Interview) “"This means that the history of Koguryo may vividly spring to life again."
We have just taken our first step, but we are confident that the day will soon come when all historical scenes have been faithfully revived through our digital restoration efforts.