In Part 1, we introduce well-known figures and famous places that many people know as incorrect information, or "false information."
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Part 2 introduces travel destinations with hidden stories.
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Part 3 introduces relics that contain traces of several women who have not seen the light of day for a long time.
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Part 4 is a journey that explores the traces of foreigners who visited this land.
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In the final epilogue, I would like to conclude with a little-known story about Dokdo.

---「pp7~8.
From "Entering"

However, an incident occurred where the previously unknown Seosan Bulguksa Temple suddenly became famous.
In 2012, a group of thieves from our country stole a gilt-bronze seated statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva from Gannonji Temple on Tsushima Island and brought it back to our country, but were arrested.
Legally, it should be returned to its original owner, but although there is a record that this Buddha statue was originally made and enshrined at Buseoksa Temple in Seosan in 1330, there is no record of the Buddha statue being sent to Japan, and as there are traces of fire on the Buddha statue, experts have stated that it is likely that this Buddha statue was plundered by Tsushima Japanese pirates.
As the argument that this Buddhist statue was originally our country's and should not be returned to Japan gained strength, it was temporarily stored at the Daejeon National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage.

Accordingly, in the first trial in 2017, the court ruled that the Buddhist statue should be returned to Buseoksa Temple in Seosan, after pieces of Goryeo Dynasty fish bone pattern roof tiles and celadon discovered at Buseoksa Temple in Seosan were presented as evidence.
However, due to the opposition of the Japanese Kannonji, which claimed to have received the Buddhist statue from Joseon in 1527, the second trial of the Daejeon High Court held in February 2023 ruled, “It is possible to acknowledge the fact that Seosan Buseoksa Temple, which existed around 1330, produced this Buddhist statue, and there is evidence that suggests that Japanese pirates plundered and illegally exported it, but it is difficult to acknowledge ownership because there is insufficient evidence that Buseoksa Temple at the time was the same religious organization as the current Buseoksa Temple and a continuous religious organization.” The ruling was to return the statue to the Japanese Kannonji, which had possessed the statue for more than 20 years since January 26, 1953, when it was registered as a religious corporation, and the statute of limitations on the statue had expired. In the end, the Supreme Court had to make the final decision.

---「pp42~43.
Part 1.
In search of a site of misunderstood history 02.
Among Gyeongbuk Yeongju and Chungnam Seosan - Buseoksa Temple vs. Buseoksa Temple

Dopiansa Temple, which was built in the late Unified Silla period and was within a civilian control zone for a while, has recently become open to the public.
The reason you must visit Dopiansa Temple is because there is a famous Buddhist statue called the ‘Iron Vairocana Buddha (National Treasure No. 63)’ inside the Daejeokgwangjeon Hall of Dopiansa Temple.
This 91-centimeter-tall Buddha statue is known to have been created by 1,500 ordinary believers (gyesa) in January of the fifth year of King Gyeongmun of Silla (865), as evidenced by the inscription on its back. It is one of the few treasures whose date of creation is clearly known.
Compared to the Buddha statues of Seorabeol at the time, which had plump and dignified appearances, this statue has a slender face with a slight smile on its lips, showing the beginning of a change towards free-spirited Buddha statues of local aristocrats during the Goryeo Dynasty.

Additionally, this Buddha statue is made of iron, which is rare in our country.
It is said that this Buddha statue is the only one in which not only the Buddha but also the pedestal on which he sits is made entirely of iron.
Usually, Buddhist statues are made of stone or bronze, carved from wood, or molded from clay.
Iron Buddha was rarely attempted because it was difficult to make and the seams of the mold left tiny marks during the casting process. However, it is also valuable in that it is one of the earliest forms of iron Buddha that appeared in the mid-9th century and continued until the Goryeo Dynasty.
So, even though the building burned down during the war, the iron Buddha statue was able to be preserved intact.

---「pp106~107.
Part 2.
[Places to visit in Cheorwon, Gangwon-do]

In 1937, when Japan started the Second Sino-Japanese War, it declared Wonsan Port off-limits to the general public in order to use it as a military port, and closed the foreign resort village at Wonsan Beach. It was decided to provide these foreigners with a new resort site in Hwajinpo, Goseong.
Dr. Sherwood Hall, who was a former executive committee member of the resort, visited Hwajinpo and decided to build a villa overlooking the lake, as he saw it from the hill and it reminded him of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.
However, at the time, it was difficult to find a Korean architect who could build a Western-style villa on a rock face, so after asking around, he found out that there was a German architect in Korea.
So, the person Dr. Sherwood Hall met was a German architect named Weber, and surprisingly, he had fled to the Korean Peninsula to escape Hitler's reign of terror.
There is no information on how Beaver came to Joseon and what happened to him afterward.
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This villa, which was completed in 1938 at a great expense, was usually used as a chapel for foreign missionaries, but the family of Dr. Sherwood Hall only used it for a few days for vacation, and after being expelled in 1941, it was left without an owner, so after liberation, it became North Korean territory and Dr. Sherwood Hall could no longer go there.
The North Korean regime used this villa, whose owner had disappeared, as a resort for VIPs. Kim Il-sung's family also often used it, so it was later called the Kim Il-sung villa.
If you go there now, you will see a photo of Kim Jong-il sitting on the stairs among the various exhibits.
During the Korean War, when our army advanced to the south of Goseong and it became South Korean territory, Kim Il-sung was unable to use this villa. In March 2005, the building, which had been damaged, was restored to its original appearance and is now used as an exhibition hall for Dr. Sherwood Hall's life and inter-Korean reconciliation and exchange.
---「pp135~138.
Part 2.
In search of a travel destination with a hidden story 03.
From "Gangwon Gosung - Until the castle in Hwajinpo became known as Kim Il-sung's villa"

Shin Saimdang, Heo Nanseolheon, Hwang Jini, and Lee Maechang are mentioned as the four greatest female poets of the Joseon Dynasty. They were all women who lived around the same time in the 16th century. Of these, Shin Saimdang and Heo Nanseolheon were noted as female poets from noble families, while Hwang Jini and Lee Maechang were famous in their time as gisaeng.
However, even now, the most famous gisaeng among the gisaengs, Hwang Jin-i (1506-1567), is counted as one of the 'Songdo Three Perfections' along with Park Yeon-pokpo and Seo Gyeong-deok, but most of the unofficial history that has been passed down was created later, and her name first appeared in the records of the 18th century Silhak scholar Lee Deok-mu, so it is difficult to confirm how much of it is true, and not much is known about what her actual life was like.
On the other hand, another female poet, Lee Mae-chang (1573-1610), was one of the 'Three Perfects of Buan' along with Jikso Falls and Yu Hui-gyeong, and her love story with Yu Hui-gyeong was noted as the greatest love story of Joseon at the time.

Lee Mae-chang was born as the daughter of Lee Tang-jong, a government official in Buan County, North Jeolla Province, and a concubine. She became a gisaeng (female entertainer). She became famous for her outstanding skills playing the geomungo and for writing excellent Chinese poetry using the writing skills she learned from her father.
Poets and writers of the time, including Heo Gyun (許筠), came to Buan, North Jeolla Province, to meet Lee Mae-chang, who was unable to leave Buan due to her status as a government official, and it is said that Yeonpyeong Buwongun Lee Gwi (李貴) and Kwon Pil (權?) exchanged poems and written conversations with her.

---「pp235~236.
Part 3.
In search of those who left behind beautiful names 04.
Buan, Wonju, Seoul - From "The Disappeared Gisaengs"

The Japanese House Street in Guryongpo, Pohang, which has recently become widely known after appearing as the main background for the domestic dramas 'When the Camellia Blooms' and 'The Sea Village Cha Cha Cha', is gaining popularity as a photo zone full of emotion as it contains around 80 houses from the Japanese colonial period.
While other regions have scattered old Japanese houses, Pohang is one of the few places where a Japanese-style street with houses lined up in a row remains. Capitalizing on its popularity, Pohang City is making efforts to attract more tourists by operating weekend experiences, exhibition programs, and ocean tour buses.
However, the starting point of the Japanese house street in Guryongpo was different from that of other Japanese residential areas.

The Japanese districts of Busan, Incheon, and Wonsan Port were strategically developed areas where Japanese wholesale and retail merchants settled to sell goods in Joseon and branches of the Oriental Development Company were established from the time of the opening of the ports. Gunsan and Mokpo were inhabited by Japanese capitalists and employees who transported cheap Joseon agricultural products to Japan.
On the other hand, Guryongpo Village was a quiet fishing village that no one paid attention to until the end of Joseon, but starting in 1883, when Japanese fishermen were also able to fish in Joseon waters, around 80 fishing boats from Kagawa Prefecture (香川?) came to Guryongpo and fell in love with the golden fishing grounds where there was half water and half fish, so the first Japanese people moved in and naturally created a Japanese street, so the purpose itself was different.
---「pp295~966.
Part 4.
In search of traces of foreigners who visited this land 03.
Pohang, Gyeongbuk - From "Guryongpo Japanese Village with a Breathtaking Story"

Then, a great man appeared who proved that the two precious islands were our territory… … , ah~, his name was An Yong-bok (安龍福, 1658~?).
An Yong-bok, who was originally a slave in Dongrae-gun, served in the navy and frequently came into contact with Japanese people at the Japanese residence in Busanpo, where he also worked as a Japanese interpreter.
However, he couldn't make a living just by interpreting Japanese, so he also worked as a fisherman. It is said that fishermen at the time knew that there were many fish caught near the forbidden island of Ulleungdo.
I always see that only the noble ones don't know such real-life information.
In 1693, about 40 fishermen, including An Yong-bok, who set out from Dongrae, went to Ulleungdo and encountered Japanese fishermen.
An Yong-bok and his party protested, saying, “Why did you invade Joseon territory?” However, the Japanese fishermen, who were significantly more numerous than the others, did not know that the island was Joseon territory and instead captured An Yong-bok and his party, claiming that it was an uninhabited island they had discovered and dragged them to Japan.
However, the Japanese officials become embarrassed when, during the interrogation, they discover that in 1625, the Oya and Murakawa families received passage licenses from the Tokugawa shogunate that allowed them to sail to Ulleungdo and Dokdo.
The navigation license was a permit issued when going abroad, so it was proof that the Japanese shogunate already knew that Ulleungdo and Dokdo were Joseon territory.

---「pp329~330.
[Epilogue] Gyeongbuk Dokdo - Dokdo, our land that we must continue to protect