Suwon Hwaseong Fortress

Suwon Hwaseong is a fortress from the Joseon Dynasty located in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do. It was built for defensive purposes by King Jeongjo to move the tomb of his father, Crown Prince Jangheon, and to build a new city where residents could be relocated. Construction began in February 1794 and was completed after two and a half years of construction. The total length of the fortress is 5.74 km, and the 4-6 m high fortress walls surround an area of ​​130 ha. It has the following characteristics: it was a castle that was planned and built from the beginning; it was built as a single castle city by combining a town wall for residence and a defensive mountain wall; it actively utilized new scientific knowledge and technology from the East and the West with traditional castle building techniques; it added many defensive facilities that were not common in previous Korean castles; and it showed a unique beauty by being built in a natural shape following the surrounding terrain.

Namhansanseong Fortress

Namhansanseong, built on a mountain 25km southeast of Seoul, is a mountain fortress built during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) to serve as a temporary capital in case of emergency. Some of the earliest remains of Namhansanseong date back to the 7th century, but it was rebuilt several times afterward, most notably in the early 17th century to counter the threat of the Qing Dynasty, which was founded by the Manchurian people of China. Namhansanseong was built by mobilizing an army of monks, who guarded the fortress. Namhansanseong is a fortress that embodies the entirety of the defensive military engineering concept of the time, reflecting the influence of castle systems introduced from China and Japan and the aspects of castle construction technology that changed with the introduction of firearms from the West. Namhansanseong is also a symbol of the independence and autonomy of the Korean people.