Gojoseon: Korea's First Kingdom

Walk the National Museum of Korea in order and Gojoseon is the first name you meet. It is the first state to appear in Korean history, and the label under it usually opens with a sentence like "founded by Dangun Wanggeom in 2333 BC."

It is worth settling how to read that sentence before you go any further, because Korea's own scholarly encyclopedia treats the date as a record of how later generations understood their past rather than as a record of an event. This article keeps that distinction: what the written sources support, and what survives as symbol.

At a glance

The first state in Korean history
Gojoseon is the first state to appear in the historical record of Korea.
'Gojoseon' is a later name
The sources call it simply Joseon. 'Gojoseon' was coined in the Samguk Yusa to separate it from Wiman Joseon.
108 BC
Han destroyed Wiman Joseon and planted the Lelang commandery at its centre.
Hongik Ingan is still in force
The founding ideal from the Dangun myth is also the basic principle of education set by South Korean law.

Start with the name — 'Gojoseon' is not what it was called

When this state first appears in the sources its name is simply Joseon. The name Gojoseon was first used in the Samguk Yusa, and it was coined to distinguish it from the later Wiman Joseon.

It only came into wide use in the twentieth century, meaning "the old Joseon" as opposed to the Joseon dynasty.

So when you see the word "Joseon" on a museum label, check which one it means. The Joseon of the Joseon dynasty and the Joseon of Gojoseon are two different states about two thousand years apart.

How to read the founding date

The Samguk Yusa places the founding in the 2300s BC.

The encyclopedia is careful about what that figure is. It says the date carries real significance for the history of historical thought, as a reflection of how Koreans of each period understood Gojoseon, but has no practical meaning for the history of Gojoseon itself. It gives the reason as well: even in the Liaoxi and Liaodong regions, where farming and metalworking spread earliest across the peninsula and Manchuria, that spread does not go back beyond something over a thousand years BC.

Why this matters to a visitor is straightforward. 2333 BC is a real and living symbol in Korean culture — the public holiday of Gaecheonjeol comes from it. It simply belongs to a different register from an archaeologically established founding date. If you meet a sign that presents the two as the same kind of claim, this is the paragraph to remember.

What the written sources do support

Joseon comes into clear focus in the texts around the fourth century BC.

The Shiji records Su Qin telling King Wen of Yan (361–333 BC) that "to the east of Yan lie Joseon and Liaodong." From this we can establish that by the middle of the fourth century BC, Joseon was recognised by people in northern China as a significant power not far from Yan's frontier.

The next record is one of retreat. The Weilüe says that Joseon, after contending with Yan, lost "2,000 li" of its western territory to an invasion by Qin Kai in the reign of King Zhao of Yan (331–279 BC). The figure itself is disputed, but the Shiji also records the loss of territory, so Gojoseon lost its western lands around this time and came to face Yan across the Cheongcheon River.

Then it ends. In 108 BC, Han destroyed Wiman Joseon and established the Joseon county of the Lelang commandery at its centre.

Where was it? — a question that is still open

The commonest question in the gallery is where Gojoseon actually was. The honest answer is that it has not been settled.

The encyclopedia states that the location of Gojoseon's centre is itself unclear, and that research on Gojoseon has consequently revolved around that dispute. Because the Joseon county of Lelang was in the Pyongyang area, Wanggeomseong — Wiman Joseon's capital — and the capital of the period before it were probably also at Pyongyang; but the centre was not in the Pyongyang area from beginning to end.

In 1993 came an announcement that a "Tomb of Dangun" had been excavated in Pyongyang, with radiocarbon dating of the remains put at 3011 BC. The encyclopedia's response is that the tomb is a stone-chamber grave with a corbelled ceiling and the gilt-bronze crown found in it belongs to the Three Kingdoms period, so its occupant appears to have been a person of Goguryeo times. It is not presented as settled fact.

Where you meet Gojoseon — and the one line that survived

Gojoseon is an era with no standing buildings to look at. You meet it through bronzes and grave goods, and in Seoul that means the Prehistory and Ancient History Gallery of the National Museum of Korea.

One thing from this period is still in daily use, though. It is Hongik Ingan. It is the founding ideal of Gojoseon in the Dangun myth and, at the same time, the basic principle of education laid down by the education law of the Republic of Korea. Its core is described as a humanist outlook, an altruistic ethics, and a this-worldly cast of mind.

That the stated aim of Korean schooling is a phrase from a foundation myth is the shortest illustration there is of how this country handles its own origins.

Dangun and Wanggeom are not the same word. Wanggeom is the title of Dangun, who founded Gojoseon, and is generally read as imgeum, meaning a political ruler. "Dangun Wanggeom" is more accurately read as two titles side by side than as a personal name.

Where to go for Gojoseon

National Museum of Korea
The Prehistory and Ancient History Gallery is where this period starts. With no buildings left, the museum is effectively the only place to see it.

Frequently asked questions

Was Gojoseon really founded in 2333 BC?

The Samguk Yusa places the founding in the 2300s BC. Korea's scholarly encyclopedia assesses that date as significant for the history of historical thought but of no practical meaning for the history of Gojoseon itself, because farming and metalworking did not spread in the region before something over a thousand years BC.

Are 'Gojoseon' and 'Joseon' the same country?

The state's name in the earliest sources is simply Joseon. 'Gojoseon' was coined in the Samguk Yusa to distinguish it from Wiman Joseon. It is an entirely different state from the Joseon dynasty founded in 1392, separated by roughly two thousand years.

When did Gojoseon end?

In 108 BC, when Han destroyed Wiman Joseon and established the Joseon county of the Lelang commandery at its centre.

Where was Gojoseon's capital?

It is not settled. Because the Joseon county of Lelang lay in the Pyongyang area, Wanggeomseong and the earlier capital were probably there too — but the centre was not in the Pyongyang area throughout its history.

Can I visit any Gojoseon site?

No buildings survive, so the period is met through objects. In Seoul the starting point is the Prehistory and Ancient History Gallery at the National Museum of Korea.