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BIRTH: Koreans are one ethnic group speaking one language. They show certain distinct physical characteristics which differentiate them from other Asian peoples including Chinese and Japanese. Koreans have a strong cultural identity. They are believed to be the descendants of several Mongol tribes which migrated to the Korean Peninsula from Central Asian particularly during the Neolithic Age (5000 B.C. - 1000 B.C.) and the Bronze Age (1000 B.C. - 300 B.C.). By the beginning of the Christian era, Koreans were a homogenous people, although the country was not politically unified until the seventh century A.D. BEGINNING: Scholars generally believe that the earliest kingdoms or states on the Korean Peninsula first began to form during the Bronze Age (1000 - 300 B.C.). Of these, the kingdom supposedly founded by Dangun, generally known as Gojoseon or Old Joseon, soon emerged as the strongest and had consolidated it’s power by the beginning of the fourth century B.C. As Old Joseon’s strength grew, China became more and more concerned. Therefore, the Chinese Emperor Han Wuti launched an invasion in 109 B.C. and destroyed the kingdom the following year.
Tombstone of Koguryo King Gwanggaeto (r.391 - 410), built in 414 in Tong-gou, Jian city, Jilin province in China.
Within a century, though, a new kingdom called Koguryo (or Goguryeo) (37 B.C.- 668 A.D.) emerged in the northern half of the peninsula. Koguryo was a nation of warriors led by aggressive and valiant kings such as King Gwanggaeto (r.391 - 410). It conquered neighbouring tribes one after another and expanded in virtually every direction. It was Koguryo which finally drove the Chinese out of their last commandery, Nangnang (Lo-lang in Chinese), in 313 A.D. At it’s height, it’s territory thrust deep into Manchuria and stretched well into the southern half of the Korean Peninsula.