The Korea Institute at Harvard University is hosting an international forum on Goguryeo from April 5-7, the Korea Foundation announced yesterday.

"The Harvard Conference on Koguryo History and Archaeology," sponsored by the Korea Foundation, the Korea Society in New York, the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard Asia Center, the Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies, and the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, will feature presentations by Goguryeo specialists from six countries.

While Goguryeo history has become a topic of much contention in recent years with Korean scholars alleging that the Chinese are attempting to claim the ancient Korean kingdom`s history through a state-led research called "Northeast Asia Project," there have been no comprehensive, multidisciplinary Goguryeo-based studies in the English language.

The symposium will include discussions of Goguryeo`s origins and developments, its interregional relations, its tomb structure and art, and its archaeological remains. Among the scholars giving presentations are: Liaoning Archaeology Institute`s Li Xinquan ("Early Goguryeo Remains in China"); Seoul National University`s Noh Taedon (Goguryeo in Silla and Goryeo Historiography); Australia National University`s Kenneth Gardiner ("Textual Analysis of the Goguryeo Annals"); and Korea Institute`s Mark Byington ("Goguryeo in East Asian Studies in the West).

"The proliferation of misinformation regarding Goguryeo threatens to compound the problems facing western scholars who wish to include Goguryeo in their research or curricula," said the Korea Institute at Harvard University in announcing the upcoming seminar.

Papers prepared for the conference will be compiled into an edited volume.

By Kim Hoo-ran

(Korea Herald 2005-3-30)