DokSANSEONG (독산성)
Constructed sometime before the 7th Century A.D. by the Kingdom of Baekje, Doksanseong—sometimes referred to as Tokseong—didn’t really gain its place in the Korean history books until the Imjin War, 1592-98. During that conflict, General Kwon Yul and his small army were besieged at Doksanseong by Japanese troops dispatched from Seoul to deal with his troublesome force. Noting the extremely steep approaches to the fortress on all sides, the Japanese determined the garrison must be low on water and so hunkered down to wait out their enemy. Comprehending the Japanese intent, Kwon Yul had his horse washed with buckets of rice from a prominent place in the castle, within full view of his besiegers. To the Japanese, from a distance, it looked like the garrison not only had water, they had enough to waste washing their animals. Sensing the futility of waiting for thirst to force a surrender, and clearly not commanding enough troops to take such a strong position, the Japanese force terminated the siege and returned empty-handed to Seoul.
As with other castles from Korea’s Three Kingdoms period, Doksanseong’s walls and ramparts were not originally clad in stone, but formed of rammed earth topped with wooden battlements. Fortress walls, especially in less prominent fortifications like Doksanseong, wouldn’t receive their masonry armor until the Joseon Period. In this case, however, it might hardly have mattered given the incredibly steep slopes leading up to the fortification on all sides of the prominent hill mass. It’s intimidating even if you’re not planning to storm those heights!
All joking aside, this is a beautiful little fortress and very well maintained. Highly recommended!
If approaching from the large parking lot and restaurant village at the base of the hill—you’ve only climbed about 1.4 Km but it feels like more—the East Gate of Doksanseong is the first thing you see.
The masonry walls skirt the lines of elevation to either side of the gate, but the view to the West immediately grabs your attention.
Make no mistake, this is a gorgeous little castle, and it doesn’t take long before you realize there is no easy approach to this place, it is this steep all the way around, making clear the reason why Baekje first built Doksanseong in this location. During the Imjin War a millennium later, this fortress overlooked (dominated) the primary route from Busan to Seoul, allowing the master of this castle to interdict Japanese supply lines heading north with virtual impunity.
Glancing right after entering the East Gate offers a surprising, but just as stunning site!
Standing on the first tower just west of the East Gate. You can see the next tower off in the distance. Again…look at the slope leading up to this place! The stone walls seem almost unnecessary!!
Looking back toward the East Gate offers a fuller view of the dramatic section of wall and stairs leading down to it from Semadae Pavilion.
This “Ammun” or secret gate lies between the Eastern and Western Towers. If you look carefully you can see the holes in the stone that once held the door posts.
I’m going to mention it at every one of these Three Kingdoms Era castles because it was a key design feature. The builders paid careful attention to the hydrology within the fortress, as a buildup of monsoon rains within the castle could easily cause the collapse of a masonry wall. Thus here and throughout Doksanseong you see stone-lined drainage leading from inside to outside the walls.
This outside view of this ammun. The approach would have been difficult to say the least.
This is the West Gate, Doksanseong’s secondary entrance. Not quite as tall as the stone lining the East Gate, but pretty close.
Here, looking back at West Gate and its tower beyond, you can see the steep staircase and winding path leading up to the portal.
The Northern Gate has seen recent (1982) repairs. Again, you can just make out the stone post holes in this doorway.
As its name implies, the Northern Tower literally towers over the landscape and the gentle climb from inside the fortress offers impressive views of nearby Suwon and Osan (below).
Approaching the Northern Tower you can still make out the original steps leading up to the bastion.
The view back along the wall from the Northern Tower. That’s the Northern Gate in the center of the frame and you can see that the steep terrain hasn’t eased yet! (It won’t!!)
Bojeoksa Temple lies within the walls of Doksanseong. If you don’t want to hike up to the castle from the valley—for the record, it wasn’t that bad a walk—you can drive up and park at the temple’s parking lot.
First view through the trees of the famous Semadae, Doksanseong’s command post.
In addition to offering clear views of the entire fortress (back when the trees were all cut down, of course) Semadae is supposedly the site where General Kwon Yul fooled the Japanese invaders into thinking he and his force had plenty of water to withstand a prolonged siege. The location is high and prominent enough to make the story believable.
The wall and interior stairs leading up to Semadae from the East Gate.
A brief word of caution: If you or someone you are traveling with is seriously entomophobic (afraid of insects), you might want to think twice about visiting Doksanseong as the entire hill is crawling (sorry…couldn’t help myself) with what we called “Walking Sticks” when I was a kid. Technically members of the Phasmatodea order of insects, they’re quite large here and, frankly, EVERYWHERE! I’ve never seen anything quite like it!! So…if you’re scared of bugs, consider yourself warned, though they won’t/can’t harm you. If you—or one of your little ones—is as enamored with this particular bug as I was as a kid…Doksanseong is just a short drive away!