Seokchon-dong Ancient Tombs: Baekje in the Middle of Jamsil

Traces of a Royal Capital That Nearly Disappeared

Jamsil is known today for large shopping complexes and tall buildings. Long before those buildings went up, the area formed part of the early capital of Baekje, often called Hanseong Baekje. Several traces of that capital remain in Jamsil. The Seokchon-dong tombs are among the most visible.

Tombs from the Hanseong Baekje Period

The site entered the archaeological record in 1911, during Japanese colonial rule. A brief survey followed in 1912 and more detailed investigations in 1916 and 1917. Historical accounts report that at least 290 tombs once stood in the area.

The site contains both stone-mound tombs and earthen burial mounds. Together they give archaeologists evidence of burial customs among early Baekje’s elite and the organization of the kingdom around its capital.

A Site Lost in the Growth of the City

The tombs received little systematic care in the upheaval following liberation and the Korean War. Houses and fields covered or damaged many of them, and the site gradually slipped from public memory.

Large-scale development in Jamsil in the 1970s changed the picture. Excavation of the surviving tombs began in earnest in 1974. A wider survey followed in 1987 after houses were cleared. Only a small number of tombs could be identified in something close to their original form, and the site became the park we see today.

A View Across Two Eras

The tombs are now open to the public in an archaeological park. It is a small site with a distinctive view. Beyond the burial mounds, the silhouette of Lotte World Tower puts the gap between the two periods into perspective.

Baekje tombs and a tower from twenty-first-century Seoul can fit into a single photograph here. The view shows how many layers of history a city can build over and still carry with it.

Seokchon-dong Ancient Tombs, Jamsil, Seoul

• Address: 248 Seokchon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul
• Access: Open 24 hours, as recorded for this article