History
The province was the site of two Baekje kingdom capitals during the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BC–AD 668), Ungjin and Sabi. Ungjin (now called Gongju) became the second capital of the Baekje kingdom in AD 475 when the first capital at Hanseong (Seoul) was captured by Goguryeo troops. The astonishing tomb of King Muryeong, discovered near Gongju in 1971, with its treasure trove of nearly 3000 items, all over a thousand years old, reveal the outstanding craftsmanship and highly developed culture of the period.
In AD 538 the capital was forced to move south again, this time to Sabi (Buyeo), but it didn’t last long before it was overwhelmed in AD 660 by the joint army of Shilla and China, and the Baekje kingdom disappeared forever.
