Yeoju Pasa Fortress and Its Utilization during the Three Kingdoms Period

This paper has reviewed several issues concerning Pasa Fortress(파사성) during the Three Kingdoms period, building on previous research findings. The name “Pasa Fortress” was in use at least as early as the mid-14th century Goryeo. In late Joseon maps, the Gosan Fortress mentioned in the 『Sinjeung Dongguk Yeoji Seungram(신증동국여지승람, Augmented Survey on Geography of Korea)』 was identified as Pasa Fortress and its location marked in the Daesong-myeon. The middle reaches of the Namhan River, where Pasa Fortress sits, lay originally within the sphere of Mahan and, by the mid-3rd to mid-4th centuries, within that of Baekje. From 475 until the mid-6th century it was held by Goguryeo, and thereafter administered by Silla—thus passing in turn from Mahan to Baekje to Goguryeo to Silla. The Sulcheon Fortress (술천성), described in the 『Samguk Sagi(삼국사기)』, corresponds to today’s Pasa and Sulcheon Fortresses; the two formed an interlocking defense system that mutually reinforced each other. Sulcheon Fortress was the stronghold of Sulcheon-gun (술천군), as recorded in the geography section of the 『Samguk Sagi』. commanding the critical waterway linking the Namhan and Han Rivers from the Chungju region, as well as the land routes between the Han River plains and the eastern mountain areas.