Real or not, supernatural King Dangun is key to Koreas achieving unification dream
• Story of the founding monarch, son of a god and a bear, featured in recent diplomatic efforts between North and South
• Scholars say chances Dangun actually existed are close to zero but North Korea still claims to have found his tomb
It’s the stuff of an Indiana Jones film: supernatural kings, ancient tombs and government-backed archaeologists striving to harness the power of legend for a greater cause.
On a divided Korean peninsula, tales of King Dangun – the mythical founder of the first Korean kingdom more than 4,350 years ago – play a quiet but persistent role in keeping the dream of reunification alive.
This mythology made an appearance in September when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the top of Mount Paektu, the supposed birthplace of Dangun.
Moon also invoked the legend in an unprecedented speech in Pyongyang, calling for Korea to be reunited.
“We had lived together for 5,000 years but apart for just 70 years,” said Moon, whose parents came from what is now North Korea.
