Discovery by Chinese archaeologists could heighten diplomatic tensions

BEIJING - Chinese archaeologists have dug up the ruins of a 2,000-year-old walled city on the North Korean border, a significant historical find that could heighten regional diplomatic tensions over who can claim title to the ancient kingdom of Koguryo.

The ruins, near the city of Ji'an, are believed to date from the Han Dynasty, which reigned from 202 BC to AD 220. They include a burial area with 2,360 tombs from Korea's Koguryo kingdom.

There is an ongoing row between China and both Koreas over Koguryo.

China is keen to merge Koguryo, which ruled most of northeastern China and the Korean Peninsula some two millennia ago, into its own history.

South Korea has even changed its name in Chinese from "Hancheng", which translates as "Chinese city" to "Shou'er", which just sounds like Seoul.

The ruins were exposed when a reservoir on when the water level on a reservoir on a tributary of the Yalu River, which forms the border of the two countries, was drained for repair work, the official state news agency Xinhua reported.

The city wall is 1.5 metres high and four metres thick and encloses an area 180 metres by 220 metres, Xinhua said. It is surrounded by a moat.

Last month, South and North Korea cooperated on a dig in Pyongyang and jointly unearthed an ancient palace site which they said was a royal residence of the Koguryo Kingdom.

- INDEPENDENT