Sonjuk Bridge

Built in 1290, it is famous as the place where famed Confucian scholar and statesman Chŏng Mong-ju was assassinated, allegedly on the orders of the Yi Pang-wŏn, son of the first king of the Joseon Dynasty, Yi Sŏng-gye.

[2] A famously loyal advisor to the king of Goryeo, Chŏng was a staunch political opponent of Yi Sŏng-gye.

On his way home after a party held for him by the future king, he was ambushed by five men on the bridge and brutally murdered with an iron hammer.

Later canonized as a Korean sage, and revered even by Joseon monarchs, Chŏng's death came to symbolize unwavering loyalty.

Both commemorate Chŏng Mong-ju's assassination, and praise his loyalty to the Goryeo dynasty.

Sonjuk bridge in 2012 in Kaesong, North Korea
poem (1939) concerning the death of Chŏng on the bridge