Buyeo Baekje Historic Sites (Busosanseong & Gungnamji)

Busosanseong is a mountain fortress built around Busosan Mountain, south of the Baengmagang River, and was the capital fortress of the Sabi period. The Korea Heritage Service writes that it seems a double wall was built to protect the royal palace in the 16th year of King Seong (538), when the capital moved from Ungjin to Sabi. However, a temoe-type fortress ringing the mountaintop already existed around the 22nd year of King Dongseong (500), and it is presumed to have been completed in its present form around the 6th year of King Mu (605), so it is regarded as material showing the development of Baekje fortresses. It is a composite fortress in which a pogok-type wall enclosing the outside is added to the temoe type that rings the summit, and the sites of the east, west and south gates remain.

The Baekje World Heritage Center explains that the Gwanbuk-ri Remains are presumed to be the royal palace site, and that Busosanseong behind it was the palace's rear garden in ordinary times and became a defensive facility in an emergency. Full-scale archaeological work has continued since 1980, and in the 1993–1994 survey a Baekje-period wall and, inside it, a wall from Unified Silla to Joseon were found together. Remains such as building sites, stonework and water tanks from Baekje to Joseon turned up inside the fortress, which is said to show that Busosanseong was an important military base for more than a thousand years after it was first built.

The cliff rock on the west of Busosan is Nakhwaam. Buyeo County introduces that, according to the Samguk Yusa, when the Silla–Tang allied forces drew near the royal fortress, court ladies threw themselves from here. Later the scene was likened to falling flowers and it came to be called Nakhwaam, and the cliff is said to carry an inscription written by the Joseon scholar Uam Song Si-yeol. Nakhwaam was designated Chungcheongnam-do Natural Heritage Material No. 110 on 17 May 1984.

Gungnamji is the pond of the Baekje detached palace that stood south of Buyeo. The Korea Heritage Service explains that it seems to have been made in the reign of King Mu, and that the name Gungnamji comes from the Samguk Sagi record that "a pond was dug south of the palace". The same record says water was drawn in by a long channel of more than 20 ri, willows were planted around it, and an island modeled on Bangjangseonsan was made in the middle of the pond. Buyeo County gives this as the 35th year of King Mu (634). However, how the channel, the waterside and the island were actually laid out is unknown, and stonework and willows remaining in the middle of the pond show that an island existed. East of the pond there is a palace site that appears to be a detached palace, and near it Baekje-period foundation stones, base stones and roof-tile fragments were found. It was designated a Historic Site on 10 June 1964.

Busosanseong is open 09:00 to 18:00 from March to October and 09:00 to 17:00 from November to February, and Buyeo County writes that it takes about 2 hours to see. Closing days differ between guides. The closing-day column of the opening-hours table is blank, but the Nakhwaam guide page says it is closed on 1 January and on the days of Seollal and Chuseok. If you are going on a holiday, check first with the ticket office (041-830-2884). In Buyeo County's July 2026 table, admission is 2,000 won for an individual adult, 1,100 won for youth and 1,000 won for children, and free for Korean nationals aged 65 and over. Residents of Buyeo, Gongju and Cheongyang are free if they show ID, and admission is also not charged during the lunch hour, 12:00 to 13:00. Gungnamji has no admission fee.

The Chungnam Comprehensive Tourist Information Center is inside the Busosanseong parking lot and opens 09:00 to 18:00 (closed 1 January and on Seollal and Chuseok). It has interpreter guides for English, Japanese and Chinese. The terminal timetable Buyeo County published (as of 1 October 2026) has routes toward Seoul Nambu and Dong Seoul, Nonsan and Seodaejeon, and Gongju and Cheonan. Check the times in the county timetable (041-835-3515).

In 2026 the Buyeo City Tour Bus runs on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 May to 18 October (excluding July and August, 10:00 to 17:00, online reservation in advance, runs with 5 or more people). The Sunday course starts from Busosanseong and continues to Gudeurae by yellow-sail boat (one way), Gungnamji and Muryangsa, and costs 10,000 won for adults, including Busosanseong admission and the sailboat fare. Buyeo County's one-day course guide links Gungnamji after Busosan and gives the distance between them as 2.3 km. It notes there are sloping stairs inside Busosanseong, so take care if you are with older people.