Jeong Ji-hae is acknowledged as the first person to conduct an archaeological excavation in Korea (Joseon) in 1748.

Jeong was the father of a governor of Jinju

Jinju

Jinju is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was the location of the first and second Sieges of Jinju by Japanese forces during the Imjin War...

 in south-central Joseon

Joseon Dynasty

Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

. He was interested in history and the identity of his forbears. In 1748 Jeong carried out the excavation of six ancient burials dated to the Goryeo

Goryeo

The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...

 Dynasty (AD 918-1392) (Kim 1986:125). However, he failed to confirm if the personages of the burials were his direct ancestors. Kim Won-yong

Kim Won-yong

Kim Won-yong was a South Korean archaeologist and art historian. Noted in the discipline of Korean archaeology and ancient art history , he was one of the first people recognized as an archaeologist in Korea to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree.Kim graduated from New York University in 1959...

 regards Jeong's research as the first archaeological excavations in Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

.

See also

• Joseon
• Goryeo
  Goryeo
  The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...
  
  
• History of Korea
  History of Korea
  The Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began...