• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.64-81
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• 2019

Jeju Island is located at a strategic position, making it an important waypoint on the sea routes of East Asia. As a result, the island suffered many foreign invasions throughout history. Especially, it is widely known that Japanese pirates frequently invaded the island as the island was located on their way as they were sailing to China. Therefore, they built various defensive structures across the island. Fortresses, where a small number of defenders may fend off an enemy, were built in multiple places on the island. This was a strategy for the island to defend itself, as it was almost impossible to get prompt support in an emergency from the mainland due to the long distance. Fortresses, or walled cities, were the center of politics, culture, and economy of many areas. Therefore, they are a valuable resource to study the history and geographical characteristics of a place. For this reason, studies on fortresses started quite early on. However, studies on such relics in Jeju Island began very late. The research on fortresses was launched during the Japanese occupation for most mainland areas. However, studies on the relics on Jeju Island began as late as the 1970s. This was because scholars did not understand the importance of the city walls and fortresses on Jeju Island, and there were no researchers who specialized in city walls or fortresses on the island, as well. As archeological research on Jeju Island began to gain momentum, the studies on city walls and fortresses saw progress; however, these studies are still of an elementary level. In this study, the author summarized the status of studies on the city walls and fortress relics in Jeju Island and their preservation/maintenance status by era. According to the findings of this study, there were two Corean-era city wall/fortress relics and thirteen from the Chosun era., The researcher analyzed and presented the status of studies and the current condition of the relics. The status of attached structures was also documented.Furthermore, a short review of the maintenance work performed so far was provided. Also, the researcher mentioned the problems that accompanied the maintenance process of these relics, along with suggestions for improvement that could be referred to in future restoration/maintenance projects.