Kim Daeseong was a chief minister of Silla

Silla

Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

 during the reign of King Seongdeok

Seongdeok of Silla

Seongdeok Daewang was the thirty-third king of the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. He was the second son of King Sinmun, and the younger brother of King Hyoso. In 704 Seongdeok married Lady Baeso 陪昭夫人 , the daughter of Gim Wontae. In 715 their son, Junggyeong 重慶, was named Crown Prince and heir...

 in the Unified Silla

Unified Silla

Unified Silla or Later Silla is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, when it conquered Baekje in 660 and Goguryeo in 668, unifying the southern portion of the Korean peninsula...

 period. He was the son of a previous chief minister, Kim Mullyang. He is credited with the establishment of the famed Bulguksa

Bulguksa

Bulguksa is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism in the North Gyeongsang province in South Korea. It is home to seven National treasures of South Korea, including Dabotap and Seokgatap stone pagodas, Cheongun-gyo , and two gilt-bronze statues of Buddha. The temple is classified as...

 temple and Seokguram

Seokguram

The Seokguram Grotto is a hermitage and part of the Bulguksa temple complex. It lies four kilometers east of the temple on Mt. Tohamsan, in Gyeongju, South Korea. It is classified as National Treasure No. 24 by the South Korean government and is located at 994, Jinhyeon-dong, Gyeongju-si,...

 shrine in Gyeongju

Gyeongju

Gyeongju is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of 269,343 people according to the 2008 census. Gyeongju is southeast of Seoul, and east of the...

.

The Samguk Yusa

Samguk Yusa

Samguk Yusa, or Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea , as well as to other periods and states before, during, and after the Three Kingdoms period.The text was written in Classical Chinese, which was...

relates a tale that Kim Daeseong was the reincarnation of the child of a pious but poor woman who offered up a field which she had worked long and hard to buy. He is said to have built Bulguksa in memory of his parents of the current life, and Seokguram in memory of his parents in the former life.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• 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...