The Bears of Gongju

In order to put this little story into some perspective, I figure a little history is in order.

Gongju came into being during what is known as the Three Kingdoms Era (57 BC - AD 668) in Korea. The Goguryeo Kingdom controlled the northern part of the peninsula including what is now present day North Korea as well as parts of China above the Yalu River. The Silla Kingdom controlled the southestern portion, and the Baekjae Kingdom controlled the southwest. In AD 475, Goguryeo overran the Baekjae capital near Seoul. The new capital Ungjin (meaning Bear Port) was established on the Guemgang River where present day Gongju now stands. Ungjin remained the capital of Baekjae until AD 538 when the capital was moved to Buyeo. Baekjae was eventually destroyed by Silla in AD 660.

Bears are an enduring part of Korean mythology beginning with the origin of the Korean people in which a bear and a tiger pray to Hwanung, the son of Hwanin, the "Lord of Heaven", to make them human. Hwanung gives them a task to perform. The tiger gave up before the task is complete, but the bear stays the course and is eventually turned into a woman (there's a "why bears hibernate" thing in this too, but we won't get into that). The bear-now-woman, Ungnyeo, makes offerings of thanks to Hwanung who decides to marry her. They have a son named Dangun Wanggeom, and thus the Korean people come into being.

Gongju has its own bear legend which I'm stealing basically verbatim from the VisitKorea website. it goes like this:

One day, a female bear, lonely after years of watching humans go about their business, kidnapped a local fisherman to make him her husband. At first, the fisherman was afraid and refused to become the bear's husband, so the bear kept him trapped in her cave by blocking the mouth with a large boulder. The bear took good care of the fisherman and, after a few years, their relationship improved to the point they had two cubs. Deciding she could now trust the husband to stay, the bear left the cave unblocked as she went off hunting for food. The fisherman, seeing his opportunity, took off. Upon returning and finding the fisherman gone, the bear, consumed by grief, jumped into the Geumgang River with her two cubs and drowned

After the bear's death, the Guemgang River became rough and the fisherman couldn't work. To calm the bear's spirit, other fisherrman built a shrine to the mother and her cubs. This shrine gives Gongju its original name, Ungjin or Bear Port.

Thus I give you, The Bears of Gongju!