History

Why are the Koreans considered to have arisen within the Korean territory?

The rise of Koreans in the Korean territory is well proved by the fact that the whole range of fossil remains of Homo erectus or early man, Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis or Neanderthal man and Neanthropic or modern man have been discovered in korea.
The fossil remains found at Komunmoru, Sangwon County, Pyongyang City in 1966 belonged to early man.
The period when he lived, or one million years ago, was the initial stage of man's existence evolved from animals.
In Korea the early man evolved to Neanderthal man, In September, 1977 the fossilized skull of a Neanderthal-type man and 28 fossil bones of animals that were the contemporary of the man were found in Taehyon-dong, Ryokpo District, Pyongyang.
This Neanderthal man is called Ryokpo man after the name of the place there it was discovered.
In 1973, before the Ryokpo man was found, fossil teeth of a Neanderthal man were unearthed together with fossil bones of animals in a cave on Mt. Sungni in the city of Tokchon, South Pyongan province. This Neanderthal man is called Tokchon man after the name of the place of its discovery.
In 1972, one year earlier, the whole fossil skeleton of a modern man was found in the floor of the same cave.
The fossil remains of man found in Korea confirm the whole process of evolution of man and show the ethnical features and origin of Koreans.
It is clear from this that the Koreans arose in the Korean territory and have existed as a single nation with one blood line throughout the long history of their land. 

Primitive Times (Chronology)

Paleolithic era:

Upper - the initial stage of appearance of human beings:
100 millenniums ago
Middle: 100 to 50-40 millenniums ago
Lower : 50-40 to 15 millenniums ago
Mesolithic era : 15 millenniums ago to 6 millenniums B.C
Neolithic era : 6 millenniums B.C to the late 30th century B.C

Bronze age:

Upper : the early 20th century B.C
Middle : the late 20th century B.C
Lower : the early 10th century B.C
Early iron age: the first half of the 10th century B.C

 
A dolmen which is a reminder of a long history

bronze mirror

bronze dagger

What were the ancient states of Korea and when were they established?

From the 10th to the 5th century B.C the ancestors of Koreans established their earliest states. They were the slave-owning states Kojoson, Puyo and Chinguk.

Kojoson was the first of them to appear. It had a vast territory comprising the northwest part of the Korean peninsula and the Liaodong and Liaoxi areas, and its capital was Wanggomsong in the Liao river basin. Around the 7th century B.C Puyo was founded. It covered wide areas of the basins of the Liao and Songhua Rivers. At the same time, Chinguk was established in the area south of the central Korea. These ancient states lasted for many centuries until they gave way to feudalism the early 3rd century B.C.  Goguryeo(Koguryo), Silla and Paekje emerged as feudal states. The period up to the 7th century A.D when these kingdoms existed is called the period of the Three Kingdoms.

 All three Kingdoms developed highly sophisticated state organizations on the Korean Peninsula, adopting Confucian and Buddhist hierarchical structures with the king at the pinnacle. State codes were promulgated to initiate a legal system to rule the people. In this process, Koguryeo annexed Buyeo, and Silla conquered Gaya. The Three Kingdoms were competing with each other in strengthening Buddhist-Confucian state power, in efforts toward serious territorial expansion.

Goguryeo(Koguryo) was established first and it was the largest and strongest. Its capital was today's Pyongyang for hundreds of years from the 5th century. In the period of the Three Kingdoms there existed a few small states called Kaya in and around the basin of the Rakdong River in the southern areas of the Korean peninsula.
The period from the latter half of the 7th century to the early 10th century coincided with the existence of later Silla and Palhae. Then followed Koryo, the first united state in the Korean peninsula which lasted nearly 500 years. The foreign name of Korea derived from the appellation of Koryo which was widely known to the world at the time.
At the close of the 14th century Koryo was superseded by the Li dynasty. The Li dynasty as the last feudal state of Korea existed for over 500 years.

The Ancient States of Korea 

The Ancient age

Kojoson--10th century B.C to 108 B.C
Puyo -- around the 5th century B.C to 494
Chinguk -- from before the 6th century B.C. to 9 A.D.

The middle age

Goguryeo(Koguryo) -- 277 B.C. to 668
Paekje -- 18 B.C. to 660
Silla-- 57 B.C. to 935
Kumgwangaya-- the middle period of the 2nd century to 532
Palhae -- 698 to 926
Latter Paekje-- 892 to 936
Taebong-- 895 to 918
Koryo - 918 to 1392
Choseon Dynasty (Li dynasty) - 1392 to 1910