Abstract

The names given to historical events often change along with changes in interpretation. This article focuses on the so-called “Unification War of the Three Kingdoms of Korea,” examining this seventh-century war in East Asia and how its name has changed over time. Subsequent discussions have focused on the moment the Korean “nation” was formed or the completeness of the Korean historical perspective, based on the idea of a “nation.” However, future historical descriptions must explore new possibilities to move beyond the tendency of historical descriptions based on the nation unit to assume a center and a periphery and create a rhetoric of domination and subordination. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize the interconnected nature of East Asia as a new community, beyond the modern paradigm of ethnic and dominant–subordinate structures. The present article does not limit itself to examining the seventh-century war simply in terms of the unification of the three kingdoms of Korea, but attempts to interpret it as an opportunity to foster a new East Asian community.