Kiringul

Kiringul
Kiringul is purportedly located near the Yongmyong Temple in Pyongyang (pictured in the 1930s)
Chosŏn'gŭl	기린굴
Hancha	麒麟窟
Revised Romanization	Giringul
McCune–Reischauer	Kirin'gul

Kiringul (Korean: 기린굴; "Kirin's Grotto") is a cave in North Korea said to have been the home of the kirin, a mythological chimeric beast that was reputedly ridden by King Dongmyeong of Goguryeo in the 1st century BC. In November 2012 the state-owned Korean Central News Agency reported that the site had been discovered in Moran Hill near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The North Korean government claims that the discovery proves that Pyongyang is the historic capital of Korea. Analysts outside North Korea have put the announcement in the context of long-running North Korean attempts to link the country's regime with the ancient Korean kings, and so position it as the legitimate heir to the legacy of Goguryeo.

On 29 November 2012 the North Korean state-owned Korean Central News Agency reported that archaeologists "recently reconfirmed a lair of the unicorn rode [sic] by King Tongmyong, founder of the Koguryŏ [Goguryeo] Kingdom (BC 277-AD 668)." The discovery was said to have been made by the History Institute of the DPRK Academy of Social Sciences at Moran Hill, Pyongyang, only 200 metres (660 ft) from the Yongmyong Temple. According to the report, the words "Unicorn Lair" were found carved on a rock at the site. The inscription is believed to date back to the period of the kingdom of Goguryeo (918-1392). The report also states this "proves that Pyongyang was a capital city of Ancient Korea".

The report attracted widespread international coverage for the apparently bizarre nature of the claim to have found a "unicorn lair", but subsequent reports suggested that the Korean terminology had been mistranslated. The original Korean-language report referred not to a unicorn but to a kirin (or qilin), a mythological chimera-like beast with "the body of a deer, the tail of a cow, hooves and a mane", as well as a single horn on its head. The creature was said to have been King Dongmyeong's favourite means of transport. The place in question is called Kiringul or "Kirin's Grotto". Despite the name, it was not literally supposed to have been a place where kirins lived, but was instead a mythical name akin to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.