Andong step pyramid, is the best one of pyramids survived being undestroyed in South Korea, is located at soktapri, andong, korea, in the northern valley of Mt. Hakka, 30 km road away from Andong. 13.2 meters by 12.7 meters square and about 4.5 meters high. Small buddhist temple 'Soktapsa' is located at the north-east corner of pyramid, which is probably laid the foundation at the moment pyramid built. Strangely enough, small pyramid in seoul and 'soktapsa' at here had built at the corner of another big pyramid, not in a straight line. This plan of site is differant from the typical planning of buddhist temple and pagoda in korea at that times. Because of it, this stone pyramid is not a buddhist pagoda, it is just a pyramid tomb, I think.

It may be slowly collapsed by long times. Legend and history book 'Sam-kuk-u-sa' says, buddhist monk had lived here long times ago, he(they) had some connection with the monks at buddhist temple 'pusoksa' in yongju near here. After the fall of nation Kokuryo in A.D. 668, 'Pusoksa' was established to propagate buddhism to heretics by a monk the great 'EuiSang' in A.D. 676. Nobody knows which kind of religion heretics believed. There are no stories, no documents about heretics at all. But regend says dwellers around pyramid show their hostilities against the monks at 'pusoksa'. And this area were the borderland with 'Shilla' and 'Kokuryo'. Probably, I guess, defeated kokuryo soldiers or survivers should be taken a refuge at this place, and they had constructed. Either, another hypothesis is survivers of 'Bekje' or the others, who are known to construct the pyramids in sokchondong, seoul, had moved to here, and did it.
(photos taken in 1995, Sep 1996, Dec 1997, written in Sep 1996, updated in Dec 1997)