What we write, how we write it, and what we leave out

1. What this site makes, and what it does not

The purpose here is not to uncover new facts but to place known facts on a shared time axis and explain the relations between them. Dates and events are drawn from the Korean History Chronicle of the National Institute of Korean History, from standard treatments within the scope of the South Korean high-school world history curriculum, and from the biblical text and general church-history surveys. By contrast, the decisions about which entries belong on the same row, why two events are linked, and what that simultaneity means are written here. The articles and era guides are original text written for this site; nothing is reproduced or paraphrased from another publication.

2. How timeline entries are chosen

• Comparability — events that gain meaning when set beside another region in the same years come first. An event important only within Korean history ranks lower if it has no counterpart abroad.
• Overlap with school curricula — the backbone is what secondary education covers, so that a reader can use the events they already know as anchors for the ones they do not.
• Accessibility through popular culture — events widely known through film and television serve as entry points, which is why the film column exists.

3. How dates are qualified

Not all dates rest on the same kind of evidence. This site distinguishes three kinds.

• Established dates — supported by near-contemporary texts or archaeology, e.g. the Imjin War of 1592.
• Approximate dates — expressible only as a range, e.g. "c. 3000 BCE", always marked as approximate.
• Traditional dates — symbolic dates preserved by later records, e.g. the founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BCE per the Samguk yusa, labelled as traditional on screen.

Where scholarship diverges, as with the early entries of the Christian-history column, a representative date is used and the alternative given alongside it (for example, the Exodus at c. 1446 BCE or c. 1250 BCE).

4. How contested events are handled

• Where no consensus exists, this site states that the readings diverge rather than settling the question.
• Present-day political positions are not projected backward to defend or condemn one side.
• Comparison is not used to rank. Questions such as "why were we late?" tend to keep the outcome and erase the process, and we say so.
• Where harm is specific — colonial rule, war crimes — it is stated plainly rather than softened.

5. How films and series are treated

Titles are placed by the year the story is set in, not the year of release. Each entry carries a synopsis together with critical reception, strengths and weaknesses, and a note on historical accuracy. No numeric score is given: the aim is not to rank films but to use them as doors into a period. Where fiction departs from the record, we say so. Streaming availability changes often by date and country, so the platform field is indicative only.

6. Sources consulted

• National Institute of Korean History, Woorihistory — Korean History Chronicle (backbone of the Korean column)
• Standard treatments within the South Korean high-school world history curriculum (scope of the world column)
• Widely used translations and summaries of primary sources such as the Samguk sagi, Samguk yusa and the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty
• The biblical text and general surveys of church history (Christian-history column)
• Published production information for films and series, and publicly reported critical reception

Sources are not copied. Facts are verified and then written anew. Where a particular formulation or an author's distinctive interpretation is needed, it is attributed in the text.

7. Images and copyright

No images of uncertain provenance are used. The visual elements of the site are made for it, and no third-party material such as film posters or stills is published here. Titles are discussed in text only.

8. Corrections

If you find a factual error, please tell us through the contact page. Once confirmed, the entry is corrected, and where the substance changes the page's revision date is updated. Changes to the timeline data are recorded in the commit history of the public repository.

9. Advertising

This site may carry advertising to cover server and domain costs. Advertisers have no part in selecting or wording timeline entries, and advertising is placed so that it is distinguishable from editorial content. Data handling is described in the privacy policy.