Samarkand traces centuries-old ties with Korea

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan — Registan Square, Shah-i-Zinda, Mirzo Ulugh Beg's observatory and the Imam Bukhari complex stand as reminders of Samarkand's more than 2,700-year history as a crossroads of the Silk Road. Its ancient networks extended across Eurasia, including to the Korean Peninsula. At Afrasiab, seventh-century murals show foreign visitors at the court of a Samarkand ruler. Two figures have been associated by many researchers with Goguryeo, one of Korea's ancient Three Kingdoms, although