The respected comrade
"A valuable legacy created by our ancestors through their struggle and creative activities, historical sites and relics are an asset of the nation that should be handed down from one generation to the next."
Among the national heritages showing the excellent wisdom and talents of the Korean nation is Pigo, a glider used in actual war for the first time in the world history.
Seeing the birds flying in the sky, people often thought how to fly like them. Their dream came true when a flying vehicle was invented and used for military communications for the first time in the early days of the Imjin Patriotic War(1592-1598) in the late 16th century.
In October 1592 when the Japanese aggression forces besieged the Jinju Fort in South Kyongsang Province, the Korean soldiers flew Pigo(a sort of glider) from the top of the fort to report to their superiors on the unexpected situation. The weather was very fine and the air current was helpful, so the vehicle glided from a high place as far as 30-ri(12 km) carrying a messenger.
The eagle or Japanese crested ibis-shaped Pigo was made of wooden framework covered with leather to carry some people. The width of the wings was tens of square metres each, so that it could have the great soaring capacity to bear the weight of the machine and the load. In the center of the vehicle were installed devices to control wings, a bellow, an air bag to store and send out the air, their control devices, as well as four seats for men to operate these devices. Its wings (main and tail wings) were controlled with several wires connected to the centre. The vehicle also had wheels under the body so that it could run on the ground. The name Pigo (a flying vehicle) was derived from this.
It could fly from a high peak or the top of a fortress. When the gliding began with the help of reaction of the wind from the air bag and the wings' operation, it could fly safely under control, ensuring stability and maneuverability.
Pigo was the world's first flying vehicle which carried a man.
In the Middle age, there was the attempt to invent a flying means such as Pigo in China and Germany, but there was not the event to make and let fly the reality of it. A similar means was first conceived in Germany between 1845 and 1855, but it ended up in conception.
Thus, Pigo invented by Koreans in the late 16th century is the first glider in the world.
Like this, the historical fact that the first practical glider was made and used in the world shows how wise, talented and civilized the Korean nation is.
