Korean sword

The traditions of Korean bladesmithing and swordsmanship have served a central place in the military history of Korea for thousands of years. Although typical Korean land battles have taken place in wide valleys and narrow mountain passes, which favor use of spears and bows, the sword found use as a secondary, close-quarters weapon, in addition to far more prominent role during sieges and ship-to-ship boarding actions. Higher quality, ceremonial swords were typically reserved for the officer corps as a symbol of authority to command the troops. Ceremonial swords are still granted to military officials by the civilian authority to this day. Korean swords typically fall into two broad categories, the geom, and the do. The Geom is a double-edged weapon, while the Do is a single-edged weapon; although exceptions exist. In common parlance, all swords may be referred to as geom (검; 劍). The history of the sword in Korea begins with bronze daggers of Bronze Age of which existing artifacts dates back to 10-9th century BCE. Iron use co-existed with Bronze use during the late Bronze Age. The rarity of traditional Korean swords in the modern day has made them extremely valuable, with high demand from both museums and collectors.