Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jae-sup said Tuesday that South Korea is contemplating setting up a body to research the history of an ancient Korean kingdom in response to Chinese historians' moves to incorporate it into its own history.

Kim asserted on a radio talk show that China must be made to understand that the Goguryeo Kingdom is a discrete part of South Korean history.

In a recent project on ancient Northeast Asian history, Chinese historians claimed the ancient Goguryeo Kingdom (37 B.C. to 668 A.D.), which stretched from the northern region of the Korean Peninsula into the northeastern part of modern-day China, should be considered part of Chinese history.

South Korean scholars and civic groups have lashed out at the Chinese claim, saying Chinese historians were "interpreting history based on their own interests."

Seoul, however, has taken the position that the project was not politically motivated, as has been claimed by critics, because China has yet to make such a claim at the governmental level.

Kim also said South Korea had expressed its concerns on several occasions through its embassy in Beijing that the history issue could have a negative effect on bilateral relations.