one story, like a wood pagoda. From this stone pagoda, scholars can see wood working techniques, which is especially useful because many Korean wood pagodas have not survived the ravages of time and war. Currently, the pagoda has six floors. However, scholars are uncertain of how many storeys the pagoda would have actually reached. Each side of the first story is divided into three sections, and the middle section contains a door which leads into the pagoda. Walking into the center of pagoda, one can observe a massive central pillar. There are also corner pillars and stone supports which mimic wooden support pillars. The corners of the roof of the pagoda were slightly raised up and each progressive story was smaller than the one that preceded it. During excavations in January 2009, a gold plate was evacuated from the west pagoda. The plate had inscriptions in Classical Chinese on both sides, describing when and why Mireuksa temple was built. Etched into gold, the letters were inlaid with red paint, or juchil (), which was a technique reserved for important items or works of art. The inscription, in the original Chinese, reads: (front) 竊以法王出世隨機赴 感應物現身如水中月 是以託生王宮示滅雙 樹遺形八斛利益三千 遂使光曜五色行遶七 遍神通變化不可思議 我百濟王后佐平沙乇 積德女種善因於曠劫 受勝報於今生撫育萬 民棟梁三寶故能謹捨 淨財造立伽藍以己亥 (rear) 年正月卄九日奉迎舍 利願使世世供養劫劫 無盡用此善根仰資大 王陛下年壽與山岳齊 固寶曆共地同久上弘 正法下化蒼生又願王 后卽身心同水鏡照法 界而恒明身若金剛等 虛空而不滅七世久遠 并蒙福利凡是有心俱 成佛道 Roughly translated into English, this becomes, Treasure No.236 Also surviving at Mireuksa are flagpole supports of the temple site (Mireuksaji Danggan Jiju). These two massive stones are set 90 centimeters apart. During special celebrations, a flagpole would sit and be supported by the two stone pillars. There were three holes for flags per pillar. The first pair of holes were square while the other two pairs were round. The base of the flagpoles has not survived. The undecorated nature of the pole, save for horizontal stripes carved on the exterior of the two poles, suggests that the poles were created during Later Silla. Preservation and restoration In 1910 only a part of the west pagoda (South Korean National Treasure No. 11) was still standing. In 1914, the Japanese government supported it with a concrete backing. In the late 20th century, Korean archaeologists conducted extensive excavations, laying the foundation for a partial reconstruction and the interpretive center. The west stone pagoda's concrete support has been removed beginning in 1999, and the entire structure was dismantled. The complete restoration was completed in June 2018. Archaeological importance Among