Gwanggaeto Stele
Apart from the Nihon Shoki, evidence which was cited at the time to prove Japan's conquest of Gaya/Mimana included the exhuming of contemporary Japanese weaponry and armor from archeological sites in Korea, the inscription on the Gwanggaeto Stele which indicates that Japanese forces were occupying Gaya, and the titles received by Japanese monarchs from China's Liu Song dynasty acknowledging Japan's control over southern Korea. Today however, Japanese artifacts in Korea are seen as evidence of Japanese armies and mercenaries dispatched at the request of Gaya and Paekche, the inscription on the Gwanggaeto Stele is regarded as an exaggeration to justify Kokuryo's attacks, and the titles granted by China are considered to be most likely purely symbolic. Historians have also called into question the historical reliability of the Nihon Shoki's account of events, as Japan was far behind Gaya technologically and still politically fractious at the time when Empress Jingu was alleged to have successfully invaded Korea.