dynasty, and subsequently by the Tang, had a profound impact on Korea’s strategic position.
Whenever China, in previous times, became united and was able to exert great power, the Korean kingdoms felt its weight. The Han empire was the best example of this. But after the Chinese Han collapsed in 220, China was divided into several parts, dynasties rose and fell rapidly over three centuries, andChina was so disunited and overrun by “barbarians” that it exercised little direct military influence on Korea. Until the late sixth century Kogury ŏ enjoyed relative peace with the Chinese, but then the Korean kingdom, which bordered China at the time, grew uneasy about Sui’s successful unification of China. To counterbalance that pressure, Kogury ŏ sought to forge friendly ties with the Tujue people (Turks), then a newly rising power in the steppe region of north-central Asia. As in previous periods of Chinese strength, however, the Sui empire launched military campaigns to subjugate the Tujue people. Determined to crush the Tujue threat, Sui planned to outflank them by conquering Kogury ŏ .
In response to this crisis, Kogury ŏ carried out a preemptive strike against the Chinese region west of the Liao River in 598. The Sui emperor, Wendi (581–604), sent out an expeditionary force, some 300,000 men, to launch a retaliatory attack on Kogury ŏ in the same year. But the Kogury ŏ forces held firm against the invading Chinese forces and defeated them. In 612, however, Yangdi (604–617), the next Sui emperor, mobilized some 1,130,000 troops and mounted an enormous invasion of Kogury ŏ .
Kogury ŏ stood up to the Chinese invasion with a force, said to be some 300,000, much inferior in number but better trained and more battle-experienced than the Chinese. Sui forces failed to take the Liaodong fortress, the anchor of Kogury ŏ ’s line of fortifications on the Liao River. Yangdi then developed a new strategy to conquer Kogury ŏ , which was to keep Kogury ŏ fortresses in Manchuria at bay and meanwhile send a contingent army to take the Kogury ŏ capital of Pyongyang. But an estimated 300,000 Sui troops could not occupy Pyongyang. The retreating Sui forces were lured into an ambush by the Kogury ŏ commander Ŭ lchi Mun-d ŏ k, one of the most celebrated generals in Korean history, and suffered a crushing defeat at Salsu (present-day Ch’ ŏ ngch’ ŏ n River). It is said that only 2,700 of the 300,000 Chinese soldiers escaped alive. Yangdi was forced to withdraw his forces to China proper. The Kogury ŏ general now has a street ( Ŭ lchi-ro) named for him in downtown Seoul. Again Yangdi sent his armies into Kogury ŏ in 613 and 614, once more without success. The great defeat of the Sui empire in part caused the downfall of the dynasty itself in 618.
When the Tang dynasty succeeded the fallen Sui dynasty, Kogury ŏ anticipated further Chinese invasions and therefore strengthened its defenses, including, in 628, the construction of its “Great Wall,” a thousand
li
(about 300 miles) in length across its northwestern frontier. At first the Tang emperorTaizong sought to subjugate Kogury ŏ by diplomatic means, including sending envoys to urge Kogury ŏ to come to terms with Paekche and Silla, but to no avail. Kogury ŏ had no intention of recognizing China’s suzerainty over the state.
At about the same time an internal power struggle developed among Kogury ŏ ’s ruling elite. In 642 Y ŏ n Kae-somun emerged as a military strongman by staging a coup. He slaughtered King Y ŏ ngnyu, who had attempted to kill him, and others who had opposed him. He enthroned King Y ŏ ngnyu’s nephew as King Pojang, but he himself retained absolute power. Y ŏ n Kae-somun took an increasingly provocative stance against Tang and Silla. When the Silla envoy Kim Ch’un-ch’u asked him for help in repelling attacks from Paekche, he demanded that Silla return the Han River basin to Kogury ŏ . In 643 Kogury ŏ assisted Paekche in
Whenever China, in previous times, became united and was able to exert great power, the Korean kingdoms felt its weight. The Han empire was the best example of this. But after the Chinese Han collapsed in 220, China was divided into several parts, dynasties rose and fell rapidly over three centuries, andChina was so disunited and overrun by “barbarians” that it exercised little direct military influence on Korea. Until the late sixth century Kogury ŏ enjoyed relative peace with the Chinese, but then the Korean kingdom, which bordered China at the time, grew uneasy about Sui’s successful unification of China. To counterbalance that pressure, Kogury ŏ sought to forge friendly ties with the Tujue people (Turks), then a newly rising power in the steppe region of north-central Asia. As in previous periods of Chinese strength, however, the Sui empire launched military campaigns to subjugate the Tujue people. Determined to crush the Tujue threat, Sui planned to outflank them by conquering Kogury ŏ .
In response to this crisis, Kogury ŏ carried out a preemptive strike against the Chinese region west of the Liao River in 598. The Sui emperor, Wendi (581–604), sent out an expeditionary force, some 300,000 men, to launch a retaliatory attack on Kogury ŏ in the same year. But the Kogury ŏ forces held firm against the invading Chinese forces and defeated them. In 612, however, Yangdi (604–617), the next Sui emperor, mobilized some 1,130,000 troops and mounted an enormous invasion of Kogury ŏ .
Kogury ŏ stood up to the Chinese invasion with a force, said to be some 300,000, much inferior in number but better trained and more battle-experienced than the Chinese. Sui forces failed to take the Liaodong fortress, the anchor of Kogury ŏ ’s line of fortifications on the Liao River. Yangdi then developed a new strategy to conquer Kogury ŏ , which was to keep Kogury ŏ fortresses in Manchuria at bay and meanwhile send a contingent army to take the Kogury ŏ capital of Pyongyang. But an estimated 300,000 Sui troops could not occupy Pyongyang. The retreating Sui forces were lured into an ambush by the Kogury ŏ commander Ŭ lchi Mun-d ŏ k, one of the most celebrated generals in Korean history, and suffered a crushing defeat at Salsu (present-day Ch’ ŏ ngch’ ŏ n River). It is said that only 2,700 of the 300,000 Chinese soldiers escaped alive. Yangdi was forced to withdraw his forces to China proper. The Kogury ŏ general now has a street ( Ŭ lchi-ro) named for him in downtown Seoul. Again Yangdi sent his armies into Kogury ŏ in 613 and 614, once more without success. The great defeat of the Sui empire in part caused the downfall of the dynasty itself in 618.
When the Tang dynasty succeeded the fallen Sui dynasty, Kogury ŏ anticipated further Chinese invasions and therefore strengthened its defenses, including, in 628, the construction of its “Great Wall,” a thousand
li
(about 300 miles) in length across its northwestern frontier. At first the Tang emperorTaizong sought to subjugate Kogury ŏ by diplomatic means, including sending envoys to urge Kogury ŏ to come to terms with Paekche and Silla, but to no avail. Kogury ŏ had no intention of recognizing China’s suzerainty over the state.
At about the same time an internal power struggle developed among Kogury ŏ ’s ruling elite. In 642 Y ŏ n Kae-somun emerged as a military strongman by staging a coup. He slaughtered King Y ŏ ngnyu, who had attempted to kill him, and others who had opposed him. He enthroned King Y ŏ ngnyu’s nephew as King Pojang, but he himself retained absolute power. Y ŏ n Kae-somun took an increasingly provocative stance against Tang and Silla. When the Silla envoy Kim Ch’un-ch’u asked him for help in repelling attacks from Paekche, he demanded that Silla return the Han River basin to Kogury ŏ . In 643 Kogury ŏ assisted Paekche in
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