Mongol invasions of Korea

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Mongol invasions of Korea
Date 1231-1273 Location Korean Peninsula Result Capitulation of Goryeo Dynasty
Belligerents
Goryeo Dynasty Korea	Mongol Empire
Commanders
Choe U Park Seo Kim Yun-hu Bae Jungson Kim Tong-jeong	Ögedei Khan Mongke Khan Salietai Jalairtai

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The Mongol invasions of Korea (1231 - 1273) consisted of a series of campaigns by the Mongol Empire against Korea, then known as Goryeo, from 1231 to 1259. There were six major campaigns at tremendous cost to civilian lives throughout the Korean peninsula, ultimately resulting in Korea becoming a vassal of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty for approximately 80 years.

Contents 1 The initial campaigns 2 Third campaign and treaty 3 Fourth and fifth campaigns 4 Sixth campaign and peace 5 Aftermath 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] The initial campaigns

Gojong of Goryeo (reigned 1213-1259) was the twenty-third king of the Goryeo dynasty. In 1225, the Mongol Empire demanded tribute from Goryeo, but Goryeo refused, and the Mongol envoy Chu-ku-yu was killed.

In 1231, Ögedei Khan ordered the invasion of Korea. The Mongols reached Chungju in central Korean peninsula, but after costly concessions, Korea convinced the Mongols to withdraw.

In 1232, the Imperial Court of Goryeo moved from Songdo to Ganghwa Island in the Bay of Gyeonggi, and started the construction of significant defenses to prepare for the Mongol threat.

The Mongols protested the move, and immediately launched a second attack. Although they reached parts of the southern peninsula, the Mongols failed to capture Ganghwa Island, and were repelled in Gwangju. The Mongol leader Sartai (撒禮塔) was killed by a monk Kim Yun-hu (김윤후) in strong civilian resistance at Yongin, forcing the Mongols to withdraw again. This is one of the only two known incidents when the commander of a Mongol Army was killed in battle. (The other was in the Battle of Ain Jalut when the Mongolian grand general Kitbuqa Noyan was captured and executed by Mamluks.)

[edit] Third campaign and treaty

In 1235, the Mongols began a campaign that ravaged parts of Gyeongsang and Jeolla Provinces. Civilian resistance was strong, and the Imperial Court at Ganghwa attempted to strengthen its fortress. Korea won several victories but the Korean military could not withstand the waves of invasions. In 1236, Gojong ordered the re-creation of the Tripitaka Koreana, destroyed during the 1232 invasion. This collection of Buddhist scriptures took 15 years to carve on some 81,000 wooden blocks, and is preserved to this day.

In 1238, Goryeo relented, and sued for peace. The Mongols withdrew, in exchange for Goryeo's agreement to send the Imperial Family as hostages. However, Goryeo sent an unrelated member of the imperial line. Incensed, the Mongols demanded clearing the seas of Korean ships, relocation of the court to the mainland, the hand-over of anti-Mongol bureaucrats, and, again, the Imperial family as hostages. In response, Korea sent a distant princess and ten children of nobles, rejecting the other demands.

[edit] Fourth and fifth campaigns

In 1247, the Mongols began the fourth campaign against Goryeo, again demanding the return of the capital to Songdo and the Imperial Family as hostages. With the death of Guyuk Khan in 1248, however, the Mongols withdrew again.

Upon the 1251 ascension of Mongke Khan, the Mongols again repeated their demands. When Goryeo refused, the Mongols began a large campaign in 1253. Gojong finally agreed to move the capital back to the mainland, and sent one of his sons, Prince Angyeonggong (안경공, 安慶公) as a hostage. The Mongols withdrew thereafter.

[edit] Sixth campaign and peace

The Mongols later learned that top Goryeo officials remained on Ganghwa Island, and had punished those who negotiated with the Mongols. Between 1253 and 1258, the Mongols under Jalairtai launched four devastating invasions in the final successful campaign against Korea.

There were two parties within Goryeo: the literati party opposed the war with Mongol, but the military junta led by the Choe clan pressed for continuing the war. When the dictator Choe was murdered by the literati party, the peace treaty was concluded^[1]. The treaty permitted the maintenance of the sovereign power and traditional culture of Goryeo, implying that the Mongols gave up conquering Goryeo to put it under direct Mongolian control.^[2]

[edit] Aftermath

Internal struggles within the royal court continued regarding the peace with the Mongols until 1270.

Since Choe Chung-heon, Goryeo had been a military dictatorship, actually ruled by the private army of the powerful Choe family. Some of these military officials formed the Sambyeolcho Rebellion (1270-1273) and resisted in the islands off the southern shore of the Korean peninsula.

Beginning with Wonjong, for approximately 80 years, Korea was a tributary ally of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. As a pledge of fealty to the Great Khan (and to boost the king's prestige before Mongol generals and officials who occupied the country), rulers of Korea, starting with King Chungnyeol, the son and successor of Emperor Wonjong, had married Mongolian royalty. All subsequent Korean rulers until King Gongmin--who were, after all, Mongolian nobles of Genghis Khan's line through their mothers--were raised as Mongols in Karakorum until they reached adulthood. The Goryeo dynasty survived under Mongolian influence until King Gongmin began to push Mongolian forces back starting in the 1350s.

[edit] See also

• History of Korea
• List of Korean monarchs
• List of Korea-related topics

[edit] References

1. ^ 국방부 군사편찬연구소, 고려시대 군사 전략 (2006) (The Ministry of National Defense, Military Strategies in Goryeo)
2. ^ 국사편찬위원회, 고등학교국사교과서 p63(National Institute of Korean History, History for High School Students, p64)[1]

[edit] External links

• Korea Britannica article (in Korean)
• Sanderson Beck

v • d • e Mongol Empire
Politics, organization and daily life	Military campaigns and battles		People		Terms
Organization of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan Mongol military tactics and organization Daily life in the Mongol Empire Christianity among the Mongols Franco-Mongol alliance Armeno-Mongol alliance Destruction under Mongol Empire Khanates Ilkhanate Chagatai Khanate Golden Horde Yuan Dynasty Notable cities Karakorum Samarkand Sarai Batu Sarai Berke Tabriz Dadu Bolghar Bukhara Ukek Majar Azaq Saray-Jük Xacitarxan		Asia Invasion of Central Asia Invasion of East Asia 1205–1209 Western China 1211–1234 Northern China Mongol invasions of Korea Battle of Bun'ei (first) Battle of Ngasaunggyan (first) Battle of Yamen Battle of Kōan (second) Battle of Pagan (second) Battle of Bạch Đằng (1288) (third) Mongol invasions of Vietnam (first) 1292 India (first) 1293 Java 1297 India (second) 1299 India (third) Invasion of Middle East Battle of Köse Dag 1251–1259 Persia and Mesopotamia (Timur) Battle of Baghdad (1258) Mongol invasions of Syria Battle of Ain Jalut (first) Mongol raids into Palestine Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar (third) Invasion of Europe Mongol invasions of Georgia Battle of Kalka River Battle of Samara Bend (first) Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria (second) Mongol invasion of Rus Battle of Legnica Battle of Mohi Timeline of the Tataro-Mongol Yoke in Russia		Emperors and rulers Genghis Khan Börte Ögedei Khan Tolui Khan Töregene Khatun Güyük Khan Möngke Khan Chagatai Khan Kublai Khan Prominent military generals Subutai Jebe Muqali Negudar Bo'orchu Borokhul Jelme Chilaun Khubilai Guo Kan Kadan Burundai Nogai Khan		Titles Khagan Khan and Khatan Jinong Khong Tayiji Political and military terms Yam Pax Mongolica Yassa Kurultai Nerge Mangudai Tumen