Information about Third Goryeo Khitan War

The Third Goryeo-Khitan War was an 11th-century conflict between the kingdom of Goryeo and Khitan forces near what is now the border between China and North Korea. The Goryeo-Khitan Wars began in 993 with the first campaign and continued with the second campaign.

Background

In 993, Khitans under General Xiao Sunning invaded Korea, but retreated after truce negotiations with minister Seo Hui of Goryeo, establishing friendly relations between the two nations. In 1004, Khitans invaded China. Chinese forces were terribly defeated, and the Chinese were forced to pay tribute to the Liao emperor.

However, the tension between Goryeo and Liao created another war. In 1009, General Gang Jo of Goryeo led a coup against King Mokjong, killing the king and establishing military rule. In 1010, the alliance was broken and Liao attacked Korea for General Gang's treason. Also, Khitans claimed six garrison settlements east of the Yalu River, which Goryeo claimed as its territory in truce negotiations during 993. The Koreans fought fiercely but were defeated. However, the Goryeo king managed to retain his claim on the six garrison settlements. The Khitans retreated from the peninsula, with no great prize for the war, but they did not give up their hope of gaining the six garrison settlements and making Goryeo pay tribute.

The Invasion and Battle of Kwiju

Khitan troops under the command of General Xiao Baiya held two cities on the Goryeo side of the Yalu River in anticipation of taking the region of the Six Garrison Settlements by force. Construction workers labored throughout the summer and autumn of 1018 to build a large, well-fortified bridge across the Yalu, completing the project in the end of that winter. General Xiao led a force of 100,000 men across the completed bridge onto Goryeo's frozen countryside in December of that year. Columns of Goryeo troops ambushed the Khitan from the moment they set foot on Goryeo territory. After breaking out of the ambush, the Khitan army drove southward, only to meet even stiffer resistance in the region around the capital of Kaesong.

King Hyeonjong heard the news of invasion, and ordered his troops into battle against the Khitan invaders. General Gang Gam-chan, who did not have any military experience since he was a government official, became a commander of the Goryeo army of about 208,000 men (the Khitans still had advantages, even outnumbered 2 to 1, since Khitan troops were mostly mounted while the Koreans were not), and marched toward Yalu River.

Near the Garrison Settlement of Heunghwajin, there was a small stream. General Gang ordered the stream blocked until the Khitans began to cross it, and when the Khitans were mid-way across, he ordered that the dam be destroyed so that the water would drown much of the Khitan army. The damage was great, but the Khitans did not abandon their campaign.

The Khitan were beset by continuous harassing attacks, forcing General Xiao to abandon all thoughts of conquest. His attention soon focused on the grave problem of trying to extricate himself from the hellish winter of northwest Korea. In their rush north toward the Yalu River, the Khitan army retreated headlong into the well defended Kusong Garrison near the northwestern town of Kwiju. Goryeo's General Gang Gam-chan led a massive attack that annihilated all the Khitan army. Barely a few thousand of the Liao troops survived after the bitter defeat at Kusong.

Aftermath

Four years later, Goryeo and the Liao dynasty reached a negotiated peace agreement and established normal relations. The Khitan never again invaded Goryeo. Both the Liao Dynasty and Goryeo enjoyed a time of peace, and their cultures were at their height. However, as the balance of power on the Liao-Goryeo border shifted, the Jurchens, who lived around the border between the two nations, began to expand their power. Finally, in 1115, Jurchen chief Wányán Āgǔdǎ founded the Jin Dynasty in Manchuria, and began to attack both Khitans and Koreans. In 1125, Jurchen troops captured the Liao king with help from the Chinese, who encouraged the Jurchens in the hope of gaining territories they lost to the Khitans before. Most Khitans fled to Turkestan, where they established the Kingdom of Western Liao(Kara-Khitai). Many of them were forced to surrender to the Jurchens, while Goryeo was forced to pay tribute to Jin.

See also

• Koryo and the Khitans