First Goryeo-Khitan War
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The First Goryeo-Khitan War was a 10th-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 continued with the second and third campaigns until 1019.
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[edit] Background
In late August 993, Goryeo intelligence sources along the frontier learned of an impending Khitan invasion. King Songjong of Goryeo quickly mobilized the military and divided his forces into three army groups to take up defensive positions in the northwest. Advanced units of the Goryeo army marched northwestward from their headquarters near modern Anju on the south bank of the Ch'ongch'on River. The seriousness of the situation compelled King Seongjong to travel from the capital to Pyongyang to personally direct operations.
[edit] The Invasion
That October, a massive Khitan army said to number nearly 800,000 men under the command of General Xiao Sunning swarmed out of Liao from the Naewon-song Fortress and surged across the Yalu River into Goryeo. Waves of Khitan warriors swept across the river and fanned out over the countryside.
In bloody seesaw warfare, the fierce resistance of Goryeo soldiers at first slowed, then considerably hampered the Khitan advance at the city of Pongsan-gun. As they had done with the Chinese, Goryeo's army never surrendered. It stood firm against frontal attacks, broke to retreat and lay ambushes, and launched flanking attacks against the Khitan. Goryeo warriors finally halted Xiao Sunning's army at the Ch'ongch'on River. In the face of such quick and determined resistance, the Khitan decided that further attempts to conquer the entire peninsula would be far too costly, and sought instead to negotiate a settlement with Goryeo.
[edit] Beginning of Negotiations
What the Khitan could not take on the battlefield with arms, they tried to steal with words. Without a hint of contrition or humility, General Xiao Sunning demanded the surrender of the former territory of Balhae to Emperor Shengzong. He asked that Goryeo sever its relations with Song China and, in the boldest demand of all, that King Songjong accept vassal status under the Liao emperor and pay a set annual tribute to the Liao state. Instead of responding with a unified voice and rejecting General Xiao's demands outright, the Khitan ultimatum quickly became the topic of heated debate in the royal court at Kaesong. Government officials on one side believed that acceding to General Xiao would prevent further Khitan incursions and they urged the court to appease the Liao emperor. Many of the senior military commanders who had recently faced the Khitan army on the battlefield stood in opposition, including General Seo Hee, commander of an army group north of Anju.
While the bureaucrats argued in Kaesong, General Xiao launched a sudden attack across the Ch'ongch'on River directly at the Goryeo army headquarters in Anju. The Khitan assault was quickly repulsed, but it had the effect of agitating the royal court to a state of near panic.
[edit] Truce Negotiations
In an effort to calm the court nobility, minister Seo Hee volunteered to negotiate directly with General Xiao. The one key factor influencing the negotiations, and both parties knew it, was the heavy pressure being exerted on the Liao state by Song China. In face to face talks with his Khitan counterpart, minister Seo bluntly told General Xiao the Khitan had no basis for claims to former Balhae territory. In fact, since the Goryeo dynasty was without question successor to the former Goguryeo kingdom, that land rightfully belonged under Goryeo's domain. In a cleverly veiled threat, Seo Hee reminded General Xiao that the Liaodong Peninsula was also territory once under the dominion of Goguryeo. The Manchurian territories, including the Khitan capital at Liaoyang, should properly belong to Goryeo.
[edit] Aftermath
In a final remarkable act, minister Seo obtained Khitan consent to allow the region up to the Yalu River to be incorporated into Goryeo territory. General Xiao and the Khitan army not only returned to Liao without having achieved their goals, but the invasion literally ended with the Khitan giving up territory along the southern Yalu River to King Songjong. Seo Hee's brilliant diplomatic maneuver underscored his correct understanding of both the contemporary international situation and Goryeo's position in the region.
Following an exchange of prisoners, the Khitan army withdrew back across the Yalu River. The following year, Goryeo and the state of Liao established formal diplomatic relations. In an effort to help the process along, Goryeo temporarily suspended its diplomatic relations with Song China.
