| Gojoseon-Han War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Gojoseon | Han Dynasty | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| King Ugeo † Seong Gi † Min. No In (POW) Min. Han Eum (POW) Min. Sam (POW) Gen. Wang Gyeop (POW) |
Yang Pu Xun Zhi |
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| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | 57,000+ | ||||||
The Gojoseon–Han War was a campaign launched by the Han Dynasty of China against Wiman Joseon, the last remaining part of Gojoseon after many kingdoms in the Korean peninsula became independent countries, between 109 BC and 108 BC.[1] It resulted in the victory of Han over Gojoseon.
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Gojoseon was developed highly, expanded its territory widely and benefit from trades between Han and other countries. At this time, King Ugeo ruled Wimanjoseon, a name given to Gojoseon of this time by later scholars, at this time, and the title of Dangun was no longer in use.
The Chinese viewpoint on this struggle is described in Records of the Grand Historian (史記), according to which the kingdom of Gojoseon had blocked trade between the Han Dynasty and the other kingdoms to the east and did not pay any homage to Han.
The Korean viewpoint on this struggle is that Wimanjoseon did not have any duty of homage to Han because Wimanjoseon was a sovereign nation and in a political alliance including Xiongnu against the Han Dynasty.
Another assessment of the situation seems to be that Han was looking for a chance to exercise its might as a unified Chinese dynasty. Emperor Wu (Wudi; 武帝) of Han appointed She He (涉何) as an ambassador to Gojoseon in 109 B.C. After a failed negotiations, She He killed a general Jang (長) at the border on his way back to Han. She He later became an administrator of a north eastern Han province.
Enraged by this act, King Ugeo attacked the territory of She He and killed him. Seeing a chance to declare war against Gojoseon, the Han Dynasty thus sent 50,000 strong army and 7,000 strong navy to conquer the Gojoseon.
A force of Yang Pu (杨仆) was defeated and another force of Xun Zhi (荀彘) was also obstructed by Wimanjoseon. So, Emperor Wu sent an envoy ordering surrender. King Ugeo sent the crown prince for negotiations. Due to misunderstandings the negotiations failed and war was resumed.
King Ugeo kept Wanggeom-seong, the capital city of Wimanjoseon, for several months from Han forces. Xun Zhi, having overall command by the Emperor Wu, imprisoned Yang Pu and unified the whole Han forces and the attacks became stronger. Wimanjoseon officials such as No In (朝鮮相 路人), Han Eum (相 韓陰), Sam (尼谿相 參), Wang Gyeop (王唊) insisted to surrender to Han. But king Ugeo disagreed. Eventually, in April of 108 BC, three of the ministers surrendered to Han and Sam later let King Ugeo be assassinated.
Though the king died the capital city didn't fall. Under the leadership of Minister Seong Gi (成己), Gojoseon people still struggled against Han. But, Seong Gi was also assassinated and the city finally fell to Han.
Four Commanderies were founded to control the former Gojoseon territories.