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Hopefully you'll cover the Goguryeo Sui war and the khitan invasions in the future.

Korean here. Thank you so much for uploading this video! I was waiting for it:) I have to say, even for us Won-Jong 원종 recognizing Kublai as the Khan is a great luck/miracle we had after long years of war

The fact that Goryeo wasn't turned into a Mongol dynasty like the Yuan Dynasty and preserved its cultural autonomy was a small victory in and of itself.

Interesting. Competent and pragmatic leaders prevented outright defeat. Eventually the leadership was not good enough and ...

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join them.” This was pretty much the mentality of both sides of the Mongol-Goryeo War, even though the Mongols technically “won.” Goryeo was one of the very few instances in history where the Mongols could not secure absolute domination and therefore had to sign a peace treaty. Generally this was how it usually went: The Mongols approach a city and sends a messenger with demands that the city surrender. If the city does not surrender, the Mongols swoop in with its massive hordes and pillage, rape, and burn to their hearts content. The Mongols gather the heads of their victims and display it for the next city. Pretty straightforward, albeit gruesome, tactic. It worked…MOST of the time. There was only a few places in the world where this did not work, one of which was Korea. Here’s why: The Mongols approach a Korean city, only to find it deserted. No guards, no people. Where is everyone? They find out the Korean people and army have locked themselves in a fortress far up a nearby mountain, where cavalry and siege weapons are useless. The Mongols march around the Peninsula, raiding and pillaging wherever they can, only to constantly be ambushed at every corner. One ambush even resulted in the death of a general, just one of only two times this has happened to the Mongols. The Mongols look into capturing the king and end the war directly, only to find out the king and his entire court, as well as his commanders, set up their operations on Ganghwa Island. The island itself isn’t far from the mainland at all, but there’s nothing the Mongols hated more than water. Worse still, the entire Goryeo navy, battle hardened from centuries of fighting Japanese pirates, were docked nearby to make sure no Mongol excursion would get anywhere near the island. Fighting lasted for three decades, one of the longest wars the Mongols had ever waged. It even got to the point that the Mongols had to send its most seasoned warriors and leaders to the Korean war effort, men that could’ve been of more use elsewhere. But three decades weren’t easy on the Koreans either. Constant pillaging of the kingdom’s farmlands resulted in a severe food shortage. The people were exhausted, many of their able-bodied men were fighting or dead, and yet the Mongols kept coming. Needless to say, both sides were sick of the war and sought peace. They agreed that Goryeo would mostly retain its autonomy as a vassal state to the Yuan Dynasty, but its princes would have to marry a Mongol princess. This made Goryeo an “in-law state.” With hostilities finally coming to a close, the Mongols finally could focus on a task that was even scarier than war: governing. Unfortunately, they weren’t really great at this, which was why the Yuan Dynasty lasted less than a century. Some people today have lived longer than that time. Either way, the Yuan Dynasty was far too busy dealing with its own provinces for it to even think of attacking Goryeo again.

Just one thing. The capital city of Goryeo was Kaeseong, not Hanseong. Hanseong was just the third largest city in Korea back then.

I am glad we are able to watch these high quality videos for free. Shout out to these creators.

Thanks for the super well made videos

As a Korean, I love seeing the histories I learned at school being presented to the larger audience around the globe, just as I learn other countries' history through your channel. If my history teachers were half as fun as this video, we would have had a lot more history enthusiast. Efforts like yours are what keeps me invested in history. Thank you very much. Also, to give an insight of how Koreans learn about this period, the history textbooks focus on 30~40 years of resistance and guerilla warfare conducted by peasants more so than the devastation and the royal courts' neglection of the plight of the people during the war which is quite a nationalistic view.

ty for the content! always binge-able. xoxoxo

Some minor but important details for the Siege of Kuju: Kim Gyeong-Son reckoned that the Mongols were able to do 4D chess levels of coordination because of their intricate use of flag bearers, so he and his 12 men rode out and slew all (or at least most) of the flag bearers before retreating into the city. Mongol resolve was ultimately snapped when after the defenders constantly rebuilt any breaches that were made, they sallied out and broke the attackers. Definitely some cinematic shit. Also Byeolcho units were generally cavalry from military families, don't know why you presented them as infantry

Great video, as always. Can you do a video on the three kingdoms of korea? There’s a lot of interesting content to be found in that period.

A Suggestion here, can you guys do a video on the Silk Routes (Both over land and maritime routes). Its origin, purpose, what was traded and ultimately what led to its decline.

Everything about this video is perfect ❤

Thanks for the video 👍🏻

we need a goryeo-khitan war series, one of the most famous events ever to impact east asian history! also, Kang Gam Chan (the famous general who defeated the khitans once and for all) is almost as comparable to Yi Soon Shin!

Just a little context: The Mongol invasions of the Korean kingdom of Goryeo occurred over the course of six campaigns between 1231 and 1259 CE (seven if you include the put-down of the anti-Mongol Sambyeolcho Rebellion in 1270-1273). This means that the Mongol attacks against Goryeo actually preceded the official founding of the Yuan Dynasty by a full decade, and thus the relationship between the Mongols and Koreans was already established before the Yuan Dynasty even existed. That said, let’s look at the invasions themselves. The Goryeo-Mongol Wars lasted nearly three full decades - a full generation. Now, as mentioned before, the Mongols had a pretty… decisive way of doing things. All over Eurasia, the Mongols swept through the lands, conquering tribes and empires alike. They did this by, well, destroying all those that stood in their way. They would ride up to a city, surround it, send a messenger demanding it to immediately surrender, and burn the place down while decimating, raping, and/or enslaving the population if it resisted. This intimidation tactic was also applied to the state-level, as well. But none of this would’ve really worked if the Mongols couldn’t follow up on their threats. And they did this thanks to an amazingly skilled, mounted fighting force. In pre-industrial times, horsemen were the tanks of the world - and the Mongols were some of the best horse riders in the world. Thanks to their amazing mounted archery capabilities, the Mongol hordes could route armies many times larger their own with hit-and-run tactics and firing volleys from different directions. Rigid formations would break, making them easy pickings for the mobile horse-warriors. All of this made the Mongols practically an unstoppable force, which explains their success across the Old World. But, the Mongols had two major weaknesses. One you probably already know about: water. Generations on the landlocked Steppe meant the Mongols had virtually no knowledge of shipbuilding, sea-faring, or naval warfare, which explains their disastrous invasions of Japan. The second weakness, however, is less talked about: mountains. On the steep slopes of mountainous terrain, the height and mobility advantages of being on horseback are neutralized, if not reversed. And, even outside of the battlefield, mountains - especially rocky, forested ones - make for poor grazing grounds for large amounts of horses. Unfortunately for the Mongols, Korea featured both water and mountains. Worse, centuries of fighting the mounted hordes of the Jurchens and Khitans, as well as Japanese sea pirates, has given the Koreans valuable lessons on how to use these two terrains to their advantage. Case in point, the Koreans had built hundreds of stone fortresses perched on the top of mountains and hills. In wartime, whole towns and cities would be evacuated into nearby citadels, where they would be greeted by a small permanent garrison. For you Lord of the Rings nerds out there, this defensive strategy is not unlike the one employed by Rohan in the LOTR: the Two Towers. In the film, you can see that Rohan’s capital city Edoras is defended by a basic wall that alone does not seem particularly impressive or practical. The reason for this, we find, is that in emergencies, the city’s residents would be evacuated into a mountain fortress called Helm’s Deep. The Koreans basically did the exact same thing, except on a broader scale. And, unlike Helm’s Deep, which wasn’t really a true a “mountain-fortress” and sat on a flat valley, Korean fortresses were literally built into or on top of mountains. The fortresses themselves may not seem like much alone, but those steep slopes did much of the defending. As you can imagine, you can’t really drag a horse up there and even if you did, what use does it have against sturdy stone walls? The same goes for heavy siege weapons. Siege towers and catapults simply weren’t going to do much for you when you’re faced with such an incline. The only real way to get through was to batter down the gate or over-run the walls, both at massive costs. So that’s one element to Korea’s defense against the Mongols. The other was the sea. Before the Mongols could reach the capital city of Kaegyeong (currently near the border between North and South Korea), the royal court and military command were evacuated to Ganghwa Island. As you can see, it’s barely off the coast of the mainland. But that sliver of water was enough to keep the Korean government out of the Mongols’ reach. And even if they tried, the island was fortified and guarded by the Korean fleet. So, let’s go back to the Mongols’ normal tactics and see how they’d fare in Korea. The Korean army hardly ever faced the Mongols head-on, so the Mongols’ swarm tactics were almost never employed to their fullest degree. The Mongols could threaten to destroy cities and their residents, but much of the population was already evacuated into strongholds in the mountains and hills anyway. And, the Mongols could try to threaten the government directly, but it was safely tucked away on an island. Thus, for much of the three decades of war, the Mongols mostly went around pillaging and burning what they could. Don’t get me wrong, this was devastating and took a heavy toll on the Korean people. But, it wasn’t enough to destroy the kingdom completely. Thus, the Mongols forewent the total conquest of Korea and settled for its vassalization. Korea, for its part, was exhausted by the war and accepted vassal status to the Mongols, as long as the kingdom’s domestic affairs were mostly untouched. Over time, this arrangement was profitable to both sides, considering Korea gained access to the Silk Road and trade with the rest of Eurasia, while the Mongols could focus less on subjugating the Korean people and more on controlling its newly conquered lands and people. The founding of the Yuan Dynasty as the rightful inheritor of the Mandate of Heaven was mostly a propaganda move to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the Chinese population, which outnumbered their Mongol overlords by a wide margin. Beyond this, the Mongol imperial family held onto their Mongol roots the best they could and even discouraged inter-marriages between the Mongols and the Chinese. This balancing act between governing the Chinese people and holding onto their traditional roots was an enormous challenge for Yuan emperors, a challenge that was too much to bear. The ensuing domestic turmoil and nearly fanatical persecution of the Mongols just come to show how precarious Yuan rule over China had always been. Needless to say, then, that the Yuan Dynasty was really in no position to annex Korea. Despite its significantly larger size, the Yuan Dynasty was not as powerful as you’d might expect and could not project much influence beyond its borders for very long. Meanwhile, Korea was not as small and weak as its size suggests. It had fought an impressive defensive war against the Mongols and managed to ensure its partial independence, an arrangement that the Yuan Dynasty honored partly because it couldn’t afford to break it.

This is my most awaited Video thank you for posting

Korean history is awsome. Please do more.

An English channel that continues to introduce interesting local histories to Western audiences. You guys are the best. Love from 🇰🇷 And yes, the Korean defense against the Mongols is quite a standout case compared to almost all the other regions that the Mongols invaded. It deserves to be more internationally known.

nice video what program did you use to create this i like the animation of movement

Always interesting to learn about a people that successfully resisted against that scourge that was the Mongols.

The 왕 at 1:46 is not timeline accurate, as the Korean writing system was only made many centuries later. I love your content!

As a Korean, i am greatful covering about my country's history. although there are some languege barrier, i keep trying to enjoy your high quality contents.

❤️ this channel

Some of advanced arms featured in the movie were also used during Mongol invasion of others, which was led by the Korean princes pragmatic policies. K&G was already making a video about Japan

Oh wow, i didn't think you would cover this.

Excellent Episode 👍

Hello kings and generals, I enjoy your videos and have been watching for many years. I have a question. Will these patroon videos be available on KZfaq one day?

Sir kings and generals please more videos on mongols please, we need more untold stories or lesser known battle explained in a long video please

Nice 👍

These guys are underrated

A video on Burmese Siamese war would be great......people rarely cover this part of the world on any historical videos....overshadowed by India and china

This was a nice story to listen too.

Wonderful video! Korea stood up fiercely, much more so than most.

Koreans have always been inventive, creative, and competent fighters throughout history always winning against odds.

You know, sometimes I sit looking to the sunset and a tear streams down my cheek while thinking what Kings and Generals will do to me when they finally catch me on the next one

Awesome

kewl video :D

Thank you for doing more Korean history other than the Imjin War! We have so much lost history as well as rich well documented ones that ultimately survived due to constant threat of invasion. I hope one day we maybe able to uncover even more lost artifacts and ancestral grounds in modern northern China!

I would love to see even more videos on medieval history of Korea (Goryeo, the warring states & unifications periods)!! It’s so fascinating to hear about their complex political history and their conflicts with neighbours, tribes, Chinese kingdoms & Japan over the course of their development.

Can you do a video about the Goryeo Khitan War

This video brilliantly highlights Korea's strategic defense tactics against the Mongol invasions during medieval times. Great job!

do an video of Nabucodonosor

There's an ongoing drama on Viki regarding their battles against the Khitans

Plz make videos on Hannibal barca🙏

As a Korean and a big history nerd I want to thank you Kings and Generals for another great content! I learn so much about other country’s historic battles from you!

After surrender to Mongols, Mogol had never crushed Korean territory as they did in other conquered countries. Instead Mogols accepted Koryeo's reqest for preserving their customs and appearances utill the Mongol Empire collapsed. This was the same in the period of Ching (of Manchurian)Dynasty in China.

Please make a video on Ghurid Dynisty.... لطفا یک ویدیو در مورد سلسله غوریان بسازید.

Mongols: "Well, it's not a stupid island, so this should work out pretty great." Korea: "Well, yes, but actually, _no."_

Love the Korean content; please do more videos on the history of Korea! Just two quick notes on minor details though. When you mentioned Korean ships a couple of times in the video you showed images of turtle ships, which are very iconically Korean, but they were created by Admiral Yi Suni-Sin and date primarily to the era of the Imjin War in the late 16th century. The other detail is the pronunciation of Choe. Generally speaking Choe (최) is pronounced in a single syllable that rhymes with the English words “tray” or “day”, rather than two syllables. In the modern day 최 is also anglicized as Choi, but that’s aside from the point.

Please do a summary of all tactics used against the Mongols

Can you cover the Platonic allegory of Altantis?

Korean has a history of defensive wars

You should do a piece on korean warrior monks through the centuries!

Let it be known that this video came directly above a Mongolian throat singing clip on my recommended. Also, good stuff

Korea is a peninsula and every each sides are surrounded by enemy China and Japan and now north korea too. Evey korea's war history are major in defend tactics so our history is quiet interesting. Im impressed that not only the military, but also slaves, and commons voluntarily join the war to defend their own country.

Finally I always wanted to watch a video on the Mongol invasions of Goryeo

매우 훌륭한 퀄리티에 놀라울 따름입니다. 깊이있는 역사적 통찰과 분석이 놀랍습니다. 한국의 삼국지에 대해서도 기대됩니다!

During and after the decades in which the Mongols invaded Korea nine times, they also invaded Poland three times, 1240-88. The last, unsuccessful invasion of Poland was after the ninth attack on Korea and the two failed attempts on Japan. An amazing, if brief, empire.

That is something I'm searching for long, the Korean history before conqueror by Japan. Can you make more videos about the prehistory of Korea?

Can you make a video about the Mongol invasion of Europe in the 1280s?

Hi, I really join your videos. Could you please do a video on Polish history like the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth? Thank you.

All of these videos regarding defense against the Mongols makes me want to see a video about the real-life time period that Mulan is based around.

you should have included the continued resistance of royal military forces who were still against Mongols in Jeju island even when the whole country fell under Mongol influence.

There was a French campaign against Korea in 1866. That would be interesting to cover.

Cool

Can we get a video oh Khitan- Goreyo wars? And the internal politics from Goreyo to the transition of Joseon dynasty olease 🙏

Can you also do korea against the qing

Koreans got lucky with Kublai Khan which got them with autonomous state and able to marry into Mongol imperial family was smart diplomacy allowing Korea to continue with its own culture and court. Btw, there was Yuan Law book found from Korea several years ago, I wonder what happened to that.

There is also a great 2012 about Kim Jun called God of War that show how they resisted the Mongols but eventually failed

Please do one on the Korean 3 Kingdoms: Proto-Korean states battling it out for dominance is just such a dynamic period imo and would definitely intrigue K&G viewers (it is a very long period of time though but even a gloss of the period would be 🤌🤌🤌)

This is an episode from history I knew pretty much nothing about before watching this video. I feel like Korea before the Cold War is quite a blind spot for me. Thank you for teaching me yet more new history. God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)

Goryeo fought against the Mongol Empire for 40 years and eventually surrendered with the entire country devastated, and the King of Goryeo became the son-in-law of the Mongol emperor, and Goryeo culture became popular in Mongolia. Mongolia requested the support and guidance of 500ships from Goryeo to invade Yamato (Japan), and Goryeo, which is hostile towards Mongolia, deliberately chose a day with bad weather and landed on the Japanese archipelago with the Mongolian army, but due to a storm, 90%ships were lost and destroyed and the Yamato invasion ultimately failed.The Japanese called the storm 'Kamikaze (Wind of God)'.

Why not Jin(金) but Jin(晉) there between Mongol and Goryeo?

Please make video on Tughlaq or Mughals.

Goryeo and Silla were so badass

If you were an empire situated on open planes, then you would easily get beaten by the mongols in a short time because that kind of landscape is where they fought best. Mountains, islands and jungles are like super effective against mongols.

I think it should be mentioned that after Wang Chon returned as the new ruler of Korea, he wrote the song, "Everybody Have Fun Tonight." (Or was that Wang Chung? 😉)

Ohh. I know this episode it was from the South Korean Channel called MBCDrama named 무신/Warrior k 19 to 56 episodes. As a South Korean, I just wanted to say that Mooshin Jungeon ended when the final ruler Kim Jun died by the Emperor Wonjongs rebels in the imperial palace in the late 12th century. Also, you forgot to mention that Korean general Choe-Chungmyng was with Kim-Kyongson, the mongol general ordered Choe-Chungmyng, and be executed by a Mongol General Bu-Ta-Wu after the first Mongol-Korean war was over.

1:35 Hanseong is not capital of Goryeo. Gaegyong is capital of Goryeo

The capital of Goryeo was Gaegyeong (Kaesong), not Hanseong (Seoul) at the time.

As usual, rulers started the war while ordinary people took most of the suffering.

Sambyeolcho is the name of the unit that carried out the duties of the police and combat during the Goryeo Dynasty, which was specially selected and created instead of the existing weak standing army. It refers to Leftbyulcho, Rightbyulcho, and Sinuigun, which existed as soldiers of the Choi regime during the period of military power. During the period of supreme power, Nightbyulcho, which was engaged in police affairs for the purpose of security, was organized, and when the number increased, it was divided into Leftbyulcho and Rightbyulcho. It was called "Sam (Three) Byeolcho" along with the Sinui-gun, which was composed of those who fled after being captured by Mongolia. In the 40-year Goryeo Mongol War, military activities such as field, siege, guerrilla warfare, and special warfare were remarkable, but when Greater Mongolia was strengthened, they rebelled against this. After establishing an independent government and fighting for three years based on Jindo as the home, they were annihilated in 1273 after being attacked by the Allied Forces of Korea and Mongolia. Ghosts of Goryeo

Interesting video, but it would be nice to have some analysis separating myth from history

지금은 몽골이랑 사이좋아요😊

After watching these videos about how many nations out there defend themselves against the Mongols, I cannot helped but wondering what the Mongols at the time must have felt when their empire was crumbling apart around them as they are being forced to run back to live in the steppe.

If you have held out long enough against an enemy you cannot defeat anyway, surrendering at the optimal time is also an ability.

The Jin banner at 2:29 should be 金 instead of 晉.

A very messy war for both sides. Would be interesting to know why the Mongols didn't just completely destroy the Korean court? Their usual response to any moderate resistance was to literally burn everything down to the ground. The Song dynasty also resisted for several decades but they got a much harsher treatment, total annihilation of the ruling class, not exchanging kids for marriage. Did the Mongols see the Koreans as related due to having the same language grammar structures?

I know this has nothing to do with this video, but I just wanted to drop by and send all the love to our Mongolian brothers and sisters. The people of Korea love Mongolia!

고려는 원종까지는 황제라 불렸는데 원종이 몽골에 복종 하면서 부터 결국 고려는 왕국으로 하락으로 하게되서 원종이후 에는 고려왕이라 불리게 됩니다 그리고 고려왕 칭호에는 앞에자에 충이라고 붙이게 됩니다 그리고 왕뒤에 무슨 종이라 불리는 칭호는 황제라고 칭해지고 황제가 쓴 임금님 모자도 못쓰게 됨과 동시에 원나라 황제가 칭해주는 관을 쓰게 됩니다. 그리고 고려에는 다루가치라는 원나라 감시관들이 파견됩니다.

I know Finno-Korean isn't real but, it'll be cool if you come up with the timeline and battle operations xD

Do mongols vs Kievan rus

Thank you for your Korean history, one thing I want to say you, it is not sea of Japan, it is East sea. Korean called it East sea.

There was a Vietnamese prince who helped Korea defeat the Mongols in a land south of Korea until he died of old age.

Anyone else enjoy playing as defensive Korea in Europa universalis 4?

As someone who has driven back the gawdam Mongorians from my city wall, this video really appealed to me

Hey guys, might want to remove #Indonesia from this puppy. Great doco btw. Korea needs more coverage. Kudos.