Goguryeo–Sui War

The Goguryeo–Sui War were a series of campaigns launched by the Sui dynasty of China against Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, between AD 598 and AD 614. It resulted in the defeat of the Sui and was one of the pivotal factors in the collapse of the dynasty, which led to its overthrow by the Tang dynasty in AD 618.

Background

The Sui Dynasty united China in AD 589, defeating the Chen Dynasty and ending the division of the country that spanned almost 300 years. After the unification of China, Sui asserted its position as an overlord of neighbouring countries. However, in Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, Pyeongwon and his successor Yeongyang insisted on maintaining an equal relationship with the Sui Dynasty.

Wendi of Sui was displeased with the challenge from Goguryeo, which continued small scale raiding into Sui's northern border. Wendi sent diplomatic papers in 596 after Sui envoys spotted Goguryeo diplomats in the yurt of the Eastern Turk Khanate, demanding Goguryeo cancel any military alliance with the Turks, stop the annual raiding of Sui border regions, and acknowledge Sui as their overlord. Though Yeongyang appeared to comply with the ultimatum, in the following year, 597, he launched a joint preemptive invasion with the Malgal against Chinese outposts along the border in present-day Hebei province.

Goguryeo

Goguryeo (Hangul: 고구려; hanja: 高句麗; RR: Goguryeo; MR: Koguryŏ, Korean pronunciation: [koɡuɾjʌ], 37 BCE–668 CE), or Goryeo (Hangul: 고려; hanja: 高麗; RR: Goryeo; MR: Koryŏ, Korean pronunciation: [koɾjʌ]), was one of the ancient Three Kingdoms of Korea, located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of inner and outer Manchuria. Goguryeo was an active participant in the power struggle for control of the Korean peninsula and was also associated with the foreign affairs of neighboring polities in China and Japan.

The Samguk Sagi, a 12th-century text from Goryeo, indicates that Goguryeo was founded in 37 BCE by Jumong (hanja: 朱蒙 ), a prince from the Buyeo kingdom, who was enthroned as Dongmyeong of Goguryeo. There is archaeological and textual evidence from Chinese geographic monographs that suggests that Goguryeo may have been in existence since the second century BCEm around the fall of Gojoseon, an earlier kingdom which also occupied southern Manchuria and the northern Korean Peninsula.