Kang Cho (, 964 – January 1, 1011) was a

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...

official, who served under King

Mokjong of Goryeo Mokjong of Goryeo (5 July 980 – 2 March 1009) (r. 997–1009) was the seventh ruler of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. Reign Born as Wang Song, Mokjong was the only son of King Gyeongjong; however, when his father died, he was too young t ...

and King Hyeonjong of Goryeo. He was the military inspector of Seobukmyeon, the northwest frontier territory on Goryeo's border with the

Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...

. He seized power and overthrew Mokjong and installed Hyeonjong as king in his place. When the Liao invaded Goryeo, he was defeated in battle, captured, and then killed.

Rise to power

Kang Cho was the military inspector () of Seobukmyeon. On February 13, 1009, a large fire broke out in the palace and King Mokjong suffered from shock and became ill. Kim Ch'i-yang, the lover of the king's mother Queen Dowager Cheonchu, attempted to place their son as the heir and kill Prince Daeryangwon (the later King Hyeonjong), who was a rival claimant to be the royal heir. King Mokjong called Kang Cho to the capital city of

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

with his army in order to stop Kim. Kang brought a force of 5000 men to the capital and executed Kim Ch'i-yang and his supporters. However, Kang Cho also killed King Mokjong, and exiled Queen Dowager Cheonchu. After assassinating King Mokjong, Kang placed King Hyeonjong of Goryeo on the throne. Kang merged the Security Council (), the Office of Transmission (), and the Institute of Palace Miscellaneousness () into the newly formed Palace Secretariat (). Kang appointed himself as the chungdaesa (), or head of the Palace Secretariat.

War with the Liao and death

Soon after this,

Emperor Shengzong of Liao Emperor Shengzong of Liao (16 January 972 – 25 June 1031), personal name Wenshunu, sinicised name Yelü Longxu, was the sixth emperor of the Khitan-led Chinese Liao dynasty and its longest reigning monarch. Conflict with the Northern Song dyn ...

attacked Goryeo during the fall of 1010, under the pretext that Kang Cho had committed regicide. The newly installed King Hyeonjong gave Kang 300,000 men under his command to stop the Khitan invaders. According to the ''

Goryeosa The ''Goryeosa'' (), or ''History of Goryeo'', is the main surviving historical record of Korea's Goryeo dynasty. It was composed nearly a century after the fall of Goryeo, during the reign of King Sejong, undergoing repeated revisions between ...

'', a 400,000-man Liao army invaded Goryeo territory. Liao first attacked but failed to capture the fort of Heunghwa-jin, whose defender was General Yang Kyu. Next, the Liao finally headed to the city of Tongju, which is where Kang Cho and 300,000 Goryeo troops were waiting. Kang Cho set up an ambush on a narrow pass that the Liao army was inevitably going to have to pass. There, he directly led his troops in a three-pronged attack when the Liao came. The Liao soldiers were forced to retreat and 10,000 died during this ambush. The enemy troops again attacked Tongju but faced a humiliating defeat with severe casualties. The Liao commander launched another attack on the city, with Kang Cho as his main target. The Liao were defeated a third time, and were forced to retreat once more. In one last-ditch effort, the Liao army came attacking once more, but this time, Kang Cho did not directly orchestrate the attack and played baduk with one of his lieutenants instead, thinking that victory was a given. In the same time, Liao general Yelü Pennu led the Khitan army to attack and capture Samsu (). However, Kang Cho did not take any measures to defend against the Khitans. Then one of Kang Cho's men told his plan to the Liao. Liao soldiers pierced through the city's defenses. After the Khitan army launched a surprise attack, the Goryeo army was defeated, finally 30,000 Goryeo soldiers were killed and Kang Cho was captured. Emperor Shengzong sought to convince Kang Cho to defect to the Khitans and serve him. Kang refused to surrender even under torture to the emperor, who in turn executed Kang.

Place in history and comparison to Yeon Gaesomun

Kang Cho is seen as a hero. Though his rule was a time of war against the invading Liao, not many deaths were ordered by the general with the exception of King Mokjong and the conspiring scholar-officials. Kang Cho can be compared with his predecessor

Yeon Gaesomun Yeon GaesomunSome Chinese and Korean sources stated that his surname was Yeongae () and personal name was Somun (), but the majority of sources suggest a one-syllable surname and a three-syllable personal name. (594–666) was a powerful militar ...

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most ...

, who had also killed a King of Goguryeo for conspiring against him. Kang, however, was not as brilliant as Yeon Gaesomun, as he was not able to keep control for very long. Kang Cho did bring great victories to Goryeo over the Liao dynasty, but his death brought about another period of trouble for Goryeo, just as Yeon Gaesomun's death had done to Goguryeo. Kang Cho can be seen as a smaller-scale version of Yeon Gaesomun.

Family

*Father: Kang Tae-ju () *Daughter: Lady Kang () **Son-in-law: Kim Chin-yu ()

In popular culture

* Portrayed by Choi Jae-sung in the 2009

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

TV series ''

Empress Cheonchu ''Empress Cheonchu'' (; also known as ''The Iron Empress'') is a 2009 South Korean period television series based on the title character, an actual historical figure and her lifelong struggle to protect the country her ancestors built. The grand ...

''. * Portrayed by Lee Won-jong in the 2023

TV series '' Korea–Khitan War''.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kang, Cho 10th-century Korean people Goryeo generals 1011 deaths Year of birth unknown

Cho Cho or CHO may refer to: People * Chief Happiness Officer Surnames * Cho (Korean surname), one romanization of the common Korean surname * Zhuo (), romanized Cho in Wade–Giles, Chinese surname * Cho, a Minnan romanization of the Chinese sur ...

964 births People from Sinchon County People of the Goryeo–Khitan War