Gogugwon of Goguryeo

Who was Gogugwon of Goguryeo?

King Gogugwon of Goguryeo was the 16th king of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the son of King Micheon and Lady Ju. He's birth name is Sayu. He was made crown prince in 314 and became king upon his father's death. He was called Emperor Soyeol in the Chinese history text Suishu, but this appears to be a mistaken transcription of the earlier Weishu. Because, at the same time, Tuoba Yihuai was the Lie Emperor of Dai State.

Goguryeo faced devastation by the Murong Xianbei people who attacked Goguryeo. Hwando was destroyed again by them in 341. Buyeo was also destroyed by the Xianbei in 346.

He ruled at a time when the kingdom was quite weak, and had an ill-fated reign. He sent tribute to the Xianbei state of Former Yan after they invaded the capital in 342 and held the queen and royal concubines captive, in order to secure the return the corpse of King Micheon.

The capital was temporarily moved to Pyongyang, present-day capital of North Korea. In response to the expansion of the southern Korean kingdom Baekje, Gogugwon led an unsuccessful attack in 369. Baekje's king Geunchogo invaded in 371 and Geunchogo's son Geungusu killed Gogugwon in battle at Pyongyang Castle. He was buried in Gogugwon.