Volta
PoliticsFebruary 1009(Lunar)

Gang Jo’s Coup

Gang Jo marched on Gaegyeong from the northwest, destroyed Kim Chi-yang’s faction, deposed King Mokjong and enthroned Hyeonjong; the Khitans used this as a pretext for their second invasion.

Mokjong’s mother, Queen Dowager Cheonchu, wanted to put her son by Kim Chi-yang on the throne. The ailing Mokjong summoned Gang Jo, military commissioner of the northwest, to guard the capital. Gang Jo killed Kim Chi-yang and his son, then deposed Mokjong in favour of Prince Daeryangwon (Hyeonjong) and had the former king killed on his way into exile.

Claiming to punish a subject who had killed his lord, Emperor Shengzong of Liao invaded with 400,000 men in 1010 (the second Khitan invasion). Gang Jo was routed at Tongju and captured, and was put to death after refusing to become a Khitan subject.

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The map in 1009

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States and rulers at the time
Goryeo — Mokjong → Hyeonjong
Places
Songak (Kaesong)

People

  • Gang Jo1010

    leader · Northwestern commander who deposed Mokjong in 1009; captured and killed by the Khitans at Tongju in 1010

  • King MokjongAD 980 – 1009

    monarch · Seventh king of Goryeo, deposed and killed in Gang Jo’s coup

  • King HyeonjongAD 992 – 1031

    related figure · Eighth king of Goryeo, who weathered the second and third Khitan invasions and began the first Tripitaka

Before and after

Earlier
AD 993 Seo Hui’s Negotiation
Later
1010 Second Khitan Invasion