Sukjong (2 September 1054 – 10 November 1105) (r. 1095–1105), personal name Wang Ong, was the 15th king of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea.
Sukjong rose to the throne in 1095 upon the abdication of his young nephew, King Heonjong.[1] He oversaw various internal innovations, including the distribution of the country's first brass coins (in 1102) and the construction of the new Southern Capital (Namgyeong, present-day Seoul).[2]
However, he was also faced by threats from without, most notably an 1104 invasion by the northern Jurchen tribes. Unable to repel the Jurchens by force, he sent his general Yun Kwan to raise an army and repulse them.[3] This army is known as Byeolmuban and consisted of three separate divisions. Sukjong died the following year, while on the way to the western capital, Pyongyang. Challenges of Sukjong's reign can be summarized in his own words:[4]
Since I was entrusted with the affairs of the state, I have always endeavoured to cautiously maintain diplomatic ties with Liao in the north and serve the Song in the south, while these days the Jurchen in the east have become enemies to be reckoned with. Making the people comfortable is the first imperative of military and political affairs, so all unnecessary corvée duties must be abolished in order for the people to live comfortably!
^R. E. Breuker, Establishing a Pluralist Society in Medieval Korea, 918–1170: History, Ideology and Identity in the Koryŏ Dynasty, (Brill, Leiden, 2010), p.252
^고려 중기의 승려 원명국사 징엄(澄儼)의 묘지 [The tomb of Wonmyeong Guksa Jingeom (澄儼), a monk from the mid-Goryeo period] (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2023-04-06.
