Korean History › Three Kingdoms › Silla's wars of unification
Fall of Goguryeo
668· Event· Wars & invasions
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
In 668 Tang and Silla armies captured Pyongyang, ending Goguryeo after some seven centuries.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
After the strongman Yeon Gaesomun died around 665, his sons fought over power. The eldest, Yeon Namsaeng, defected to Tang and guided its armies. In 668 the Tang general Li Ji and Silla forces besieged Pyongyang; after about a month, King Bojang surrendered. Tang set up a Protectorate General to Pacify the East in Pyongyang and deported tens of thousands of Goguryeo (고구려) families into China. Revival movements soon rose, some backed by Silla.
Why it matters
It ended Korea's largest ancient kingdom, gave Tang a brief hold on the north, and scattered refugees who would found Balhae.
How we know
The Old and New Tang histories, Zizhi tongjian and Samguk sagi; Tang-era epitaphs of Goguryeo exiles, including Yeon Namsaeng's, found in China.
Still debated
Historians weigh outside pressure against the succession feud as the main cause. Korea and China also dispute whose history Goguryeo belongs to.
Connections (3)
▸Fall of Goguryeo ended GoguryeoWell documented
The connection
The capture of Pyongyang in 668 and King Bojang's surrender ended Goguryeo after some seven centuries. Tang ruled its land through a protectorate, but revolts broke out, its people scattered to Tang, Silla and Japan, and in 698 Balhae rose on its northern lands.
When and how
668, at Pyongyang; Tang under Li Ji, with Silla forces and the defector Yeon Namsaeng.
How we know
Chinese and Korean histories agree; epitaphs of Goguryeo exiles found around Luoyang, China, trace families taken to the Tang heartland.
Debates and open questions
China's 2002–2007 Northeast Project framed Goguryeo as a Chinese regional state; Korea sees it as Korean. The dispute is as much political as historical.
▸Silla–Tang alliance led to Fall of GoguryeoWell documented
The connection
With Baekje gone, the allies turned north. Tang supplied the main armies; Silla sent troops and grain and attacked from the south. A Goguryeo succession feud after Yeon Gaesomun's death finally let the combined pressure break Pyongyang in 668.
When and how
661–668: failed sieges in 661–662, then the final campaign of 667–668 under Tang's Li Ji and Silla's King Munmu.
How we know
The Samguk sagi records Silla troops and grain convoys, including Kim Yu-sin's winter supply march of 662; Tang histories record the campaigns.
Debates and open questions
How much Silla's role mattered, compared with Tang power and Goguryeo's internal split, is debated.
▸Fall of Goguryeo led refugees to found BalhaeMostly agreed
The connection
Goguryeo's fall left many of its people under Tang rule or deported west. Thirty years later, a group of Goguryeo and Mohe people deported to Yingzhou broke free and founded Balhae on Goguryeo's old northern lands, claiming to restore Goguryeo's heritage.
When and how
668–698, from Pyongyang to Yingzhou (in Liaoning) to the Dongmo Mountain area near Dunhua, Jilin.
How sure are we?
Tang histories describe the founders' Goguryeo links; Balhae's letters to Japan claimed Goguryeo's legacy.
Debates and open questions
How large the Goguryeo share of Balhae's founders and people was, compared with the Mohe, is disputed.