First Red Turban Invasion of Goryeo
In the twelfth lunar month of 1359, Mo Geo-gyeong led 40,000 Red Turban troops across the frozen Amnok River and successively captured Uiju, Jeongju, Inju, Cheolju, and Seogyeong. In the first lunar month of the following year, Goryeo forces retook Seogyeong, and in the second month they annihilated
Start~End Nov 1359 ~ Feb 1360Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 2:51 PM
Contents
Overview
The First Red Turban Invasion was the first of the Red Turban invasions of Goryeo, a war fought in the northwestern region from the winter of 1359 (the 8th year of King Gongmin) to the following spring. The Red Turbans even occupied Seogyeong (Pyongyang), but through Goryeo's counterattack most of them were annihilated, and only a few hundred are said to have survived to cross back over the Amnok River. All dates in this article and its timeline are lunar calendar dates. Because most of the sources record only months, no conversion to the solar calendar has been made.
Background
The Red Turbans, who had seized Liaodong, were losing their base to counterattacks by Yuan reinforcements. In 1357 Goryeo appointed Kim Deuk-bae as Commander of Defense against the Red Turbans and Japanese Pirates in the Northwestern Region, and established a defensive line south of the Cheongcheon River centered on Anju and Seogyeong. Yi Bang-sil was deployed as his deputy at this time (Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, "Yi Bang-sil").
Course of Events
Invasion and the Fall of the Northern Prefectures
In late November 1359, 3,000 Red Turbans first crossed the Amnok River, plundered the northern districts, and withdrew (Korean Wikipedia). In the twelfth month, the pseudo-pyeongjang (僞平章) Mo Geo-gyeong led 40,000 men across the frozen Amnok River and captured Uiju. At this time the magistrate Ju Yeong-se and more than 1,000 residents were killed ("Kim Deuk-bae"). The Red Turbans then captured Jeongju and Inju, and Korean Wikipedia records that the commander of the defense, Kim Won-bong, died in battle at Jeongju.
Battle of Cheolju
When the Red Turbans who had occupied Inju moved south toward Cheolju (present-day Cheolsan, North P'yŏngan Province), An U, Yi Bang-sil, Yi Eum, Yi In-u, and others repulsed them at Cheolju ("Yi Bang-sil," "An U"). However, the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture entry "Red Turbans" states that Cheolju was also eventually captured, so the sources differ (see Variant Accounts below).
Fall of Seogyeong
The court appointed Yi Am, Senior Secretary of the Secretariat-Chancellery, as Commander-in-Chief of the Northwestern Region, Gyeong Cheon-heung as Deputy Commander, and Kim Deuk-bae as Commander of Defense, and ordered them to resist. However, when the central army did not assemble in time, Yi Am judged that he could not fight and abandoned Seogyeong. According to Korean Wikipedia, on the advice of Vice Director Kim Seon-chi of the Ministry of Revenue, he withdrew to Hwangju while leaving supplies behind, and the Red Turbans entered Seogyeong without fighting and seized the supplies. The court judged that Yi Am was too timid to command and replaced him with Yi Seung-gyeong as Commander-in-Chief.
Recapture of Seogyeong (January 1360)
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Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 2:51 PM · r74254 · Text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.