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Yŏn Kaesomun

Goguryeo military dictator (603-666) · Died at 63

Yŏn Kaesomun was a powerful military dictator in the waning days of the Goguryeo kingdom, one of the Three Kingdoms of ancient Korea. Traditional Korean histories from Joseon painted Yŏn Kaesomun as a despotic leader, whose cruel policies and disobedience to his monarch led to the fall of Goguryeo.

Yŏn Kaesomun is read about 206 times a day, in 21 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 9 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 113 days, one point a day.

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His successful resistance against Tang China under Emperor Taizong and his son Emperor Gaozong inspired early Korean nationalist historians, most notably the 19th-century Korean historian and intellectual Shin Chae-ho, to term Yŏn Kaesomun the greatest hero in Korean history. In popular culture Yŏn Kaesomun is often portrayed as an exceptional soldier-statesman without equal in Korean history.

Status
Deceased
Dates
Lived 603 to 666 · aged 63