A History of Korea (14 page)

LEGENDS OF THE UNIFICATION

Queen S
nd
k’s reign is often credited with the commencement of the inexorable unification process, which ended in the 670s when Silla, having conquered the other two peninsular states, established a working peace with its main ally-turned-rival in the unification wars, Tang dynasty China. As noted in
Chapter 1
, until the twentieth-century Korean historical orthodoxy had considered this a legitimate and inevitable step in the historical trajectory of Korean civilization. Queen S
nd
k stood as a central character
in the unification saga, but the best-known figures were two officials who came of age under her reign, Kim Ch’unch’u and Kim Yusin.

In the 630s, when Queen S
nd
k ascended to the throne, Silla did not stand in a strong position to emerge as the eventual victor on the peninsula. It was under constant attack from both of its rivals and losing territory, especially to Paekche. As the
History of the Three Kingdoms
recounts, when Kim Ch’unch’u, a nephew of Queen S
nd
k, lost one of his daughters in a Paekche attack in 641, he turned his grief into a raging pursuit of vengeance. He received S
nd
k’s permission to take a small delegation to Kogury
to ask for its assistance in the struggle against Paekche. The Kogury
monarch demanded in return promises from Silla to return some of Kogury
’s former territory that Silla had seized earlier. When Kim rejected this demand, the Kogury
king immediately incarcerated him. Word reached the Silla court, and soon Queen S
nd
k had a talented military official, Kim Yusin, mobilize 10,000 crack troops to attack Kogury
. Before fighting ensued, this daring move appeared sufficient to earn Kim Ch’unch’u’s release, and the legend of the two Kims was born, eventually to climax in their respective roles in the unification wars.