A Mongol envoy to Korea is murdered here in 1231, prompting Ögödei Khan, Genghis Khan’s son and the second supreme ruler (khakhan) of the Mongol empire, to order an invasion led by General Subutai.

Invading in 1231, Subutai’s forces secure the submission of the larger Korean cities and place Mongol governors in charge.

The mounting opposition to the Ch’oe, Koryo’s ruling military family, increases, causing the fearful puppet-king to flee.

Korean potters manufacture high-quality green Koryo ware.

In 1234, Koreans invent a new printing system with moveable type, allowing the ready dissemination of Buddhist and Confucian writings.

Ögödei, on the refusal by the fugitive Goryean monarch of an order to appear at the Mongol capital of Karakorum, in 1235 sends a punitive expedition to Korea to reestablish control.

The Mongols have fought for six years to regain control of Korea, but the renegade client-king finally submits, sends hostages to Karakorum, and is reinstalled in 1241 as Goryeo’s puppet ruler.

This high point of Goryeo culture coincides with internal disorder and the rise of the Mongols, whose power sweeps most of the known world during the thirteenth century.

Goryeo was no exception, as Kublai Khan's forces had invaded and demolished Goryeo's army in 1231, forcing the Goryeo government to retreat to Ganghwa Island (off modern-day Inch'on), a ploy that had exploited the Mongol horsemen's fear of water, but after a more devastating invasion in 1254, in which countless people die and some two hundred thousand people are made captives, Koryo succumbs to Mongol domination, and its kings marry Mongol princesses.

The Mongols now enlist thousands of Koreans in ill-fated invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281, using Korean-made ships.

The Kamakura shogunate (1185-1333) turns back both invasions with aid, as legend has it, from opportune typhoons known as the "divine wind" or kamikaze.

The last period of Mongol influence is marked by the appearance of a strong bureaucratic stratum of scholar-officials or literati (sadaebu in Korean).

Many of them live in exile outside the capital, and they use their superior knowledge of the Confucian classics to condemn the excesses of the ruling families, who are backed by Mongol power.

Goryeo, controlled by a military government led by the Choe family, has been intermittently invaded by the Mongols from 1231.

The government under the nominal king had fled in 1232, to Ganghwa Island, on which Mongol cavalry had been unable to land.

Because of its fragile government, Goryeo has faced frequent rebellions.

The 1258 rebellion had resulted in the establishment of Ssangseong and Dongnyeong Prefectures under Mongol rule.

Unlike these rebels, the Sambyeolcho (Three Elite Patrols) are an organ of the military government, organized by the Choe family to maintain security.

However, unlike the Choe private guards unit (which is meant to personally protect the family), the Sambyeolcho assume public functions performed by police and combat forces, effectively replacing the Six Divisions of the military.

Choe Ui, the fourth ruler of the Choe family, had been overthrown in 1258, by Kim Jun (also known as Kim Injun) using the Sambyeolcho.

Taking a pro-Mongol stance, Kim Jun had sent Crown Prince Wang Jeon to the Mongol Empire.

At the same time, King Gojong and the crown prince had approached the Mongols to take power from Kim Jun.

Kim Jun had been assassinated in 1268, however, by the Sambyeolcho under the order of Im Yeon.

The next year, Im Yeon's attempt to replace King Wonjong had been reversed by the crown prince (Chungnyeol) with help from the Mongol occupying force.

Im Yeon's successor Im Yumu is killed in 1270 by the pro-Mongol faction using the Sambyeolcho; this marks the end of the military regime.

By order of the Mongol Court, Wonjong moves the capital from Ganghwa Island to …

Korean officials engage in unrealistic debates while Prince Dorgon occupies Ganghwa Island in a day and captures the second son and consorts of King Injo.

Joseon has tried to control foreign influence by closing the borders to all nations but China during the nineteenth century.

In 1853, the USS South America, an American gunboat, had visited Busan for ten days and had had amiable contact with local officials.

Several Americans shipwrecked on Korea in 1855 and 1865 had also been treated well and sent to China for repatriation.

The Joseon court is aware of the foreign invasions and treaties involving Qing China, as well as the First and Second Opium Wars, and follows a cautious policy of slow exchange with the West.

In 1866, reacting to greater numbers of Korean converts to Catholicism despite several waves of persecutions, the Joseon court clamps down on them, massacring French Catholic missionaries and Korean converts alike.

Later in the year, France invades with a small expeditionary force under the command of Rear Admiral Pierre-Gustave Roze and occupies portions of Ganghwa Island.

It is the first military contact between Korea and a Western force.

The Korean army loses heavily, but the French are forced abandon the island.

After the Korean expedition, Roze and his fleet return to Yokohama, Japan, headquarters of the French Far Eastern Squadron.

The United States confronts Korea militarily in 1871 in response to the burning of the General Sherman, killing two hundred and forty-three Koreans in Ganghwa Island before withdrawing.

This incident is called the Sinmiyangyo in Korea.