High Middle Ages · East Asia · War
1019
Battle of Kwiju
March 10, 1019
Korean general Gang Gam-chan routed a massive Khitan army at Kwiju in a decisive victory that ended the Goryeo-Khitan wars. The Khitan Liao accepted a negotiated peace and withdrew from Korean territory permanently. Gang became a national hero whose memory Korean schoolchildren still learn today in their classrooms. He had dammed a river before the battle and released the floodwaters upon the advancing Khitan cavalry.