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Kang Cho (, 964 – January 1, 1011) was a Goryeo official, who served under King Mokjong of Goryeo and King Hyeonjong of Goryeo. He was the military inspector of Seobukmyeon, the northwest frontier territory on Goryeo's border with the Liao dynasty. He seized power and overthrew Mokjong and installed Hyeonjong as king in his place. When the Liao invaded Goryeo, he was defeated in battle, captured, and then killed.
After assassinating King Mokjong, Kang placed King Hyeonjong of Goryeo on the throne. Kang merged the Security Council (), the Office of Transmission (), and the Institute of Palace Miscellaneousness () into the newly formed Palace Secretariat (). Kang appointed himself as the chungdaesa (), or head of the Palace Secretariat.
Next, the Liao finally headed to the city of Tongju, which is where Kang Cho and 300,000 Goryeo troops were waiting. Kang Cho set up an ambush on a narrow pass that the Liao army was inevitably going to have to pass. There, he directly led his troops in a three-pronged attack when the Liao came. The Liao soldiers were forced to retreat and 10,000 died during this ambush. The enemy troops again attacked Tongju but faced a humiliating defeat with severe casualties.
The Liao commander launched another attack on the city, with Kang Cho as his main target. The Liao were defeated a third time, and were forced to retreat once more. In one last-ditch effort, the Liao army came attacking once more, but this time, Kang Cho did not directly orchestrate the attack and played baduk with one of his lieutenants instead, thinking that victory was a given. In the same time, Liao general Yelü Pennu led the Khitan army to attack and capture Samsu (). However, Kang Cho did not take any measures to defend against the Khitans. Then one of Kang Cho's men told his plan to the Liao. Liao soldiers pierced through the city's defenses. After the Khitan army launched a surprise attack, the Goryeo army was defeated, finally 30,000 Goryeo soldiers were killed and Kang Cho was captured. Emperor Shengzong sought to convince Kang Cho to defect to the Khitans and serve him. Kang refused to surrender even under torture to the emperor, who in turn executed Kang.
Kang, however, was not as brilliant as Yŏn Kaesomun, as he was not able to keep control for very long. Kang Cho did bring great victories to Goryeo over the Liao dynasty, but his death brought about another period of trouble for Goryeo, just as Yŏn Kaesomun's death had done to Goguryeo. Kang Cho can be seen as a smaller-scale version of Yŏn Kaesomun.
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