Taebong

Taebong was a state founded by Kung Ye on the Korean Peninsula in 901, during the Later Three Kingdoms period that followed the disintegration of Unified Silla. Kung Ye was a Buddhist monk and rebel leader who had risen in the service of a rival warlord and then turned against him. He first called his state Goryeo, claiming descent from the ancient kingdom of that name, and in 904 renamed it Majin. In 911, after purging rivals, he adopted the name Taebong and established his capital at Songak, today's Kaesong. The state controlled much of the central and northern peninsula, and its armies campaigned against Silla and Later Baekje. Kung Ye's rule grew increasingly harsh and erratic, and he was overthrown in 918 by his general Wang Kon, who founded the Goryeo dynasty. Taebong is remembered as a stepping stone to the reunification of Korea under Goryeo, and its short existence illustrates the violent political competition of the Later Three Kingdoms era.