Nature of Combat.

In order to understand Korean arms, organizations and tactics, you must first understand the nature of Korean combat. A vast majority of the battles were sieges. The primary purpose of many of the towns was to serve as a mustering point for troops. Kings were graded on how many castles and walled- towns that they captured. Monuments built to them often listed these among their key accomplishments. The monument to the Koguryo King Kwanggaet'o lists him as caturing 64 fortresses and 1400 walled-towns.. Many skirmishes occurred between mounted forces with few casualties or significant results being recorded. Walled-towns had developed as a measure to halt the quick mounted raids.

KIJAN Organization. First military organization for Korean troops in 1000 BC. The army was divided into 59 'regiments' of 120 men each. Approximate total of 7300 regular troops

Army estimated in 346 BC as having 10,000 infantry and 1000 Cavalry regular troops.

TORYONG. 1000 man 'regiments' which were subdivided into 'companies' of 50 and 100 men.

Tobang Guard regiment consisted of 500 shock troop spearmen
Singi Guard cavalry regiment consisted of 1000 men
Taegak Guard crossbow regiment consisted of 1000 men.
Up to 30% of an army would consist of an elite shock troops under an independent commander.

KOGURYO

Kyongdang "Flower Youth" are groups of noble youths who devote time only to the study of the military arts. They could fight in units as Cavalry or shock infantry OR assigned to command subordinate units of a larger formation. It is my opinion that the Hwarang were in fact military cadets ungoing intensive training. Most of them were nobles who would later command their own Sodang or Imperial regiments. Throughout history such cadet formations have had to be employed as a unit, so this would not be unrealistic. Also the employment and training methods reflect a training cadre rather than a specific type of unit. Similar formations were also found in the armies of other Korean countries.

SILLA

The army was divided into six divisions which conformed to the country's six dominate tribes. Each Chong (Division) was assigned to garrison a specific district. The troops were full time professionals. The Sodang are Oath bannermen who have pledged loyalty to a specific noble or family rather than to the king. They are full time professionals. The size of individual units depends on the ability of the commander to support them.

Hwarang are groups of noble youths who devote time only to the study of the military arts. They could fight in units as Cavalry or shock infantry OR assigned to command subordinate units of a larger formation. My opinion about the Hwarang are the same as those of the Kyongdang..

SILLA: Reforms of 680.

Districts increased in number so the number of Chongs were increased to ten. Six divisions of Yuk-Chong (Guard) are established under direct control of the king.

Sodang's are reorganized into nine garrison divisions and are drawn from local professional soldier families and the Malgal immigrants.

KORYO- Taejo Reforms (900 AD)

The army includes 6 Divisions and 2 Guard Formations. Of the six divisions only three were regarded as combat formations. The others were used for internal security, prison guards and palace-capital guard duties. The three Combat Divisions were Chwauwi (Left and Right), Sinhowi (Divine Tiger) and the Hungwiwi (Elite Striking). The two Guard formations were called the Soaring Falcon Guard and the Dragon-Tiger Guard. The guard formations accompanied the King into battle. It was common for a Korean King to be the Commander in Chief of the main army in the field.

As to the size of the divisions, I am not positive as to the composition. There were 45 regiments divided among the eight formations including prison guard, gate guard, police and ceremonial troops. The combat troops were divided into infantry and cavalry regiments. As a GUESS, I would allocate five regiments to the three non-combat divisions. This would leave each combat formation with Eight regiments. The Guard would be as large as the field divisions due to their importance to the ruling king as a power base.

An alternative interpretation, is to allocate four regiments to each of the Guard formations, four to each of the three non-combat Divisions and eight to each of the three combat Divisions. Yes, there is one odd regiment 'the palaceceremonial guard' ?

These troops were all part of a professional class. Full time troops with each soldier being assigned two peasant families to provide for his economic support.

At this time an attempt was made to consolidate and control the independent units which were controlled by various nobles and rich families. Initially these were consolidated into the Kwanggun (Resplendent Army). Later in 947, they were reclassed as provisional garrisons for their local area. They were intended to provide a higher morale, trained nucleus for militia levies as well as act as a police force. These formations continued to be a sorce of trained troops for a local tyrant or peasant rebellion.

Pylomuban.

After the predominately infantry Koryo army had been defeated several times by the Jurchen cavalry forces, the Koryo king establishes a new combat force. The Pylomuban is regarded as an 'Extraordinary Military Corps' outside of the regular army organization. It consisted of three formations. The Sin'gigun (cavalry arm) consisted mainly of noble youths. The Sinbugun (infantry arm) were composed of free- peasants around a cadre of the traditional professional soldier class. The third unit was the Hangmagun which consisted of Buddhist monks and were called the 'Subdue Demons Corps'. All three participated in an intense year round training program.

I have not included information based on the DBM Army lists. The Paekche-Kaya, Silla and Korguyo lists in Book 2, Koryo in book 3 and Yi in Book 4. The data provided in them is informative and provides for numerous variants and alliances.

More Ancient Korea

Military History Through the Three Kingdoms Era
Era of the Three Kingdoms
Chronology of Ancient Korean Military History
Summary of Ancient Korean Kingdoms
Armies of Korea: Organization until 1388
Armies of Ancient Korea: Uniforms Until 1388
DBA/DBM Variants