Editing Sambyeolcho Rebellion (section)

==Anti-Mongol struggle==
When after the collapse of the system of military rule in Koryö, Wönjong decided to heed the Mongol demands to move the capital back to Kaesöng. By doing so Wonjong, dealt the deathblow to the Koryö military as (potential) rulers of the country and he put an end to the war with the Mongols that had devastated the country for more than three decades. At the same time, however, he paid for these successes by placing the Koryö capital squarely within the reach of the Yuan Empire. The military at the temporary capital of Kangdo on Kanghwa-do Island (the Three Extraordinary Watches and the Guard Corps) rejected Wonjong's concessions to the Mongols on both grounds. They feared not only the loss of their influence, but also repercussions as Wönjong was planning to seize the register of the Three Extraordinary Watches and hand it over to the Mongols. At the same time, they knew that there would be no place for them in Kaesöng under Mongol control. Fearing repercussions and seeing an opportunity, the military revolted, rejected Wönjong as their monarch, killed anyone who would not support them, put the Duke of On on the throne and established their own state.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Breuker |first1=Remco |title=And now, Your Highness, we'll discuss the location of your hidden rebel base: Guerrillas, Rebels and Mongols in Medieval Korea |journal=Journal of Asian History |date=2012 |volume=46 |issue=1 |page=86 |jstor=41933606 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41933606 |access-date=26 March 2025}}</ref> 

Resentful of the peace terms worked out with the Mongols, the Sambyeolcho, led by [[Pae Chung-son]], revolted against the government. Systematically blocking passage between Gangwha and the mainland, they brought nearby islands and coastal regions under their domain. They gave up Ganghwa Island and fled to [[Jindo County|Jindo Island]] in the southwest.

Although the Sambyeolcho raided the coastlines of [[Jeolla]] Province, the southwestern province, Jindo Island started to face food shortages in January 1271. In February the court of [[Kublai Khan]]'s [[Yuan dynasty]] called for the Sambyeolcho's surrender. In April, the Yuan court decided to crush the rebels. The vulnerability of the rebels became immediately clear. While they were all but invincible when fighting through naval guerilla warfare, their base at Chindo was tailor-made for the kind of concerted attack the Mongol army was expert in at mounting. Led by Mongol commander Hindu, infamous Koryõ defector Hong Tagu and Kim Panggyong, Chindo was conquered amidst heavy fighting and the survivors had to flee, leaving everything and everyone behind. Kim Panggyong reckoned the government army had taken prisoner over 10,000 family members of Extraordinary Watches members and several tens of warships.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Breuker |first1=Remco |title=And now, Your Highness, we'll discuss the location of your hidden rebel base: Guerrillas, Rebels and Mongols in Medieval Korea |journal=Journal of Asian History |date=2012 |volume=46 |issue=1 |page=90-91 |jstor=41933606 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41933606 |access-date=26 March 2025}}</ref> 

After the fall of Chindo, the Three Extraordinary Watches relocated to Tamna, now led by Kim Tongjöng (?- 1273). Due to T'amna's relative inaccessibility (compared to Chindo), it took two years before the allied army under Mongol and Koryõ command launched an attack at Tamna. During this period, the Three Extraordinary Watches did everything it could to hamper the military build-up on the mainland by raiding harbors and destroying wharfs, fortifying the island against the inevitable invasion and trying to warn Japan about the imminent invasion of their land by a combined Mongol-Koryö-Song army, while also proposing an alliance. Again, though, the sting had been taken out of the resistance against the Mongols, because of the now completed transformation of the Three Extraordinary Watches into a large and formal army that needed a stationary base versus its previous heritage as an effective decentralized guerilla army. At the same time, the Yuan did what it could to support Koryõ in preparing for the invasions. Relief rice (20,000 bushels from the Eastern Capital) was sent to Koryõ after it reported famine and Khubilai readily agreed to Wönjong's entreaty not to allow looting after T'amna had been conquered (which later became an advantage for the Yuan when they occupied the island and raised horses on it).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Breuker |first1=Remco |title=And now, Your Highness, we'll discuss the location of your hidden rebel base: Guerrillas, Rebels and Mongols in Medieval Korea |journal=Journal of Asian History |date=2012 |volume=46 |issue=1 |page=91 |jstor=41933606 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41933606 |access-date=26 March 2025}}</ref> 

The reason it took two years to prepare for the invasion and conquest of Tamna was that in the meantime preparations for the invasion of Japan were also being made. The fact that the Three Extraordinary Watches at T'amna were keenly aware of what was going on and its efforts to warn the Japanese government of what was coming, demonstrate the grasp the rebels had of the current state of affairs as well as their well-functioning intelligence network. When finally on April 11, 1273, a combined army of Mongols and Koryõ, aided by a sizeable contingent of North Chinese soldiers, boarded Koryõ naval vessels and headed for T'amna,
the conquest would prove to be something of an anticlimax. Despite having prepared for two years, the island was swiftly taken and the members of the Three Extraordinary Watches killed in battle, executed or taken prisoner (to be executed later). After the presumed death of Pae Chung- son in the battle at Chindo, the Three Extraordinary Watches had been led by Kim Tongjõng. After his forces had been defeated, he fled to the slopes of [[Hallasan]] accompanied by seventy of his soldiers. He died there two
months later, while his soldiers were captured and later executed. With the death of its last leader, the rebellion of the Three Extraordinary Watches had come to an end.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Breuker |first1=Remco |title=And now, Your Highness, we'll discuss the location of your hidden rebel base: Guerrillas, Rebels and Mongols in Medieval Korea |journal=Journal of Asian History |date=2012 |volume=46 |issue=1 |page=91-92 |jstor=41933606 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41933606 |access-date=26 March 2025}}</ref>  Thereafter, the Yuan dynasty directly controlled Tamna until 1294.