Daeso

King Daeso (대소왕, 帶素王) (60 BC - 22 AD), (ruled 7 BC–22 AD) was the third ruler of the ancient Korean kingdom of Dongbuyeo.

King Daeso was the first son of the previous King Geumwa, and the grandson of Dongbuyeo’s founder and first ruler, Hae Buru.

As Daeso was the first prince of Dongbuyeo, he was made Crown Prince by his father. Before this occurred, however, Jumong’s famed archery gave cause for tremendous jealousy and envy from Daeso and his six brothers. Jumong knew that his presence in Dongbuyeo would only be dangerous to himself, and decided to flee to Jolbon Buyeo. In the year 36 BC, In 37 BC, Jumong established Goguryeo, and King Geumwa died years later during 7 BC. Daeso rose to the throne and became King of Dongbuyeo.

War with Goguryeo

Daeso gathered enough military power to attack Goguryeo. Before attacking, however, he sent an envoy to Goguryeo’s King Yuri, ordering him to send a royal hostage to Dongbuyeo. Goguryeo rejected the order and caused the first Goguryeo-Dongbuyeo war to occur in 6 AD. Daeso directly led a 50,000-man army into Goguryeo, but was forced to retreat when heavy snow began to fall. With this, Daeso would have to wait for seven years in order to regain what he had lost from the first war with Goguryeo. Then, in 13 AD, Daeso led his armies into Goguryeo once again. This time, Muhyul, a prince of Goguryeo, led the armies of Goguryeo in a well-planned ambush and slaughtered all of Daeso’s army. Only he and a few of his men escaped home. With these two failures, the economy of Dongbuyeo fell and chaos was inevitable.

After the death of Goguryeo’s King Yuri, the Crown Prince Muhyul rose to the throne to become King Daemusin. King Daemusin led an army and invaded Dongbuyeo, eventually killing Daeso, but he didn't destroy Dongbuyeo. The year was 21 AD, almost seven years after Daeso’s previous defeat.

After Daeso's death, Dongbuyeo fell, the third son of King Yuri rose to the throne and its territory was absorbed into Goguryeo.