China Called It the “Pacified South.” Vietnam Remembers Northern Domination. In 679, the Tang dynasty established the Protectorate of Annan in what is now northern Vietnam. Annan meant “Pacified South.” The name reflected the imperial court’s view. Vietnamese history remembers the broader era as Bắc thuộc—northern domination. It began centuries earlier. In 111 BC, the Han empire conquered Nanyue and brought the Red River region under its authority. For local people, imperial rule meant taxes, compulsory labor and tribute. Pearls and ivory flowed toward the court. Households supported the officials and soldiers who governed them. Chinese institutions, customs and education spread. Classical Chinese became a language of government and elite learning. But local speech and customs endured. So did resistance. In AD 40, the Trưng sisters expelled Han officials and established their own rule. Other periods of independence and autonomy interrupted the centuries of domination. Control varied across dynasties. This history chiefly concerned northern Vietnam, not the whole modern country. Yet who held the power to demand its wealth, labor and allegiance? Calling a land “pacified” speaks for its conquerors. As a Korean, I feel a complicated mix of emotions looking at this history. What would the people paying the taxes and supplying the labor have called it?

The Mongols Took Vietnam’s Capital. Trần Hưng Đạo Took Their Fleet. The Yuan fleet was heading home through Vietnam’s Bạch Đằng River. Beneath the rising water, sharpened wooden stakes waited. Trần Hưng Đạo had prepared the river for their arrival. Kublai Khan’s forces had captured Thăng Long, now Hanoi, during their third invasion of Đại Việt. But the Trần rulers and their army had escaped, and a Yuan supply fleet had been destroyed near Vân Đồn. The invaders held the capital. They could not feed their troops. When they withdrew in 1288, Trần Hưng Đạo was ready. His men planted stakes in the tidal channels and concealed troops along the banks. On April 9, Vietnamese boats engaged the retreating fleet, then drew it toward the trap. As the tide fell, stakes and shallows restricted the Yuan ships. Vietnamese forces attacked from the river and shore. Fireboats struck the crowded fleet. The route home became a killing ground. Omar, the Yuan commander, was captured. Vietnam’s military encyclopedia records more than 400 enemy vessels seized. Kublai’s third invasion ended in defeat. What stays with me is how Trần Hưng Đạo turned the invaders’ retreat into disaster, using the tides, the terrain and a carefully prepared ambush. Looking at his victories, why do I keep thinking of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the legendary naval commander of Korea’s Joseon dynasty? What do you think of my view that Trần Hưng Đạo and Admiral Yi Sun-sin have much in common?

삼국지의 손권은 고구려와 손잡으려 했지만 동천왕은 그 사신의 목을 위나라에 보냈다. “왕은 그 사신을 잡아두었다가 목을 베어 위나라에 보냈다.” 『삼국사기』에 기록된 오나라 사신의 최후다. 처음부터 고구려와 오나라의 관계가 나빴던 것은 아니다. 손권은 위나라를 견제할 동맹과 군마를 얻기 위해 바다 건너 요동의 공손연에게 사신을 보냈다. 하지만 233년, 공손연은 태도를 바꿔 사신들의 목을 베고 그 머리를 위나라에 보냈다. 사절단 일부는 가까스로 고구려로 도망쳤다. 동천왕은 이들을 받아들여 호위병까지 붙여 오나라로 돌려보냈다. 손권은 고구려에 다시 사절단을 보내 왕에게 작위와 선물을 전하려 했다. 그러나 위나라도 고구려에 접근해 오나라 사신을 붙잡으라고 권하고 있었다. 동천왕은 직접 나가는 대신 자기 관리들을 보내 오나라 사신을 만나게 했다. 그러자 사신 사굉은 고구려 측 일행 30여 명을 붙잡아 인질로 삼았다. 왕은 사과하며 말 수백 필을 보냈다. 사굉은 그중 80필을 배에 싣고 오나라로 돌아갔다. 그 뒤인 236년, 손권은 다시 사신 호위를 보내 고구려와 사이좋게 지내기를 청했다. 이번에는 동천왕이 사신을 붙잡았다. 몇 달 뒤 호위를 처형한 그는 그 머리를 위나라에 보냈다. 고구려는 오나라 대신 위나라를 택했고, 238년에는 위나라가 공손연을 공격할 때 군사까지 보내 도왔다. 그러나 그 관계도 오래가지 않았다. 242년 고구려가 위나라의 서안평을 공격한 뒤 위군이 침공했고, 수도 환도성이 함락되자 동천왕은 피신해야 했다. 손권의 사신의 머리를 받았던 위나라가 이제 고구려의 적이 된 것이다. 오늘의 동맹이 내일의 적이 될 수 있는 상황에서, 고구려는 어떻게 살아남아야 했을까?

A Thai Soldier Blew Up an Ammunition Depot in North Korea’s Capital. “I was the one who ignited the explosion.” Banjop Tonuan was 25 when he left Thailand for the Korean War. His journey took him all the way to Pyongyang. In November 1950, he and his unit spent ten days on a train from Daegu to the North Korean capital, according to his later account. UN forces had taken the city. Then Chinese forces entered the war, and the advance turned into a retreat. As Chinese troops approached Pyongyang, Tonuan was one of ten soldiers assigned to destroy ammunition and supplies at a depot. He lit the explosives. The blast was enormous. Afterward, he and the others headed south. He had traveled thousands of kilometers from Thailand to fight in Korea. Now he was leaving a North Korean city behind as the UN forces withdrew. Tonuan survived the war and later became an officer. Decades later, he still remembered the destruction he had witnessed and the patience of the Korean people. From South Korea, I offer my deepest gratitude to Thailand’s Korean War veterans and to the Thai people. What horrors of war did he witness?

작은 나라가 백제의 장군들을 회의장 아래에 남겨두었다. 바다 건너 왜에서 온 사신이 높은 건물로 안내되자 안라의 왕이 그 뒤를 따라 올라갔다. 그러나 백제에서 보낸 장군들은 아래에 남겨졌다. “장군들은 뜰에 있는 것을 한스럽게 여겼다.” 일본의 역사서 『일본서기』에 기록된 이 회의가 열린 곳은 한반도 남부의 가야 여러 나라 가운데 하나인 안라였다. 주변 나라들이 점점 강해지는 가운데, 안라는 살아남을 길을 찾고 있었다. 6세기 백제와 신라는 가야에 대한 영향력을 놓고 경쟁했고, 바다 건너 오늘날 일본에 있던 왜도 이 문제에 관여했다. 안라는 높은 건물을 새로 짓고 왜의 사신과 백제·신라의 대표들을 맞이했다. 『일본서기』에 따르면 여러 달에 걸쳐 두세 차례 논의가 이어졌는데, 안라의 왕과 왜의 사신이 건물 위에 있는 동안 백제 장군들은 아래에 남아 있었다. 회의가 끝난 뒤에도 가야를 둘러싼 각축은 계속됐다. 541년에는 가야 7개 나라의 대표들이 백제의 수도 사비에서 백제 왕을 만났다. 이들은 세력을 넓혀가는 신라에 맞설 도움을 구했지만, 백제 역시 가야에 대한 영향력을 원했다. 544년에도 사비에서 두 번째 회의가 열렸지만, 가야의 미래를 둘러싼 경쟁은 끝나지 않았다. 결국 외교는 신라의 팽창을 막지 못했다. 562년 신라가 대가야를 정복하면서 가야의 마지막 주요 국가 가운데 하나가 무너졌다. 안라에 모였던 이들은 강한 이웃 나라들 사이에서 살아남을 길을 찾으려 했다. 가야의 나라들은 외교만으로 독립을 지켜낼 수 있었을까?

Two Vietnamese Sisters Challenged an Empire. Sixty-Five Strongholds Fell. “Some sixty-five strongholds were taken. She proclaimed herself ruler.” A Chinese history recorded what happened when Trưng Trắc and her younger sister, Trưng Nhị, rose against Han rule. In AD 40, the sisters launched their rebellion in what is now northern Vietnam. Communities across several commanderies joined them. Han officials struggled to hold their remaining positions. Trưng Trắc became queen and ruled from Mê Linh. The emperor prepared a campaign to retake the region. Roads and bridges were repaired, ships and carts assembled, and grain stockpiled. General Ma Yuan was sent south. In AD 42, his army reached Lãng Bạc. The sisters’ forces fought but lost ground and withdrew toward Cấm Khê. Ma Yuan pursued them. The resistance continued into AD 43. That year, the sisters died. The Chinese Book of the Later Han says they were beheaded and their heads sent to Luoyang. Vietnamese tradition remembers them throwing themselves into a river. Even after their defeat, resistance continued in other areas. Han forces pursued the remaining fighters, and hundreds of local leaders were deported. Their rule had lasted roughly three years. Nearly 2,000 years later, Vietnam still honors the sisters in temples, festivals and images of them riding elephants. If an empire calls them rebels, does that make their fight for self-rule any less legitimate?

They Came from Thailand, the Land of Smiles. In Korea, They Became “Little Tigers.” On a Korean hill under Chinese attack, a mortar shell destroyed a Thai soldier’s bunker, disabled his machine gun and wounded him. The Thai soldier returned to the position with a carbine. Then he found another heavy machine gun, took it apart and carried it forward in several trips. He reassembled it on a destroyed bunker and fired at the advancing attackers. This was Pork Chop Hill, Korea, on 1 November 1952. The soldier was Private Chuerak Kichprachoom. His Silver Star citation records those actions. He belonged to the Thai battalion attached to the U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. That November, Chinese troops repeatedly attacked the hill. Bombardments damaged the defenses. The fighting reached close quarters. The Thais fought back with American artillery support, counterattacks and hand-to-hand combat. They held the position. South Korea’s veterans ministry remembers this defense as the battle that earned the Thai soldiers their nickname: “Little Tigers.” Thailand sent 6,326 personnel to the Korean War. South Korean records list 129 killed, 1,139 wounded and five missing across the war—not this battle alone. Behind the nickname were men who had crossed the sea to fight in another country, and families waiting for them to return. From South Korea, I offer my deepest gratitude to Thailand’s Korean War veterans and to the Thai people. How many people remember that Thai soldiers stood against Chinese attacks on Korea’s hills?

대한제국이 무너진 뒤, 황족들은 어떻게 살았을까? 고종의 아들 가운데 한 사람은 일본군 장군이 됐고, 다른 한 사람은 독립운동가들과 함께 해외로 탈출하려다 붙잡혔다. 막내딸은 일본에서 오랜 세월을 보낸 끝에 해방 후에도 한참이 지나서야 고국으로 돌아올 수 있었다. 황태자였던 영친왕 이은은 나라가 망하기 전인 1907년 일본으로 보내졌다. 그곳에서 군사교육을 받고 일본 육군 중장까지 올랐으나, 영구 귀국한 1963년에는 중병으로 의식을 잃은 상태였다. 형인 의친왕 이강은 1919년 독립운동가들의 도움을 받아 상하이 대한민국임시정부로 향하려 했다. 그러나 만주 안둥에서 일본 경찰에 붙잡히면서 망명은 실패했고, 그는 서울로 압송됐다. 덕혜옹주 역시 1925년 일본으로 보내졌으며, 그곳에서 조현병을 앓게 됐다. 이후 일본 귀족과 결혼했으나 병세는 계속됐고, 한동안 정신병원에서 지내야 했다. 1945년 해방을 맞고도 곧바로 귀국하지 못했던 그녀가 고국으로 돌아온 것은 1962년이었다. 제국이 사라진 뒤에도 황족으로 불렸지만, 정작 살 곳과 돌아올 때조차 마음대로 정하기 어려웠던 이들에게 그 이름은 어떤 의미였을까?

Take the City Tonight—or Die Together. In June 1767, Siam—in present-day Thailand—had lost its capital, Ayutthaya, to a Burmese invasion two months earlier. “Tomorrow morning we will take our breakfast inside the city.” A royal chronicle records Taksin’s order before the assault on Chanthaburi. First, his soldiers were to finish dinner. Then throw away the remaining food. Then smash their cooking pots. Taksin had escaped before the capital fell. He was gathering an army in the east. But Chanthaburi’s local ruler refused to join him and shut the city gates. Now Taksin committed his men to taking the city that night. Their next breakfast was behind its walls. Thai and Chinese soldiers moved into position. They waited for the signal. Then the assault began. The chronicle describes Taksin riding an elephant toward the gate under gunfire. The gate broke. His soldiers rushed through. The ruler fled. Chanthaburi became his base for gathering troops, provisions and ships. By November, his forces had returned to defeat the Burmese garrison near Ayutthaya—about seven months after the capital’s fall. He established a new capital at Thonburi and became King Taksin, remembered in Thailand for restoring Siam’s independence. Their capital had fallen. Their resistance had not ended. Who could say a country was finished while people were still willing to fight for it?