Gaeru of Baekje was the fourth king of Baekje

Baekje

Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....

, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea

Three Kingdoms of Korea

The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...

. According to the history compilation Samguk Sagi

Samguk Sagi

Samguk Sagi is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The Samguk Sagi is written in Classical Chinese and its compilation was ordered by Goryeo's King Injong Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of...

, he was the son of the previous king Giru

Giru of Baekje

Giru of Baekje was the third king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.-Background:He was the eldest son of King Daru and became the heir to the throne in the year 33.-Reign:Little is known about the details of his reign...

.

Reign

In 132, he founded Bukhan Mountain Fortress in present-day Goyang

Goyang

Goyang is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Goyang includes the new city of Ilsan, which is connected to Seoul via Seoul Subway Line 3. Goyang is bordered by Seoul to the south; walls of the Bukhan Mountain Fortress lie along a small portion of this border.Several institutions of higher...

 city, Gyeonggi, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. Baekje fought off many Goguryeo

Goguryeo

Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

 (the northern Korean kingdom) invasions from this fortress, and the 5th king Chogo

Chogo of Baekje

Chogo of Baekje was the fifth king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.-Background:He was the son of King Gaeru....

 based his northward campaign on it.

Baekje's relationship with the southeastern rival Silla

Silla

Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

 was peaceful for most of his period of reign.

However, in 165, a Silla minister named Gilseon (길선

Hangul

Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...

/吉宣

Hanja

Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...

) failed his coup d'etat

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

 attempt and fled to Baekje. Gaeru gave him refuge despite the Silla king Adalla

Adalla of Silla

Adalla of Silla was the eighth ruler of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He is commonly called Adalla Isageum, isageum being the royal title in early Silla. As a descendent of Silla's founder Hyeokgeose, his surname was Bak.-Background:He was the eldest son of King Ilseong, his mother...

's written request for his return. Silla subsequently attacked Baekje, and a broad war over the Sobaek Mountains

Sobaek Mountains

The Sobaek Mountains are a mountain range cutting across the southern Korean peninsula. They split off from the Taebaek Mountains and trend southwest across the center of the peninsula. They are traditionally considered to reach their southwestern limit at Jirisan, which is also the highest peak...

 ensued.

Legacy

The Samguk Sagi states that Gaeru's eldest son became the 5th king Chogo

Chogo of Baekje

Chogo of Baekje was the fifth king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.-Background:He was the son of King Gaeru....

 and the second son became the 8th king Goi

Goi of Baekje

Goi of Baekje was the 8th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the second son of the 4th king Gaeru and younger brother of the 5th king Chogo.-Background:...

. This chronological inconsistency is thought to indicate a power struggle between two royal lines. The 21st king Gaero

Gaero of Baekje

Gaero of Baekje was the 21st king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the eldest son of the 20th king Biyu...

 (also known as Geungaeru) apparently took Gaeru's name to assert the legitimacy of this lineage.

See also

• History of Korea
  History of Korea
  The Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began...
  
  
• List of Korea-related topics