Sambyeolcho was a military unit of the Goryeo Dynasty during the era when the Choe family (최씨,崔氏) held the reins of power as military dictators behind puppet kings. Sambyeolcho meant specially selected troops. The Sambyeolcho originated from a unit called the Yabyeolcho (야별초,夜別抄), Special Night Unit which was established to prevent burglaries and provide night time security in the capital. When additional units were subordinated to the Yabyeolcho the new organization was divided into two main units, the Jwabyeolcho 左別抄, Special Unit of the Left, and the Ubyeolcho (우별초,右別抄), the Special Unit of the Right. Later when a number of soldiers had been taken prisoner by the Mongols and subsequently escaped, they were organized into a third force, the Shin-euigun 神義軍, and these three came to be known collectively as the Sambyeolcho. The Sambyeolcho performed both police and military functions, but were elements of the private army of the Choe family. Choe U

Choe U

Choe Woo was the second Choe dictator of the Ubong Choe Military regime. He himself went out on the battlefield to lead in fighting off the Mongolian invasions. Then he realized that the government was no longer safe at the capital city of Kaesong, and so he forced the king and his officials to...

's private armies superseded and replaced the Royal armies. The Sambyeolcho together with the Tobang

Tobang

Tobang , also written as Dobang, was a Koryo Dynasty private military unit that originated as the personal body guard for Gyeong Dae-seung . After the military revolt of the generals in 1170 during the reign of King Uijong of Goryeo, a series of generals culminating in the Choe military dictators,...

都房 comprised the means by which the Choe family military dictators projected their power after their military coup usurped the Royal power. The Sambyeolcho were disbanded when the Choe military regime collapsed.