Eulji Mundeok - Legacy

Legacy

One of the most distinguished military leaders of the Goguryeo period, Eulji's leadership and tactical acumen was the decisive factor in defeating the Sui invasion. Facing vastly numerically superior forces, he developed a strategy that allowed him to secure a decisive victory. Such spectacular tactical success was sufficient to earn him a permanent place among Korea's most famous leaders. Kim Bu-sik, the author of the Samguk Sagi, also attributed the outstanding victory over Sui to the Eulji's great deed.

In Korea, Eulji Mundeok has been recognized as one of the greatest figures in its national history. During the reign of Hyeonjong in the Goryeo period, a shrine of Eulji Mundeok was built near Pyongyang. In the succeeding Joseon period, he remained just as revered a figure. Yang Seong-ji, a scholar and high-ranking bureaucrat of the Early Joseon, and An Jeong-bok, a Silhak historian of Late Joseon, both thought highly of him. Furthermore, King Sukjong of Joseon ordered the construction of another shrine in honour of Eulji Mundeok in 1680.

At a time when Korea was suffering under the yoke of Japanese Imperialism, a fuller assessment of Eulji commenced with the Korean historian Shin Chaeho (신채호, 申采浩, 1880–1936), who published a biography of Eulji in 1908 and held him out as an example of Korea's traditional nationalist spirit. Eulji Mundeok is still celebrated as a great Korean hero. One of the most preeminent Korean scholars of the 20th century, Lee Ki-baik, noted that Eulji's efforts in halting the Sui attempt at conquest stand as one of the earliest examples of Korean attempts to fend off foreign domination.

Today a main thoroughfare in downtown Seoul, Euljiro, is named after Eulji Mundeok. The second highest Military Decoration of South Korea, Field Marshal Lord Eulji's Order of Military Merit, is also named in his honour.

Eulji Mundeok's literary work, the Eulji Mundeok Hansi, is one of the oldest surviving poems in Korean literature.

One of the biannual Combined Forces Command exercises between South Korea and the United States was called Ulchi-Focus Lens (UFL) in honor of Eulji Mundeok. It has now been renamed Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (UFG). UFG is the world's largest computerized command and control exercises, focusing on how U.S. and South Korean forces would defend against a North Korean attack.