Gongsun Kang
Goguryeo had been an enemy of the Gongsun clan since the time of Gongsun Du, especially after Gongsun Kang meddled with the succession after King Gogukcheon died. Thus when the Wu ambassadors came to Goguryeo for refuge, the reigning King Dongcheon was happy to assist these new enemies of Liaodong. The king sent 25 men to escort the envoys back to Wu along with a tribute of sable and falcon skins, which encouraged Sun Quan to send an official mission to Goguryeo to further the two states' relations. Cao Wei did not want to see Wu regain a diplomatic foothold in the north, and established its own connections with Goguryeo through the Inspector of You Province () Wang Xiong (). King Dongcheon presumably arrived at the same conclusion as Gongsun Yuan and switched his alignment from Wu to Wei — the Wu envoys to Goguryeo in 236 were executed and their heads sent to the new Inspector of You Province, Guanqiu Jian. For the moment, both Liaodong and Goguryeo were aligned with Wei while Wu's influence diminished.