Seo Hui Seo Hui ( ) ( 942 – 8 August 998 ) was a Korean politician and diplomat during the early days of the Goryeo Dynasty of Korea ( 918 – 1392 ) . Seo is best remembered for his diplomatic skills that led 60 , 000 Khitan troops to withdraw from Goryeo without a battle . Family . Seo Hui was of the Icheon Seo clan and was the son of Seo Pil ( 徐弼 ) who , during the King Gwangjong ' s reign , served as " Naeuiryeong " ( 內議令 ) , the highest official post of " Naeuiseong " ( 內議省 ) , the advisory council for the King . Until the time of his grandfather , Seo Sin - il ( 徐神逸 ) , the Seo clan was a " hojok " ( 豪族 ) or a powerful local gentry based in what is now the Icheon areas , in the southeast of the Gyeonggi Province . Like his father , Seo Hui became a " jaesang " ( 宰相 ) , the collective term referring to officials with a high rank in ancient Korea . His sons , Seo Nul ( 徐訥 ) and Seo Yu - geol ( 徐惟傑 ) also followed their father ' s footstep by serving respectively as " Munha sijung " ( 門下侍中 ) , the title of the highest minister of state , and " Jwabokya " ( 左僕射 ) , the second rank of " Sangseoseong " ( 尙書省 ) , Secretariat for State Affairs of Goryeo . As one of Seo Nul ' s daughters later became a queen by marrying King Hyeonjong , Seo Hui ' s clan was related to the King on the King ' s mother ' s side . With this background and his own talent , Seo Hui managed to establish a successful career . Career . After Seo Hui passed gwageo , the state examination , with a high grade , in March 960 , the 11th year of King Gwangjong ' s reign , he served for the government as the " Gwangpyeongwon eorang " ( ) and " Naeui sirang " ( ) posts . In 983 , Seo became " Byeonggwan eosa " ( ) , the official in charge of military affairs . Soon after that , he was appointed to important positions like " Naesasirang pyeongsangsa " ( ) , the second rank of " Naesaseong " ( Supreme Council during the period ) , and finally he was raised to the highest position of Taebo Naesaryeong , the head of Supreme Council . In addition to his role in domestic politics , Seo engaged in diplomacy by going to China in 972 and playing an important role in re - establishing the diplomatic relationship between Goryeo and the Chinese Song Dynasty , which had been broken off over a decade earlier . Negotiations with Liao . However , he is most remembered in his diplomatic career for his direct negotiations with General Xiao Sunning of the Liao Dynasty , which prevented a fullscale invasion by a host of Khitan troops : According to the story , after Xiao captured Pongsan county in 993 and forced Goryeo ' s forces to retreat behind the Taedong River , he wrote to demand Goryeo ' s surrender : " [ O ] ur great country is about to unify land on all four directions " and to justify the expedition by charging : " your country does not take care of the people ' s needs , we solemnly execute heaven ' s punishment on its behalf " . King Seongjong of Goryeo initially accepted Liao ' s demands , planning on the advice of his negotiators to give up the land north of Pyongyang to Xiao and drawing the Liao - Goryeo border in a straight line between Hwangju and P ' aryŏng . Seo Hui , however , was convinced that the Liao were acting from a position of " fear of us " and begged the king to " return to the capital and let us , your officers , wage one more battle " . Seo rhetorically referred to the land that King Gwangjong had conquered from the Jurchens and which the Khitans ( Liao ) now held as " former Koguryŏ territory " . After Xiao ' s forces were repulsed from further advances at the Battle of Anyung Fortress , Seo went to the Liao encampment to negotiate a settlement . Part of their conversation is excerpted : Seo reported to his king that he forged an agreement with Xiao to jointly " exterminate the Jurchens " and to seize their land so that Goryeo and Liao would have a closer land border and commensurate tributary relations . He lamented that the Jurchens would only allow Goryeo the land south of the Yalu River , but envisioned a future in which this situation of confinement would change . This story in which Seo Hui supposedly stemmed a " Chinese " invasion of " Korean " territory by referencing a past regime ' s occupation of the disputed territory has become popular in South Korea in recent years with the advent of the Northeast Project , which claimed the ancient state of Goguryeo ( Koguryŏ , 37 BCE – 668 CE ) was part of the Chinese empire . The South Korean online activist group VANK , for example , has posted a video in 2012 calling on " young Koreans " to become " the next generation of Seo Hui " , by turning " this crisis of the loss of Korean history into another opportunity " for Korean territorial expansion , as it argues was the result of Seo ' s rhetoric . Later life and death . Seo Hui died in 998 , on the 14th day of the 7th lunar month ( 8 August 998 ) .