A renowned Goryeo general who repelled the great Mongol army at Gwiju Fortress
| Era | 고려 |
| Clan | 죽산 박씨 |
Park Seo (박서) was the son of Park In-seok, the Minister of the Board of Census (Hobu), and came from the Juksan Park clan. In 1231 (18th year of King Gojong), while serving as Military Commissioner of the Northwest Frontier (Seobukmyeon), he faced the first Mongol invasion led by Sartai.
Together with Kim Gyeong-son, Kim Jung-on, and others, he defended Gwiju Fortress (Gwiju) for over a month, holding off an all-out Mongol assault that deployed all manner of siege weapons, including siege towers (nucha, 樓車) and catapults. This is regarded as one of the representative Goryeo defenses against the Mongol invasions.
Later, during the peace negotiations with the Mongols, he surrendered under pressure from the court, and to escape the threats of Mongol envoys he changed his name to Park Mun-seong (朴文成), returned to office, and rose to Munha Pyeongjangsa (Chancellor). In 2010 the War Memorial of Korea named him a Patriot of the Month.
His descendants formed the Goseong Park clan for a time before restoring their ancestral seat to the Juksan Park clan in 1839.