King Hye of Baekje (r. 598–599) was the 28th king of Baekje

Baekje

Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....

, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea

Three Kingdoms of Korea

The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...

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The second son of the 26th king Seong

Seong of Baekje

Seong of Baekje was the 26th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was a son of Muryeong of Baekje. He made Buddhism the state religion, moved the national capital, and succeeded in reclaiming the center of the Korean Peninsula, only to be betrayed by an ally.-Foreign relations...

, he assumed the throne after the death of his older brother and 27th king Wideok

Wideok of Baekje

Wideok of Baekje was the 27th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the eldest son of King Seong, and rose to the throne upon his father's death.-Background:...

, but reigned only briefly before his own death. The Samguk Yusa

Samguk Yusa

Samguk Yusa, or Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea , as well as to other periods and states before, during, and after the Three Kingdoms period.The text was written in Classical Chinese, which was...

 describes him as the son of Wideok, but this is considered an error.

His reign saw major inroads from the neighbouring Silla

Silla

Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

 and Goguryeo

Goguryeo

Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

 kingdoms, with Silla occupying the present-day Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

 area and trading directly with China. Baekje's commercial positions along the Yellow Sea

Yellow Sea

The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...

 coast were now dominated by Goguryeo, trading outposts in China were lost to the Sui Dynasty

Sui Dynasty

The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

's unification, and Japan's political centralization outgrew Baekje's influence as well. The decline of external commerce and influence led to infighting among the nobility.

He was succeeded by his son Beop

Beop of Baekje

Beop of Baekje was the 29th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the eldest son of King Hye. He reigned as Baekje power declined, having lost the Seoul region to the rival Silla kingdom....

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