The Samguk-sagi(三國史記) was compiled in the mid-12th century. It was the time when Koryo(高麗) had just passed its peak of the dynasty and many contemporary intellectuals sensed the decay of their dynasty. Symptoms of the eventual fallout were shown in various areas, which included a coup attempt by Monk Myochong(妙淸). And royal families were often murdered during the process of transition of throne. People were attracted to mythical thoughts, and scientific observations of the reality had lost its ground. Other states in Northeast were also caught up in the excitement of radical change. Liao(遼), the Khitan Dynasty, declined and Chin(金), the Jurchen Dynasty, rose. Due to the growing strength of the nomadic people, Northern Sung(北宋) was withdrawn to the South, thus began Southern Sung. Of course, Koryo was not directly drawn into the turmoils in China. Yet, given the nature of the Koryo Dynasty interwinded with the Chinese Dynasty in its political and cultural traits, it is understood that a sense of crisis of Sung was transmitted to Koryo. The Koryo intellectuals must have been exposed to the solutions raised by their counterparts in Sung.
The Samguk-sagi was not only an intellectual product but a solution to the political problems of Koryo. Kim Pu-sik(金富軾) had stayed close to the center of power, involving in various political issues in and outside the court. He had once reached to the top echelon of the government. Therefore, his personal experiences in politics and his political philosophy must have permeated into the writings of the Samguk-sagi in subtle ways. In fact, the Koryo intellectuals offered two contradictory solutions to the existing and expected crisis. One was to reform the system completely. The other was to continue and perfect the existing system. Kim Pu-sik believed in the latter. According to Kim, the system itself was not the problem; the important thing was to restore the original philosophy of the system. On the contrary, Yun On-i(尹彦?), Kim's political rival, followed the reform model of Wang An-shih(王安石) of the Sung Dynasty. Eventually, the reformists led by Yun dominated. The ones who pulled Kim out of the politics were the reformists. In this respect, Kim Pu-sik can be paralled to Ssu-ma Kuang(司馬光), the author of Zizhitongjian(資治通鑑), who also fell from the power with rise of Wang. In other words, it is expected that Kim Pu-sik, a politician and historian, must have felt a sense of togetherness with Ssu-ma Kuang.
The Samguk-sagi was by no means a new chronicle. Prior to the Samguk-sagi, existed the so-called Old Samguk-sa(舊三國史) in the Koryo Dynasty, which was presumed a chronicle of the Three Kingdoms. The Samguk-sagi inherited the contents of the Old Samguk-sa. This means that the Samguk-sagi was a new attempt to chronicle the Three Kingdoms with certain motives and purposes. This can be compared to the fact that Ou-yang Hsiu(歐陽修) of Sung compiled the Xintangshu(新唐書) despite the existence of the previous chronicle, the Jiutangshu(舊唐書). Therefore, the logic behind the compilement of the Xintangshu must have been borrowed by Kim Pu-sik when he compiled the Samguk-sagi.