Injo of Joseon
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Injo of Joseon (1595-1649, r. 1623-1649) was the sixteenth king of the Korean Joseon Dynasty. He was the grandson of Seonjo. King Injo was king during both the first and second Manchu invasions, which ended with the surrender of Joseon to the Qing Dynasty in 1636.
Birth and Background
King Injo was born in 1595 as a son of Jeonwongun (Prince Jeongwon), whose father was the ruling monarch King Seonjo. In 1607 he was given the title Prince Neungyang(綾陽君) and lived as just plain royal family member, unsupported by any political factions which was in control of Korean politics at the time.
In 1608, King Seonjo fell sick and died, and his son Gwanghaegun succeeded him to the throne. At the time, the government was divided by various political factions; liberal Easterners faction(東人) came out strong after Seven Year War, which most of Easterners fought actively against Japanese. Then Easterners split during the last days of King Seonjo; Northerner faction(北人) wanted radical reform, while Southerner faction(南人) supported moderate reform. At the time of Seonjo's death, Northerners, who gained control of the government at the time, was divided into left-wing Greater Northerners(大北) and less radical Lesser Northerners(小北). As Gwanghaegun inherited the throne, Greater Northerners, who supported him as heir to the crown, became major political faction in the royal court. Meanwhile, conservative Westerners faction(西人) stayed as minor faction, far from gaining power. However many members of Westerners faction still looked for chance to return to the politics as ruling faction.
Injobanjeong (The Coup of 1623)
Although Gwanghaegun was outstanding administrator and great diplomat, he was largely unsupported by many politicians, scholars and aristocrats since he was not the firstborn and the child from concubine. Greater Northerners tried to stomp out those opinions, suppressing Lesser Northerners and killing Imhaegun, the oldest son of Seonjo, and Yeongchangdaegun, the child of the queen. It was not Gwanghaegun's plan to keep his throne; he actually tried to bring minor factions to government, which was blocked by Greater Northerners such as Jeong In-hong and Yi Yicheom. The actions made Gwanghaegun even more unpopular among wealthy aristocrats and finally they began to plot for treason.
In 1623, ultra-conservative Westerners Kim Ja-jeom, Kim Ryu, Yi Gwi, Yi Gwal launched a coup and dethroned Gwanghaegun, who was sent into exile in Jeju Island. Jeong In-hong and Yi Yicheom was killed, and all of a sudden Westerners replaced Greater Northerners as ruling faction. Westerners brought Injo to the palace and crowned him as the new king Injo; although Injo was king, he did not have any authority since almost all power was held by Westerners who dethroned Gwanghaegun.
Yi Gwal Rebellion
In 1624, Yi Gwal, who thought he was treated unfairly and received too small reward for his role in the coup, rebelled against Injo, since almost every other major leader of the coup was called to the court while he was sent to Northern front as military commander of Pyongyang to fight against the expanding Manchus. Yi Gwal led 12,000 troops including 100 Japanese (who defected to Joseon during Seven Year War) to the capital, Hanseong. At the Battle of Jeotan, Yi Gwal defeated a regular army under the command of General Jang Man, and surrounded Hanseong. Injo fled to Gongju and Hanseong fell to the rebels.
On February 11th, 1624, Yi Gwal enthroned Prince Heungan as the new king; however, General Jang Man soon came back with another regiment and defeated Yi Gwal's forces. Soon the Korean army recaptured the capital and Yi Gwal was murdered by his bodyguard, and the rebellion was ended. Even though Injo was able to keep his throne, the rebellion showed how the royal authority was weakened and proved the superiority of the aristocrats, who gained even more power by the fighting against the rebellion. Also, the economy, which was in a slight recovery from Gwanghaegun's reconstruction, was ruined again and Korea would remain poor for a few centuries.
War with Manchus
Gwanghaegun, who was the wise diplomat, kept his neutral policy between growing Manchus and Chinese Ming Dynasty, which was Joseon's traditional ally. However, after the fall of Gwanghaegun, conservative Westerners took hard-line policy toward the Manchus, keeping their alliance with Ming Dynasty. The Manchus, who remained mostly friendly to Joseon, began to regard Joseon as an enemy. Han Yun, who participated in the rebellion of Yi Gwal, fled to Manchuria and urged the Manchu leader Nurhaci to attack Joseon; thus the friendly relationship between Manchu and Korea ended.
In 1627, 30,000 Manchu cavalry under Ah Min and former General Gang Hong-rip invaded Joseon, calling for restoration of Gwanghaegun and execution of Westerners leaders including Kim Ja-jeom. General Jang Man again fought against the Manchus, but was unable to repel the invasion. Once again, Injo fled to Ganghwado; meanwhile, the Manchus had no reason to attack Korea and decided to go back to prepare for war against China, and soon peace settled; Later Jin and Joseon were declared as brother nations and the Manchus withdrew from Korea. The war is called Jeongmyo-Horan
However, most Westerners kept their hard-line policy despite the war. Nurhaci, who had generally good opinion toward Korea, did not invaded Korea again. However, when Nurhaci died and Hong Taiji succeeded him as ruler of the Manchus, the Manchus again began to seek for chance for another war. When Ming General Mao Wenrong came to Korea fleeing from the Manchus along with his unit, Injo gave refuge to them and it caused the Manchus to invade Korea again.
In 1636, Hong Taiji officially called his nation The Qing Dynasty, and invaded Joseon himself. The Manchus avoided battle with General Im Gyeong Eop, who guarded border fortress; for he was a famous army commander. A 20,000 Manchu cavalry unit went straight to Hanseong before Injo could escape to Ganghwado, and they drove him to Namhansanseong and cut all of his supply lines. Injo, who was running out of food supplies at last surrendered to Qing Dynasty, and agreed for the Treaty of Samjeondo, where Injo bowed to the Qing Emperor nine times as his servant, and his first and second son was taken to China as captives. Joseon became the vassal kingdom to Qing, which went on to conquer Ming in 1644. The war is called Byeongja-Horan.
Death of the crown prince
In 1644, after Qing conquered entire China, the two princes returned to Korea. Injo's first son, Crown Prince Sohyeon, brought many new products from the western world including Christianity, and urged Injo for reform. However, the conservative Injo would not accept the opinion; and all of a sudden the crown prince was found dead in the king's room, bleeding severely from the head. Many people including his wife tried to find out what happened to the prince, but Injo ordered burial and later he accused Sohyeon's wife for treason and executed her. Prince Bongrim, who also returned from China, was appointed as new Crown Prince and later became King Hyojong.
In 1628 a Dutchman named Weltevree drifted to Korea and became citizen, and introduced European culture to Korea.
Legacy
Today, Injo is mostly regarded as a weak, indecisive and unstable ruler; for he caused the Yi Gwal Rebellion, two wars with the Manchus, and a devastation of the economy. He is often compared to his predecessor, Gwanghaegun, who accomplished many things and was dethroned, while Injo had almost no achievements during his reign and was still given a temple name. Many people regard him as the model for politicians not to follow, and he is also blamed for not taking care of his kingdom. However, he reformed the military and expanded the defense of the nation to prepare for war, since the nation had several military conflicts from 1592 to 1636. He died in 1649.
His full posthumous name
- King Injo Gaecheon Joun Jeonggi Seondeok Heonmun Yeolmu Myeongsuk Sunhyo the Great of Korea
- 인조개천조운정기선덕헌문열무명숙순효대왕
- 仁祖開天肇運正紀宣德憲文烈武明肅純孝大王
See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- History of Korea
- Rulers of Korea
| Preceded by: Gwanghaegun |
Emperor of Korea (Joseon Dynasty) 1623–1649 |
Succeeded by: Hyojong |
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