Gwanghaegun of Joseon

Gwanghaegun was the second son of King Seonjo, born to Lady Kim (Gongbin), a concubine. When Japan invaded Korea to attack the Ming Empire, he was installed as Crown Prince. When the king fled north to the border of Ming, he set up a branch court and fought defensive battles. During and after the Seven Year War (1592–1598), he acted as the de facto ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, commanding battles and taking care of the reconstruction of the nation after the devastating wars, in the place of old and weak King Seonjo.

Although it brought prestige to him, his position was still unstable. He had an elder but incompetent brother Prince Imhae (Imhaegun, 임해군, 臨海君) and a younger but legitimate brother Grand Prince Yeong-chang (Yeong-chang Daegun, 영창대군, 永昌大君), who was supported by the Lesser Northerners faction. Fortunately for Gwang-hae, King Seonjo's abrupt death made it impossible for his most favorite son Yeong-chang Daegun to succeed to the throne.

Before King Seonjo died, he named Prince Gwang-hae as his official successor to the throne and ordered his advisers to make a royal document. However, Lyu Young-gyong of the Lesser Northerners faction hid the document and plotted to install Prince Yeong-chang as king, only to be found out by the head of the Great Northerners faction (대북; 大北), Chung In-hong. Lyu was executed immediately and Prince Yeong-chang was arrested and died the next year.

After the incident, Gwang-hae tried to bring officials from various political and regional background to his court, but his plan was interrupted by Greater Northerners including Lee Icheom and Chung In-hong. Then, Greater Northerners began to take members of other political factions out of the government, especially Lesser Northerners. In 1613, the Greater Northerners moved against Prince Yeong-chang; his grandfather Kim Jenam was found guilty of treason and executed, while Yeong-chang was sent into exile, where he too was executed. At the same time, Greater Northerners suppressed the Lesser Northerners; in 1618, Yeong-chang's mother, Queen In-mok, was stripped of her title and imprisoned. Gwang-hae had no power to stop this even though he was the official head of the government.

Despite his poor reputation after his death, he was a talented and pragmatic politician. He endeavored to restore the country and sponsored the restoration of documents. As a part of reconstruction, he revised land ordinance and redistributed land to the people; he also ordered the rebuilding of Changdeok Palace along with several other palaces. Additionally, he was responsible for the reintroduction of the hopae identification system after a long period of disuse.[1]

In foreign affairs he sought a balance between the Ming Empire and the Manchus. Since he realized Joseon was unable to compete with Manchu military power, he tried to maintain friendly relationship with the Manchus while the kingdom was still under the suzerainty of Ming, which angered the Ming and dogmatic Confucian Koreans. The critically worsened Manchu-Ming relationship forced him to send ten thousand soldiers to aid Ming in 1619. However, the Battle of Sarhū ended in Manchu's overwhelming victory. The Korean General Gang Hong-rip lost two-thirds of his troops and surrendered to Nurhaci. Gwanghaegun negotiated independently for peace with the Manchus and managed to avoid another war. He also restored diplomatic relationship with Japan in 1609 when he reopened trade with Japan through Treaty of Giyu, and sent his ambassadors to Japan in 1617.

In the domestic sphere, Gwanghaegun implemented the Daedong law, which let his subjects pay their taxes more easily. However, this law was activated only in Gyeonggi Province, which was the largest granary zone at that time, and it took a century for the law to be extended across the whole kingdom. He encouraged publishing in order to accelerate reconstruction and to restore the kingdom's former prosperity. Many books were written during his reign, including the famous medical book Donguibogam, and several historical records were rewritten in this period. In 1616, tobacco was first introduced to Korea and it soon became popular amongst the Korean aristocracy.

In April 6, 1623 Gwanghaegun was deposed in a coup by the Westerners faction. The coup directed by Kim Yu took place at night, Gwanghaegun fled but was captured later.[2] He was confined first on Ganghwa Island and then on Jeju Island, where he died in 1641. He does not have a royal mausoleum like the other Joseon rulers. His and Lady Ryu's remains were buried at a comparatively humble site in Namyangju in Gyeonggi Province. The Westerners faction installed Neungyanggun as the sixteenth king Injo who promulgated pro-Ming and anti-Manchu policies, which resulted in two subsequent Manchu invasions.

• Portrayed by Lee Ho-seong in the 2008 MBC TV series Tamra, the Island.
• Portrayed by Kim Seung-soo in the 1999–2000 MBC TV series Hur Jun.
• Portrayed by Ji Sung in the 2003 SBS TV series The King's Woman.
• Portrayed by Lee In in the 2004–2005 KBS1 TV series Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin.
• Portrayed by Jo Hee-bong in the 2008 KBS2 TV series Hong Gil-dong.
• Portrayed by Lee Byung-hun in the 2012 film Masquerade.
• Portrayed by Lee Sang-yoon and Noh Young-hak in the 2013 MBC TV series Goddess of Fire.
• Portrayed by In Gyo-jin in the MBC TV series Hur Jun, The Original Story.
• Portrayed by Seo In-guk in the 2014 KBS2 TV series The King's Face.
• Portrayed by Cha Seung-won and Lee Tae-hwan in the 2015 MBC TV series Splendid Politics.
• Portrayed by Noh Young-hak in the 2015 KBS1 TV series The Jingbirok: A Memoir of Imjin War.
• Portrayed by Yeo Jin-goo in the 2017 film Warriors of the Dawn and 2019 tvN TV series The Crowned Clown.
• Portrayed by Jung Joon-ho in the 2019 KBS2 TV series The Tale of Nokdu.

• Gwanghae's Lover, a 2013 novel written by Euodia. Originally posted on web portal Naver, it is a love story about Gwanghae and a time traveling high school girl.[13]