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Person1149 – 1219

Choe Chung-heon

General who seized power in 1196, founding the four-generation Choe military regime and its Directorate of Decree Enforcement

With his brother Choe Chung-su he killed Yi Ui-min and presented Myeongjong with ten reform proposals, yet he himself deposed two kings, Myeongjong and Huijong. In 1209 he set up the Directorate General for Policy Formulation and, as its head, controlled surveillance of officials, appointments and taxes, while greatly expanding his private guard, the Dobang. He received Jinju as a fief and set up the Jingangbu there. In 1198 his house slave Manjeok plotted to free the slaves.

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2 related events

  1. 1
    1196 – 1258Choe Chung-heon and the Choe Military Regimeleader

    Choe Chung-heon killed Yi Ui-min and seized power, founding a Choe family regime that lasted four generations and some sixty years, with the Directorate of Decree Enforcement as its supreme organ.

  2. 2
    1198Manjeok’s Rebellionrelated figure

    Manjeok, a slave of Choe Chung-heon, gathered slaves in Gaegyeong to plot their emancipation and seizure of power, but was betrayed.

Related works

Dramatized works (films, dramas, novels) may differ from the historical record.

People who appear alongside

  • Choe U1249

    Son of Choe Chung-heon who set up the Jeongbang personnel office and moved the court to Ganghwa in 1232

  • Choe Hang1257

    Son of Choe U and third ruler of the Choe military regime, who kept up resistance to the Mongols from Ganghwa

  • Yi Ui-min1196

    General of low-born origin who ruled for over a decade until killed by Choe Chung-heon

  • King Myeongjong1131 – 1202

    Nineteenth king of Goryeo, enthroned by the generals; his reign saw military infighting and uprisings until Choe Chung-heon deposed him

  • Manjeok1198

    Slave of Choe Chung-heon who plotted a slave uprising in Gaegyeong in 1198 and was executed

Themes this person appears in

  • GaeseongAD 901 – 2003

    From Wang Geon, lord of Songak, to the Kaesong Industrial Complex — Gaegyeong, Goryeo’s capital for five centuries, and home of the Song merchants

  • JinjuAD 685 – 1923

    Centre of western Gyeongsang — site of the sieges of Jinju, the 1862 peasant uprising and the butchers’ equality movement