Жосон әулетінің 14-ші патшасы Сонджо

14th king of Joseon from 1567 to 1608

Seonjo (hangul=선조; 6 December 1552 – 6 March 1608), personal name Yi Yeon (hangul=이연), was the 14th monarch of the Joseon period of Korea. He was known for promoting Confucianism and attempting reforms at the beginning of his reign. However, he later gained infamy from the political discord and incompetent leadership during the Japanese invasions of Korea.

King Seonjo was born Yi Yeon in 1552 in Hanseong (today, Seoul), capital of Korea, as the third son of Prince Deokheung (hangul=덕흥군), himself son of King Jungjong and Royal Noble Consort Chang of the Ansan Ahn clan (hangul=창빈 안씨). On his mother's side, Yi Yeon was also a great great great grandson of Princess Jeongui, the daughter of Queen Soheon and King Sejong. Princess Jeongui's granddaughter, Lady Ahn of the Juksan Ahn clan, married Jeong Sang jo (hangul=정상조), his great grandfather and son of Jeong In ji through his second wife, Lady Yi of the Gyeongju Yi clan. As well as Jeong Sang jo being the younger half brother of Jo Gwang jo. He was given the title of Prince Haseong, and was eventually adopted by Queen Insun. When King Myeongjong died young without an heir, Prince Haseong was the next in the line of succession. Then, by decision of the royal court, he was crowned king in 1567 at the age of 16. His father had the status of Grand Internal Prince (대원군, Daewongun, 'Great Prince of the Court).

King Seonjo focused on the improvement of the lives of the common people, as well as rebuilding the nation after the political corruption during the chaotic reign of Yeonsangun and King Jungjong. He encouraged Sarim scholars, who had been persecuted by entrenched aristocrats in four different purges between 1498 and 1545 during reign of Yeonsangun and Jungjong. Seonjo continued the political reforms of King Myeongjong, and put many famous Confucian scholars, including Yi Hwang, Yi I, Jeong Cheol, and Yu Seong ryong, in office.

Among the scholars King Seonjo called to the government were Sim Ui gyeom and Kim Hyowon. Sim was a relative of the queen and heavily conservative. Kim was the leading figure of the new generation of officials and called for liberal reforms. The scholars who supported King Seonjo began to split into two factions, headed by Sim and Kim. Members of the two factions even lived in the same neighborhood; Sim's faction lived on west side of the city while Kim's followers gathered on the east side. Consequently, the two factions began to be called the Western Faction and the Easterners ; this two faction based political system lasted 200 years and later helped bring about the collapse of the Joseon dynasty. but Kim Seong il, of the Easterners faction, told the king that he thought these large forces were not for the war against Korea, since he was trying to complete his reforms quickly to prevent lawlessness and quash the bandits now roaming the countryside. Since the Easterners had the bigger voice in government at the time, Hwang's reports were ignored and Seonjo decided not to prepare for war, even though the attitude of Hideyoshi in his letter to Seonjo clearly showed his interest in the conquest of Asia. The factional infighting of the Joseon court, combined with the 1589 rebellion of Jeong Yeo rip that led to the purge of more than 1,000 scholars affiliated with the Eastern faction, led to Joseon's unpreparedness against the imminent Japanese invasions.

In 1591, after the delegates had returned from Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent his own delegates to visit King Seonjo, and asked permission to pass through the Korean Peninsula to invade China, in effect declaring war against the Joseon kingdom. The king was surprised; after refusing the Japanese request he sent a letter to Beijing to alert the Chinese that the Japanese were actually preparing for full scale war against the Korean Chinese alliance. He also ordered the construction of many forts in the coastal regions and sent generals Sin Rip and Yi Il to the southern coast to prepare for war. While the Koreans were busy making their preparations, the Japanese manufactured muskets for many of their soldiers, mobilized warriors from across the entire country. On April 13, 1592, about 700 Japanese ships under Konishi Yukinaga invaded Korea. Konishi easily burned Fort Busan and Fort Donglae, killed commanders Jeong Bal and Song Sang hyeon and marched northward. On the next day even more troops under Katō Kiyomasa and Kuroda Nagamasa landed, also marching toward Hanyang. A huge Japanese fleet under Todo Takatora and Kuki Yoshitaka supported them from the sea. General Yi Il faced Katō Kiyomasa at the Battle of Sangju, which was won by Japanese. Then Yi Il met General Sin Rip, but their combined forces were also defeated at the Battle of Chungju by Konishi Yukinaga. Then Seonjo appointed General Kim Myeong won as Commander in Chief and Field Marshal, and ordered him to defend the capital. Then the king moved to Pyongyang, since the Japanese began to seize the capital. He later moved even further north to the border city of Uiju just before the fall of Pyongyang. While the king was absent from the capital, many people who had lost hope in the government plundered the palace and burned many public buildings. This resulted in even more damage than that perpetrated by the Japanese after they had captured the city. Although the army continued to lose men and battles, the navy successfully cut the Japanese supply line from the sea; Admiral Yi Sun sin defeated the Japanese fleet several times and did much damage to the supply ships. With the navy blocking supplies, Chinese forces arrived and began to push the Japanese southward, eventually retaking Pyongyang. Konishi Yukinaga successfully blocked a Chinese advance at Battle of Byeokjegwan, and again tried to push the Koreans northward, but the crucial blow came at the Battle of Hangju, where General Gwon Yul defeated the Japanese with a much smaller force. The Japanese then decided to enter into peace negotiations, while both sides continued fighting. A month before he returned to Hanyang, Seonjo wrote an edict in Hangeul where anyone that either captured Japanese forces in battle, reported on invading troop movements, or rescued Korean prisoners would receive the title of government official regardless of class. During these negotiations Koreans retook Seoul, but the palaces had all been burnt to the ground, so Seonjo repaired one of the old royal family's houses and renamed it Deoksugung, making it one of the official palaces. The peace negotiations between the Chinese and Japanese ended unsuccessfully, due to a lack of understanding between the two sides and misrepresentation of the Koreans. The Japanese again invaded Korea in 1597; but this time all three nations were ready for war, and the Japanese were not able to advance as easily as in 1592. The Japanese tried to take Hanyang from both land and sea routes. At first the plan seemed to work well when Todo Takatora defeated Admiral Won Gyun at the Battle of Chilchonryang, but it was eventually thwarted when the Korean navy under Admiral Yi Sun sin defeated the Japanese fleet under Todo Takatora in the Battle of Myeongnyang with only 13 ships. Combined with the sudden death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the battle effectively ended the war, with the Japanese completely withdrawing from Korea in 1598. The Battle of Noryang marked the end of the war, with the last Japanese units under Konishi Yukinaga leaving Korea. King Seonjo died in 1608, while political division and outside threats still darkened the skies over Korea.

Portrayed by Kim Sung ok in the 1995 KBS2 TV series West Palace. Portrayed by Park Chan hwan in the 1999–2000 MBC TV series Hur Jun. Portrayed by Im Dong jin in the 2003 SBS The King's Woman. Portrayed by Choi Cheol ho in the 2004–2005 KBS1 TV series Immortal Admiral Yi Sun sin. Portrayed by Kim Chang wan in the 2010 film Blades of Blood. Portrayed by Jeon No min in the 2013 MBC TV series Hur Jun, The Original Story. Portrayed by Jeong Bo seok in the 2013 MBC TV series Goddess of Fire. Portrayed by Lee Sung jae in the 2014 KBS2 TV series The King's Face. Portrayed by Kim Tae woo in the 2015 KBS1 TV series The Jingbirok: A Memoir of Imjin War. Portrayed by Park Yeong gyu in the 2015 MBC TV series Splendid Politics. Portrayed by Lee Ji hoon in the 2016 JTBC TV series Mirror of the Witch. Portrayed by Kim Hyun bin in the 2016 MBC TV series Flowers of the Prison. Portrayed by Jang Hyuk in the 2019 tvN TV Series The Crowned Clown.