General of low-born origin who ruled for over a decade until killed by Choe Chung-heon
His father is said to have been a salt seller and his mother a temple slave. He took part in the military coup and killed the deposed Uijong at Gyeongju during Kim Bo-dang’s revolt. He took power after Gyeong Dae-seung’s death but was killed by Choe Chung-heon and his brother Choe Chung-su in 1196.
Against the military regime, Kim Bo-dang rose in the northeast in 1173 to restore Uijong, and Jo Wi-chong, governor of Seogyeong, rose in 1174; both were suppressed.
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.
Dramatized works (films, dramas, novels) may differ from the historical record.
Eighteenth king of Goryeo, deposed by the military coup of 1170 and killed in 1173
General who led the military coup of 1170 with Jeong Jung-bu and Yi Go and then held power
General who seized power in 1196, founding the four-generation Choe military regime and its Directorate of Decree Enforcement
Son of Choe Chung-heon who set up the Jeongbang personnel office and moved the court to Ganghwa in 1232
Son of Choe U and third ruler of the Choe military regime, who kept up resistance to the Mongols from Ganghwa
Nineteenth king of Goryeo, enthroned by the generals; his reign saw military infighting and uprisings until Choe Chung-heon deposed him
From Wanggeom-seong of Gojoseon to the inter-Korean summits — capital of Goguryeo, Western Capital of Goryeo, the great city on the Taedong
Centre of western Gyeongsang — site of the sieges of Jinju, the 1862 peasant uprising and the butchers’ equality movement