Birth and background

King Injo was born in 1595 as a son of Prince Jeongwon,^[1] whose father was the ruling monarch King Seonjo. In 1607, Prince Jeongwon's son was given the title, Lord Neungyang (綾陽都正, 능양도정) and later Prince Neungyang (綾陽君, 능양군); and lived as a royal family member, unsupported by any political factions that were 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 and the liberal Eastern political faction came out strong after the Japanese invasions of 1582-1598, as they fought most actively against the Japanese. The Eastern faction split during the last days of King Seonjo into the Northern and Southern political factions. The Northern faction wanted radical reform, while the Southern faction supported more moderate measures. At the time of Seonjo's death, the Northern faction, which gained control of the government at the time, was divided into left-wing Greater Northerners and more moderate Lesser Northerners. As Gwanghaegun inherited the throne, the Greater Northern political faction, which supported him as heir to the crown, became the major political faction in the royal court. Meanwhile, the conservative Western political faction remained a minor player, unable to gain power; however many members of the Western faction continued to look for opportunities to return to politics as the ruling faction.

The coup of 1623

Although King Gwanghaegun (光海君, 광해군) was an outstanding administrator and great diplomat, he was largely unsupported by many politicians, scholars, and aristocrats because he was not the first-born and he was born of a concubine. Greater Northerners tried to stomp out those opinions, suppressing Lesser Northerners and killing Prince Imhae (臨海君, 임해군), the oldest son of Seonjo, and Grand Prince Yeongchang (永昌大君, 영창대군), the queen's son. It was not Gwanghaegun's plan to keep his throne; and in fact, he actually tried to bring minor factions into the government, but was blocked by opposition from members of the Greater Northerners, such as Jeong In-hong and Yi I-cheom. The actions made Gwanghaegun even more unpopular among wealthy aristocrats, and they finally began plotting against him.

In 1623, members of the ultra-conservative Westerners faction, Kim Ja-jeom, Kim Ryu, Yi Gwi and Yi Gwal, launched a coup that resulted in the dethroning of Gwanghaegun, who was sent into exile on Jeju Island. Jeong In-hong and Yi Yicheom were killed, and this was followed suddenly by the Westerners replacing the Greater Northerners as the ruling political faction. The Westerners brought Injo to the palace and crowned him as the new King of Joseon. Although Injo was king, he did not have any authority since almost all of the power was held by the Western faction that had dethroned Gwanghaegun.

Yi Gwal's Rebellion

Yi Gwal thought he was mistreated and received too small a reward for his role in the coup. In 1624, he rebelled against Injo after being sent to the Northern front as military commander of Pyongyang to fight against the expanding Manchus, while other significant leaders of the coup were rewarded with positions in the King's court. Yi Gwal led 12,000 troops, including 100 Japanese (who defected to Joseon during Japanese invasions of Korea), to the capital, Hanseong, where Yi Gwal defeated a regular army under the command of General Jang Man (张晚) and surrounded Hanseong in what is known as the Battle of Jeotan. Injo fled to Gongju, and Hanseong fell into the hands of the rebels.

On February 11, 1624, Yi Gwal enthroned Prince Heungan (興安君, 흥안군) as the new King. However, General Jang Man soon returned with another regiment and defeated Yi Gwal's forces. The Korean army recaptured the capital soon after, and Yi Gwal was murdered by his bodyguard, ending the rebellion. Even though Injo kept his throne, the uprising displayed the weaknesses of royal authority while asserting the superiority of the aristocrats, who had gained even more power by fighting against the rebellion. The economy, which was experiencing a slight recovery from Gwanghaegun's reconstruction, was again ruined, and Korea would remain in a poor economic state for a few centuries.

War with Later Jin and Qing

King Gwanghaegun, who was considered a wise diplomat, kept his neutral policy between the Ming dynasty, which was Joseon's traditional ally, and the growing Jurchens (later Manchus and Qing dynasty). However, following the fall of Gwanghaegun, conservative Westerners took a hard-line policy toward the Jurchen-led Later Jin dynasty, keeping their alliance with Ming dynasty. The Later Jin, who had up until that time 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 Later Jin ruler Nurhaci to attack Joseon; thus the friendly relationship between the Later Jin and Joseon ended.

In 1627, 30,000 Manchu cavalry under General Amin (阿敏) and former Korean General Gang Hong-rip invaded Joseon, calling for the restoration of Gwanghaegun and the execution of Westerners leaders, including Kim Ja-jeom. General Jang Man again fought against the Later Jin, but was unable to repel the invasion. Once again, Injo fled to Ganghwa Island. Meanwhile, the Later Jin had no reason to attack Joseon and decided to go back to prepare for war against the Ming, and peace soon settled. The Later Jin and Joseon dynasties were declared brother nations and the Later Jin withdrew from the Korean peninsula.

However, most Westerners kept their hard-line policy despite the war. Nurhaci, who had generally good opinion toward Korea, did not invade Korea again; however, when Nurhaci died and Hong Taiji succeeded him as ruler, the Later Jin again began to seek another chance for war. King Injo provided refuge to Ming general Mao Wenlong and with his unit, after they fled from the Later Jin and came to Korea; this action caused the Later Jin to invade Korea once again.

In 1636, Hong Taiji officially renamed his dynasty the Qing dynasty, and proceeded to invade Joseon personally. The Qing forces purposely avoided battle with General Im Gyeong-eop, a prominent Joseon army commander who was guarding the Uiju Fortress at the time. A Qing army of 128,000 men marched directly into Hanseong before Injo could escape to Ganghwa Island, driving Injo to Namhan Mountain Fortress instead. Running out of food and supplies after the Manchu managed to cut all supply lines, Injo finally surrendered to the Qing dynasty ceremoniously bowing to the Hong Taiji nine times as Hong Taiji's servant, and agreeing to the Treaty of Samjeondo, which required Injo's first and second son to be taken to China as captives.

Joseon then became a tributary state to the Qing dynasty, and the Qing went on to conquer the Central Plain in 1644.

Death of the Crown Prince

After Qing conquered Beijing in 1644,^[2] 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 his ideas and persecuted the Crown Prince for attempting to bring in foreign Catholicism and Western science into Korea.

The Crown Prince was mysteriously found dead in the King's room, bleeding severely from the head. Legends say that Injo killed his own son with an ink slab that Sohyeon brought from China; however, some historians suggest he was poisoned by the fact that he had black spots all over his body after his death and that his body decomposed rapidly. Many, including his wife, tried to uncover what happened but Injo ordered immediate burial and greatly reduced the grandeur of the practice of Crown Prince's funeral. King Injo even shortened the funeral period for his son.^[3] Later, Injo also executed Sohyeon's wife who tried to find out the real reason for her husband's death.

King Injo appointed Grand Prince Bongrim as new Crown Prince (who later became King Hyojong) rather than Prince Sohyeon's oldest son, Prince Gyeongseon. Soon after, Injo ordered the exile of Prince Sohyeon's three sons to Jeju Island (from which only the youngest son, Prince Gyeongan, returned to the mainland alive) and the execution of Sohyeon's wife, Crown Princess Minhoe, for treason.