He grew up in poverty; even after becoming king, he had little political influence, and the power to govern was held mainly by the Andong Kim clan, the paternal family of Queen Sunwon.

[4] The Andong Kim clan's monopoly caused nationwide corruption, resulting in a series of peasant revolts in southern Joseon in 1862.

[6][7][8] Prince Euneon was Cheoljong's grandfather and a younger half-brother of Jeongjo of Joseon; in 1786, accused of treason, he and his family was exiled to Ganghwa Island.

Some officials suggested that a distant royal, Yi Ha-jeon (이하전), could succeed the throne, but he was eight years old, a descendant of Deokheung Daewongun, and merely an 11th cousin once removed to Heonjong.

[32]: 358-359  It was discovered the rebellion was a result of the corruption mentioned above, so Cheoljong set an office to carry out a financial reorganization, but the reformation turned out to be ineffective.

However, during his reign, vessels from Europe, the United States and Russian Empire, often appeared in Joseon's territorial waters (at least 20 recorded).

[36] In 1850, a foreign boat (nationality unknown) appeared in Uljin County of Gangwon Province, and some Joseon officials were killed by its bombardment before it left.

[39] In 1854, Russian frigate Pallada entered Tumen River for prospecting, naming Wonsan as "Port Lazarev"; during the process, it was reported that some local residents were shot as the crowd watched the foreign vessel.

[42][43][44] In the Second Opium War of 1860, Beijing, the capital of the Qing dynasty was invaded by an Anglo-French force, and the Old Summer Palace was sacked and burnt down.

As of 1863, there were twelve Catholic missionaries from France living in Joseon, and within few years, there were over a hundred thousand of Christians around the capital, and some of the court officials became followers.

[47][35]: 150 [51] As a reaction to the rapid propagation of Catholicism and the chaotic society, Choe Je-u founded a new religion Donghak to counter foreign influence and gained many followers.

[35]: 150-151 As Cheoljong failed to have a male heir for years, other than repressing the revolts, the Andong Kim clan started to persecute royalties.

In 1851, Chae Hui-jae (채희재) was executed for attempting to enthrone Yi Myeong-seop (이명섭), a descendant of Crown Prince Sohyeon who was exiled to Chodo (an island now locates near Nampo in North Korea).

[61][62] Yi Ha-jeon was a potential successor to King Heonjong back in 1849, and he showed dissatisfaction toward the imperiousness of the Andong Kim clan, causing them to decide to eliminate him.

Afraid of being persecuted, Prince Heungseon befriended with people from lower classes and often visited kisaengs, acting frivolously and fawning over the authority; this caused the Kim clan to despise him and to be less cautious about him.

In order to tone up the body, he took a large amount of herbal medicine for years; on the other hand, some other common treatments by the time, such as acupuncture and moxibustion, rarely appear in the documents.

Some suggested that the cause of death of Cheoljong could be liver disease or tuberculosis; according to existing documents, however, it's still hard to give a certain conclusion to date.

Cheoljong himself favored Yi Jae-hwang, the second son of Prince Heungseon (his seventh cousin) and his wife, Lady Min, to succeed the throne.

Claiming that Prince Heungseon was still alive, making Yi Jae-Hwang an inappropriate candidate, most members of the Andong Kim clan disapproved of this succession.

Once Yi Jae-hwang arrived at the palace, Queen Sinjeong was overjoyed and she came out to welcome him in person, despite being inappropriate in court manners; she immediately announced that the new king was the heir of Ikjong, instead of Cheoljong.

[82][83] According to the epitaph, there were once that some silverware used in the palace and the shrine of Jeongye Daewongun were stolen; both Cheoljong and Queen Cheorin decided not to pursue who did this, fearing that people may confess under false charges.

[95] Yi Jae-seong, on the other hand, became Prince Gyeongeun (경은군) in 1900,[96][97] but he lost the royal title in 1907, accused of working together with the anti-Japanese righteous army; he later went missing in 1910.