Gwanghaegun of Joseon

Gwanghaegun or Prince Gwanghae (Korean: 광해군; Hanja: 光海君; 4 June 1575 – 7 August 1641), personal name Yi Hon (이혼; 李琿), was the 15th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea.

Gwanghaegun was the second son of King Seonjo; born to Royal Noble Consort Gong, a concubine, who later died a year after his birth.

Fortunately for Gwanghae, King Seonjo's abrupt death made it impossible for his favorite son Yeongchang to succeed to the throne.

[citation needed] Before King Seonjo died in 1608, he named Prince Gwanghae as his official successor to the throne and ordered his advisers to make a royal document.

After the incident, Gwanghae tried to bring officials from various political and regional background to his court, but his plan was interrupted by Greater Northerners including Yi I-cheom and Jeong In-hong.

In 1618, with the help of Court Lady Kim, Grand Prince Yeongchang's mother, Queen Inmok, was stripped of her title and imprisoned along with his younger half-sister, Princess Jeongmyeong.

The Westerners faction installed Neungyanggun as the sixteenth king Injo who promulgated pro-Ming and anti-Manchu policies, which resulted in two subsequent Manchu invasions.

Historian Oh Hang-nyeong strongly criticized the king, writing that he "practically used up the country's entire budget solely for the construction of palaces, his policies were flawed and moreover, he was absent in many of the cabinet meetings.

However, historian Lee Duk-il praised the king, did that he "indeed made some political errors, but during his reign, the famous oriental medical book 'Donguibogam' was published and he created the tax system 'Daedong law' that was enforced for the benefit of the people."