Upon rising to the throne, Heungdeok made Kim Yu-jing his prime minister (sijung) and appointed Jang Bogo to the command of the Cheonghae Garrison.

[citation needed] The same year, he also prohibited certain styles of clothing (including extravagant clothing of the Court of Silla, which had been made extravagant under the influence and adoption of Tang dynasty attire;[2][3] banbi,[4] a short-sleeved garment which had been introduced from the Tang dynasty in the times of Kim Chunchu[2]) and strictly regulated the clothing (21 clothing items, which including the official's hat bokdu (幞頭))[3] and use of textiles according to a person's golpum.

[5] He also issued an edict forbidding "excessive luxuries" to the common people.

[6] In 836, Heungdeok died without an heir, which sparked a bloody power struggle between rival members of the royal family of Silla.

[7] His tomb was in the north of Angang-hyeon, now Angang-eup, Gyeongju, South Korea.