Injo (Korean: 인조; Hanja: 仁祖; 7 December 1595 – 17 June 1649), personal name Yi Jong (이종; 李倧), was the 16th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea.
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.
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.
[1] 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Today, Injo is mostly regarded as a weak, indecisive and unstable ruler; for he caused the Yi Gwal Rebellion, two wars with the Qing dynasty, and a devastation of the economy.