Yeonsangun's despotic rule provided a stark contrast to the liberal era of his father, and as a much-despised overthrown monarch, he did not receive a temple name.
Despite his efforts to conceal the injury, Seongjong's mother, Royal Queen Dowager Insu, discovered the truth and ordered Lady Yun into exile.
However, government officials belonging to the Sarim faction opposed his efforts on account of serving Seongjong's will, and greatly displeased, Yeonsangun started looking for ways to eliminate them.
He sentenced to death many government officials who had supported the execution of his mother, now posthumously honored as "Queen Jeheon" (제헌왕후; 齊獻王后), and ordered the grave of Han Myeong-hoe to be opened and the head to be cut off the corpse.
Yeonsangun went as far as punishing officials who were simply present at the royal court at that time, for the crime of not preventing the actions of those who abused his mother.
Yeonsangun closed Sungkyunkwan, the royal university, as well as the temple Wongaksa, and converted them into personal pleasure grounds, for which young girls were gathered from the eight provinces.
[6] He ordered his ministers to wear a sign that read: "A mouth is a door that brings in disaster; a tongue is a sword that cuts off a head.
[7] Chief Eunuch Kim Cheo-sun, who had served three kings, tried to convince him to change his ways, but Yeonsangun killed him by shooting arrows and personally cutting off his limbs.
[10] In 1506, the 12th year of Yeonsangun's reign, a group of officials — notably Park Won-jong,[b] Seong Hui-an, Yu Sun-jeong, and Hong Gyeong-ju[c] — plotted against the despotic ruler.
The king was demoted to "Prince Yeonsan" (Yeonsangun; 燕山君, 연산군) and sent into exile on Ganghwa Island, where he died after two months.