[1] The prime minister was appointed by the emperor of Korea and had to enjoy the confidence of the parliament to remain in office.
He was the head of the Cabinet, led the various administrative branches, and had supervision and appointment rights of other state ministers in the name of the monarch.
It described a government based on an elaborate and rational meritocratic bureaucracy, serving, in theory, under the ultimate authority of the monarch.
Under this system, the yeonguijeong, or chief state councillor, was the head of the State Council, the highest organ of Korea's pre-modern royal government during the Joseon era and until briefly under the Korean Empire.
The office was replaced with the appointment of Kim Hong-jip (previously the last Yeonguijeong) to the new position of Prime Minister in 1895 with the Gabo Reform.