King Myeongjong (r. 1170–1197) was monarch

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

 of the Goryeo

Goryeo

The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...

 dynasty of Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

. He was the third son of Emperor Injong

Injong of Goryeo

Injong of Goryeo was the 17th monarch of the Korean Goryeo dynasty. He was the eldest son of king Yejong and Empress Sundeok....

.

Although it was intended that Injong's second son should succeed his father, he was assassinated because Jeong Jung-bu

Jeong Jung-bu

Jeong Jung-bu was a medieval Korean soldier and military dictator during Goryeo Dynasty . He was a career soldier, qualified on military part of civil service examination...

 feared that he might become a threat to him in the future. Myeongjong was a weak emperor, and was merely on the throne to show the general populace they still had an emperor, as the true rulers were the military leaders. His reign saw constant bloodshed as well as the deaths of the rebels Chung Jung-bu, Yi Ui-bang

Yi Ui-bang

Yi Ui-bang was a military ruler of Korea during the Goryeo period.-Background:Yi originated from the Jeonju Yi clan...

, and Yi Ui-min

Yi Ui-min

Yi Ui-min was one of the third major military dictators that ruled Goryeo prior to the Mongol Invasions. When Gyeong Dae-seung died, Yi Ui-min seized power. He ruled for 13 years, but was eventually assassinated by General Choe Chungheon in 1196....

 (not related to Yi Ui-Bang) but also the hero, Gyeong Dae-seung

Gyeong Dae-seung

Gyeong Dae-seung was the third major military dictators who ruled during the late period of the Goryeo Empire. Unlike his predecessors, General Gyeong was determined to fix the empire's problems and help the people prosper. His popularity with the people aroused the jealousy of Emperor Myeongjong...

 (General Gyeong was in fact the most loyal of the military leaders. Yet Myeongjong hated and mistrusted him because of his popularity with the populace).

After twenty-seven years on the throne, he was sent into exile by the military ruler of the time, Choe Chung-heon

Choe Chung-heon

Choe Chung-heon was a military ruler of Korea during the Goryeo period.Choe's father was a Grand General in the Goryeo military, hence precipitating his own entry into the military...

, and Injong's fifth son, King Sinjong

Sinjong of Goryeo

King Sinjong of Goryeo was the twentieth monarch of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. The fifth son of King Injong, Sinjong took the throne after his brother King Myeongjong was sent into exile by Choe Chungheon....

, was placed on the throne.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• History of Korea
  History of Korea
  The Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began...
  
  
• List of Korean monarchs