King Seonjo and the Wartime Crisis
King Seonjo, the fourteenth monarch of Joseon, promoted Neo-Confucian scholarship and administrative refinement early in his reign, though intense factionalism soon emerged among court bureaucrats. His reign was defined by the catastrophic Japanese invasions of 1592–1598 (Imjin War), during which he evacuated the capital to the north and coordinated resistance alongside Ming relief forces, regular troops, and righteous armies. Following the war, Seonjo initiated post-war reconstruction and tax re-evaluations, facing severe economic disruption and lingering political instability.
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