u/ChapterSpiritual6785

After the Imjin War (1592–1598), diplomatic relations between Joseon and Japan resumed under the Tokugawa Shogunate with drastically different dynamics.

The Shogunate treated the Korean Tongsinsa envoys with extravagant hospitality—often spending up to a million ryō on receptions to showcase the Shogun's prestige and legitimacy.

In contrast, a deeply cautious Joseon strictly confined all Japanese envoys to the Waegwan (the Japanese enclave in Busan/Choryang), completely banning them from stepping outside or ever traveling inland to the royal capital.

In 1450, when both King Sejong and the Crown Prince were bedridden with severe illness, court scholars suggested sending the 9-year-old Royal Grandson (the future King Danjong) to receive imperial edicts from Ming Dynasty envoys.

Infuriated that they would throw a literal 9-year-old child into high-stakes diplomatic protocol, King Sejong lashed out and cursed the scholars as "clueless, mop-headed pedants"

-Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Jan 18, 1450)

In 1835, during the execution of criminal Lee Si-bok (who was sentenced to standard beheading), the executioner went completely rogue and excessively butchered the convict, hacking his body into pieces and severing his limbs.

Horrified that legal execution protocols were violated so barbarically, the State Tribunal (Uigeumbu) arrested and interrogated the supervising officials for failing to control the executioner.

-Ilseongnok (Records of Daily Reflection, Mar 16, 1835)

While traveling through late Joseon Korea, Canadian missionary James S. Gale was swarmed by a chaotic mob debating whether he was a human or an eerie ghost. When a local official asked what he needed to calm things down, Gale replied that he simply wanted quiet to write a New Year’s letter to his parents back home. The moment the crowd learned he practiced filial piety and respected his parents, they immediately concluded he was a decent human being and peacefully dispersed.

-Korean Sketches (James S. Gale, 1898)

In 1637, a panic-inducing rumor swept through the capital that eerie ghost sounds—resembling wood being chopped in the forest—were creeping closer to the city.

Terrified citizens responded in classic Joseon fashion: households across the capital banged brass gongs and fired muskets and cannons into the night to scare away the spirits, throwing the entire capital into gunfire-filled chaos until dawn.

-Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Aug 23, 1637)

In 1504, King Yeonsangun's madness reached its peak. He forced military officers to hunt dangerous wild beasts—such as tigers, leopards, and bears—and bring them back alive to be locked up in the royal garden.

He enjoyed watching them feed or personally shooting them to death with arrows for sport.

-Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Nov 11, 1504)

In 1664, Military Commander Lee Du-jin was mourning nearby after his concubine died of plague.

When a regional civil service exam was opened at the local government lodge, he was so annoyed by the noise that he sent armed guards to beat up the scholars with clubs and drive them out.

The insulted scholars refused to turn in their papers, forcing the exam to be canceled.

Although officials demanded his immediate firing, the King refused to punish him because he favored military officers.

-Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Jun 23, 1664 - Intercalary Month)

During a drinking party hosted by an ailing King Sejo, courtiers Choi Ho-won and An Hyo-rye got into a heated debate.

Losing his temper, Choi threw a personal insult: “You’re the grandson of a butcher!” An instantly clapped back:

“If I’m a butcher’s grandson, then that makes you my son!”

Despite screaming profanities right in front of the King, Sejo brushed off calls for impeachment, laughing that they were just breaking his boredom.

-Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Aug 14, 1468)

During the civil service exams in 1414, officials brought the top papers to King Taejong, stating that the top two candidates were so evenly matched that they couldn't decide on a 1st place winner.

King Taejong simply declared, "Whichever one I grab is 1st place!"

He casually picked one of the two papers at random, which belonged to the famous scholar Jeong In-ji.

-Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Mar 11, 1414)

In 51 AD, King Mobon of Goguryeo became increasingly cruel and tyrannical.

He used living people as chair cushions and pillows, immediately executing anyone who dared to twitch.

Whenever a courtier offered advice, he would shoot them with an arrow.

-Samguk Sagi, Vol. 14, Goguryeo Annals 2 (51 AD)

During a civil service exam in 1611, test-taker Im Suk-yeong submitted an essay that completely ignored the prompt and instead roasted King Gwanghaegun, claiming his governance was ruining the country.

Outraged, the King immediately revoked Im’s passing grade. However, after three months of relentless nagging and protests from government officials, the exhausted King finally caved and un-canceled his acceptance .

-Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Mar 17 & Jun 10, 1611)

According to a report by Governor Yu Yeong-sun of Gyeongsang Province in 1606, scholar decorum went completely out the window after the Imjin War.

During civil service exams, when test-takers didn't like the essay prompts, they rioted—throwing rocks and roof tiles, beating drums, destroying fences, and even threatening to burn down the government venue until the examiners changed the questions.

In one instance, examiners were forced to change the prompt 5 times in a single day just to survive.

-Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Jul 15, 1606)

This case appears in the Simnirok (Records of Criminal Trials), a collection of trials and verdicts from the Joseon Dynasty.

In 1788, Yun Hang and Yun Chim—sons of Yun Deok-gyu—committed a gruesome crime by slicing open the stomach of Yun Eon-seo (who had beaten their father to death 38 days prior) and chewing on his liver.

While cannibalistic revenge normally called for immediate execution, King Jeongjo viewed it as an act of extreme filial devotion and personally ordered the brothers released on bail with guarantors.

During the reign of King Chungnyeol, an official named Park Yu submitted a petition proposing legal concubinage and polygamy.

He argued that since Goryeo had a shortage of men, women were being taken by Yuan China, and men were unable to leave heirs.

This proposal enraged women across the kingdom.

During the Lotus Lantern Festival, an old woman spotted Park Yu in the royal procession and pointed him out, causing a massive crowd to gather, point fingers, and curse at him.

Ultimately, because many high ministers were terrified of their own wives, the proposal was quietly scrapped.

-History of Goryeo (Goryeosa), Vol. 106, Biographies: Park Yu

During the Second Goguryeo-Sui War, the Sui Dynasty dispatched a detachment force of around 300,000 troops directly toward Goguryeo's capital.

Each soldier was forced to haul 100 days' worth of supplies on their back.

Exhausted from the absurd weight, the soldiers responded by simply burying their rations underground along the way.