POST-IMJIN DE VELOPME NTS I03
capitalize on the Byzantine intrigue surrounding the sudden death of Crown
Prince Sohyon and his Princess Minhoe, daughter of the the state councilor, Kang
Sokki. As a hostage in Shen-yang in Manchuria since 1637, the crown prince's
residence had become the equivalent of a Korean embassy and trading center
mainly because King Injo had been using chronic illness as an excuse to avoid
meeting with Manchu envoys whenever they came to Korea.
After [642 the king and the anti-Manchu officials began to suspect the crown
prince of plotting with the Manchus to force his abdication. lnjo's resentment
was exacerbated by his own favorite concubine's hatred of Princess Minhoe and
by stories of the crown prince's extravagant expenditures. After the Manchus
captured the Ming capital at Beijing in [644, the Manchu Prince Dorgon, now
regent for the young Hsiin-chih emperor, decided to send the crown prince back
to Korea, but only two months after his return to Korea he fell ill and died so
quickly that many suspected he had been poisoned at the king's direction.
The possibility of filicide was lent weight by Injo's subsequent behavior. Hint-
ing that even filicide was condoned by Confucian moral standards in the case
of a disobedient son, he ordered the torture and death of a score of palace ladies-
in-waiting and servants to obtain false testimony to heinous deeds by Princess
Minhoe (Minhoe-bin) and her relatives in the Kimch'on Kang clan. He ordered
the extermination of almost the whole family by first sending Princess Kang's
four brothers into exile. then having her drink poison in J 646 on the charge that
she had poisoned his food. He executed her mother and two of her brothers on
false charges, and eliminated all three of her sons by Crown Prince Sohyon -
Injo's own grandsons. He then chose his second son, Grand Prince Pongnim
(Pongnim-daegun), whose wife happened to be the daughter of one of Kim
Chajom's supporters, to be the new crown prince.
He did all this against a chorus of protests and requests for leniency from most
officials. Kim Chajom was one of the few who defended the princess's execu-
tion, and when Ch'ing envoys appeared in [648 to inquire about the whereabouts
of Prince Sohyon's sons, he told them that the exiled boys had died of illness.
The story was false at the time, but two of the three did die later in the year.24
Injo's barbarity was fueled by his hatred of the Manchus and fear of domestic
political conspiracy.
In the last years of his reign political power gravitated into the hands of Kim
Chajom because he catered to Injo's fears, even though control of military forces
was still split between the Royal Division under his command versus the Namhan
Defense Command and Anti-Manchu Division under Yi Sibaek and Yi Sibang.
Yi Sibaek also took charge of creating the new Crack Select Soldiers in 16:n.
Some expansion of these forces took place at this time but not for the defense
of Korea. Rather, the additional troops were drawn mostly from the Royal Divi-
sion commanded by Kim Chajom and used to provide the annual contingent of
1,000 musketeers sent to assist the Manchus in their struggle with the Ming
armies.
Even though Kim had to resign from his post as commander of the Royal Divi-