616 REFORM OF GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION
BUREAUCRATIC REORGANIZATION IN KOREAReduction of Agencies and Staff
In turning his attention to contemporary Korea Yu repeated the axiomatic prin-
ciples of economy and simplicity and called for the reduction of unnecessary
officials, duplication, and overlapping areas of responsibility, citing in this
instance Yulgok's exaggerated remark to King Sonjo in the late sixteenth cen-
tury that the excessive number of district magistrates had to be cut because there
were more posts in the Chason central government than in Ming China. Reduc-
tion of capital agencies and district magistracies alike could be achieved by com-
bining duties and territorial jurisdictions of several units.19
Yu called for the abolition of the Office of Royal Decrees (Yemun'gwan), an
agency divided from the Spring and Autumn Office (Ch'unch'u'gwan) in 141 I,
because the tasks of this office had already been overlapped by officials in the
Office of Special Counselors (Hongmun'gwan) and the historians of the Spring
and Autumn Office. In addition Yu wanted to eliminate the Royal Lectures
(Kyongyon) because its posts were held as eoneurrencies by other officials -
including many high-ranking examination passers who used their position to
restrict the king's authority.20 King Sejong had had a similar experience when
he created a special agency to honor young scholars called the Book Reading
Hall (ToksOdang), but as time passed these posts declined in prestige. Yu felt
that instead of devoting their time to studies. these young officials spent time in
impractical activities, engaged in factionalism, and destroyed moral standards.^2 1
Since the office of Royal Lectures had replicated this sorry experience, it needed
to be discarded.
Yu also wanted to eliminate redundant and unnecessary units and agencies in
the military establishment as well. Part 2 of his essay covered his decision to
reorganize capital and royal defense under the Five Guard system of the early
Chason period, to eliminate the Supreme Headquarters (Toch'ongbu) because
it duplicated the work of the Ministry of War. He recommended also to elimi-
nate four of the Five Military Divisions created sincc the lmjin War save for the
Military Training Agency, and the royal messengers (Sonjon'gwan) established
in the Late Koryo period (called Songjon sosik at that time). In the last case
these tasks could be performed by officials close to the throne or taken over by
members of the Inner Forbidden Guards (Naegumwi).22
A number of other superfluous agencies also merited elimination. The "mis-
cellaneous posts" (Chapchik) had been created in great number without assign-
ing specific tasks and they were often referred to only as recipients of salaries
of the lowest rank post (9B). In thc districts, the keeper of horse (Kammokkwan)
in charge of horse grazing fields in the countryside could be replaced by the dis-
trict magistrate, and a surplus of recruiters (Kwon'gwan) established primarily
during Hideyoshi's invasions with underlings like special commanders
(Py6lchang) and Recruiting Officers (Pyolmojang) would be eliminated once