He was born with the title of His Royal Highness Prince Yi Gong on 29 July 1790 (18 June 1790 in lunar calendar). Upon the death of his father, King Jeongjo, Yi Gong ascended to the throne at age 10 on 4 July 1800, lunar calendar.
In 1802, aged 13, King Sunjo married Lady Kim, known posthumously as Queen Sunwon, daughter of Kim Jo-sun, who was a leader of the Andong Kim clan.
Since he ascended the throne at a young age, Queen Dowager Jeongsun, the second queen of King Yeongjo, ruled as queen regent, which allowed her to wield power over state affairs. Queen Jeongsun's influence was to such extent that during Sunjo's reign, the status of Lady Hyegyŏng, the mother of Jeongjo and the grandmother of Sunjo, became a point of contention. During Jeonjo's reign, Lady Hyegyŏng was treated with respect and as the mother of King Jeongjo despite the fact that Lady Hyegyŏng was married to Crown Prince Sado who had been forced to commit suicide during the reign of Yeongjo, which had greatly affected Hyegyeong's status due to the controversy surrounding Sado's suicide. Following Sunjo's ascension, her status was lowered and despite Sunjo's efforts to reverse this later in his reign, they were unsuccessful.[2]
Despite King Sunjo's efforts to reform politics, the fundamental principles of government deteriorated. The state examination became disordered and corruption in the government personnel administration prevailed. This resulted in disorder in society and various riots broke out among the people, including the revolt by Hong Gyeong-nae in 1811–1812.[3] The Ogajaktongbeop (五家作統法), a census registration system to group five houses as one unit, was carried out in this period, and oppression against Catholicism began in earnest.[4]
Korean diplomatic ship 1811
In 1811 the last diplomatic envoys were sent by Korea to Japan. Based on records of that trip, a reconstruction of the diplomatic vessel has been made for the National Maritime Museum of Korea.
King Sunjo died after reigning for 35 years in 1834 at the age of 44. He was first buried next to Jangneung, Paju, the tomb of King Injo and Queen Inryeol but later moved to Illeung, Seoul as the Feng Shui at the old site was deemed to be unfavourable.[5]
# denotes that the king was deposed and never received a temple name.
^Those who were listed were not reigning monarchs but posthumously recognized; the year following means the year of recognition.
^Only the crown princes that didn't become the king were listed; the former year indicates when one officially became the heir and the latter one is that when one died/deposed. Those who ascended to the throne were excluded in the list for simplification.
^The title given to the biological father, who never reigned, of the kings who were adopted as the heir to a precedent king.
^The de jure monarch of Korea during the era was the Emperor of Japan, while the former Korean emperors were given nobility title "King Yi" instead.
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