In the late nineteenth century, the Chosŏn government under King Kojong pursued military strengthening in response to growing threats from Western powers. Existing scholarship has often interpreted these efforts as evidence of a fundamental transformation of the military system. However, the regime simultaneously relied on military exile (ch’unggun 充軍), a premodern punitive practice that required offenders to perform compulsory military service. This apparent contradiction raises important questions about the nature of military reform and the role of punishment in late Chosŏn society.
Presented by the Centre for Korean Research, this lecture examines military exile during King Kojong’s reign (1863–1894), highlighting its distinctive features and its comparability to European penal military units. Through an analysis of its historical origins, legal foundations, and modes of enforcement, it argues that Chosŏn policymakers continued to hold a devalued view of the military. This perspective reflected long-standing elite attitudes toward military service that persisted despite official reform agendas aimed at strengthening military capacity and elevating the status of military officials. The resulting tension between formal state policy and elite practice, this lecture contends, contributed to the incomplete and uneven character of military reform in late nineteenth-century Chosŏn.
About the Speaker:
Jinsung Kim is a Sessional Lecturer in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. He earned his Ph.D. in Asian Studies at UBC in 2025. His research examines Korea’s military reform and its complex interactions with China, Japan, Russia, and the United States in the late 19th century. Before pursuing his doctorate, he completed an M.A. in History at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, where he specialized in Sino-Korean relations between 1882 and 1884.
This talk is presented by the Centre for Korean Research (CKR).
