“Gyojeong Dogam” was an office which Choi Chung-heon installed inside the Yeong’eun-gwan hall in April of the 5th year of King Hijong, in order to solve the case in which a clerk at the Cheong’gyo station tried to kill Choi and his son. At this Gyojeo ...
“Gyojeong Dogam” was an office which Choi Chung-heon installed inside the Yeong’eun-gwan hall in April of the 5th year of King Hijong, in order to solve the case in which a clerk at the Cheong’gyo station tried to kill Choi and his son. At this Gyojeong Dogam office, the Director, which was called “Gyojeong Byeolgam,” and an assistant called “Gyojeong Su’hwek-weon” who was in charge of tax collection, were stationed to serve. They were officially appointed by the king and acknowledged by the state. The director seat was always held by the ranking military general in power at the time, so the Gyojeong Dogam office was much more powerful and authoritative than any other office inside the military regime. Meanwhile, a governmental official to be put in charge of paper works must have been included in the staff of this office as well.
Gyojeong Dogam was in charge of finding out political enemies of the state, or insubordinates who would easily turn into rebels, so it was also in charge of collecting information and monitoring potentially dangerous elements in and out of the government. But the office was also in charge of confiscating personal properties from convicted criminals and redistributing them to others. And because it was an official branch of the government, it was also entitled to officially order local authorities to implement administrative measures that the office felt necessary, or appoint someone to either central or local offices at the request of others who had lobbied the Gyojeong Dogam office to get what they wanted. Gyojeong Dogam was also notorious for collecting too much taxes from overly established resources, and sometimes even in a criminal fashion. The Gyojeong Dogam office became the center[政廳] of the Military regime, and wielded power more than it deserved.
Yet interestingly enough, it was never an office which was in direct control of the traditional governmental bodies, such as the Three states and Six ministries. The reason for saying so, that Gyojeong Dogam, although it was more than influential and powerful, was not in full control of the entire government, was because there were too many ways for the members of the military regime to wield and use their power. Their primary source of power were soldiers who were under their control, and not their governmental ranks and even their posts inside Gyojeong Dogam. The generals and military officers, even while being part of the military regime, had to hold a post as one of the ministers or high ranking members of the supreme council to elevate their political status and affect the government’s ruling of the country. Even with the presence of Gyojeong Dogam, the traditional decision-making process was still intact. Even other military bodies such as Jeongbang, Dobang and Seobang were independent from Gyojeong Dogam, and were not under its jurisdiction.
Gyojeong Dogam was an officially governmental office through which the Military regime oversaw dynastic governing, but was detached from the traditional Three states, Six ministries, and even other bodies devised and installed by generals such as Jeongbang, Dobang and Seobang. Gyojeong Dogam had no mean to regulate or restrict them. The Military regime, which seized power and took control of the government, did so with their troops, and established many governmental bodies, scattered throughout the government, to maintain and use their power.