Kim Yak-sŏn (; ) was a Goryeo official. The son-in-law of

Ch'oe U Ch'oe U (; 1166 – 10 December 1249), also known as Ch'oe I (), was a military ruler and official during the later Goryeo period, serving in various positions such as Assistant Executive in Political Affairs, the minister of personnel and war, ...

, he was the military ruler's

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

until his death.

Biography

Kim Yak-sŏn was the first-born son of Vice-Director of the Chancellery Kim T'ae-sŏ, hailing from the Jeonju Kim clan. Kim would marry Lady Ch'oe, the daughter of

, due to Kim's prestigious background as a descendant of the Gyeongju Kim monarchs who ruled

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

. In 1219, When Ch'oe U's father, Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn, was near death, Ch'oe U entrusted his son-in-law, Kim, to attend to Ch'oe's father as Ch'oe sought to protect his succession. In 1235, Kim Yak-sŏn's daughter, the future

Queen Jeongsun Queen Jeongsun (; 2 December 1745 – 11 February 1805), of the Gyeongju Kim clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and second queen consort of Yi Geum, King Yeongjo, the 21st Joseon monarch. She was queen consort of Joseon from 1759 ...

, became the consort of then crown prince Wang Chŏng, the future King Wonjong. As the father-in-law of the future king, Kim was appointed as vice commissioner of the Security Council (). As Kim Yak-sŏn's father-in-law, Ch'oe U, had no legitimate-born sons but only daughters, Kim was the heir to Ch'oe U as the

military leader of Goryeo The Goryeo military regime () refers to a period in Goryeo history when military generals wielded considerable power, overshadowing royal authority and disrupting Goryeo's system of civilian supremacy and severe discrimination against military ...

. However, Kim's wife, the daughter of Ch'oe U, committed adultery with a male servant. When Kim Yak-sŏn discovered his wife's affair, to cover up the incident she made a false accusation against her husband. Kim was put to death due to his wife's false accusation. The exact nature of the accusation has not been recorded in history, however it is thought that it must have been equivalent to treason for Ch'oe U to sentence his own heir apparent to death. The truth was later discovered and Kim was given the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

of Changik.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Yak-sŏn Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 13th-century Korean people Heirs apparent who never acceded Executed Korean people Jeonju Kim clan