Re-Examination of Park Mun-Su’s Secret Royal Inspector Activities

This study aims to reexamine Park Mun-su’s history of secret royal inspector activities and to determine what role Park Mun-su played as a royal inspector. All of Park Mun-su’s royal inspector activities pointed out in previous studies were confirmed, and through this, the actual history could be reexamined. Among the actual royal inspector histories, the royal inspector we know did not exist, and in a broad sense, he was dispatched to the provinces in the role of a royal inspector. This fact has been passed down through many royal inspector tales. In particular, many such tales can be found in Gyeongsang-do, as many royal inspectors were dispatched to the Gyeongsang-do region as royal inspectors. Park Mun-su also left a great impression on Hamgyeong-do. This is because the role he played in Hamgyeong-do for the starving people was not small. From the perspective of the people of the time, it did not matter whether he was a royal inspector or a general royal inspector. Park Mun-su, who was dispatched as a royal inspector, left a strong impression on the people of Gyeongsang-do and Hamgyeong-do. Through such memories, the local people were able to leave behind many tales. Park Mun-su’s activities and significance as a messenger of the king are still passed down to this day through folk tales as well as sufficient historical facts.