Study on Empress Myeongseong’s Intervention in State Affairs and the Methods of Her Exercise of Power

As a result of classifying 146 Korean letters written by Empress Myeongseong, the contents regarding Empress’ involvement in personnel issues and overall state affairs, letters concerning international issues while understanding trends of Qing, and letters that attempted to eavesdrop on the Daewongun’s trends and news account for 63% of the total letters. As for characteristics, first, the Empress’s letters were mainly written from immediately after the Im-O Military Revolt in 1882 to the period when the Donghak Peasant Revolution broke out in 1894. Second, the Empress indiscriminately intervened in personnel issues including major central government posts, local government posts. The Empress received requests combined with money through Min Yeong-so and people around him, and then consulted with Emperor Gojong to decide and inform the positions and approvals of such posts. The Empress’s way of exercising her power was limited and could only be done with Emperor Gojong’s consent, permission, and implicit agreement. Third, the empress was very sensitive to political issues enough to receive the petitions submitted to the court on the same day. Fourth, the empress maintained conflicting relationship with Daewongun amid tensions over power. Fifth, Empress Myeongseong also quickly understood and responded to the international situation surrounding Joseon. She observed the movements of people such as Yuan Shikai, Li Hongzhang, Ma Jianzhong, and Wang Shichang, and tried to analyze immediate political situations by keeping track of major events in the Qing Dynasty. Sixth, the empress provided the information and data she had earned to her family, the Min clan so that they could use them as guidelines for their actions, while she was very anxious to stabilize the Gojong regime.