Political Turmoil in Goryeo

Timeline

1. 1330–1331Gaeseong · Korean PeninsulaChungjeong enraged the Yuan court and Goryeo's powerful families by killing close attendants and abusing a Yuan princess; he was deposed in 1330 and Chungseong again took the throne. This showed the Yuan court's decisive influence over the Goryeo succession and exposed widespread court dissatisfaction with the tyrant's rule.
2. 1332Gaeseong · Korean PeninsulaChungjeong's faction counterattacked and briefly forced Chungseong to yield the throne, but the political situation quickly shifted again. Frequent changes of royal power weakened central authority, and local powerful clans and temple forces took the opportunity to expand their influence.
3. 1333–1335Gaeseong · Korean PeninsulaGreat families linked by Mongol-Yuan marriage ties and Buddhist temple groups vied for power in Goryeo politics. Figures such as Sin Ton, both monk and layman, at times approached the core of power; court personnel changed frequently, policies lacked continuity, and problems of livelihood and taxation grew intractable.
4. 1335–1339Goryeo capital region · Korean PeninsulaRepeated coups threw conscription, relief, and border defense coordination into disorder, increasing peasant flight and banditry. Court struggles intertwined with Yuan intervention, and Goryeo entered a politically fragile period on the eve of the late-Yuan crisis.