Goryeo Civil Service Examinations and Administrative Adjustments

Timeline

1. 1229Choe Ui's Residence Jeongbang · GaesongEstablished in 1225, the jeongbang had by 1229 become the de facto center of Goryeo's personnel selection: civil appointments nominally still passed through the Ministry of Rites and military appointments through the Ministry of War, but in practice lists were drawn up by jeongbang officials such as the jeongsaek and jeongseok, with the king merely affixing his seal. Examination graduates seeking actual posts had to enter the residence to seek recommendations; the old practice of selling offices somewhat declined, replaced by talent-based selection led by military officials.
2. 1229Gaesong · GaesongIn 1229 Choe Ui newly established the night patrols (yabyeolcho), responsible for night patrols and apprehending thieves, standing alongside private forces such as the dobang and mabyeolcho, strengthening direct control over Gaesong's administration and security. This measure both restored order in the capital region and brought judicial and police powers into the military strongmen's private system, further hollowing out the traditional supervisory functions of the censors.
3. 1229Gaesong · GaesongChoe Ui continued a policy of employing both civil and military men, recruiting humble-born examination graduates into the jeongbang and seobang to compensate for the administrative shortcomings of military officials with clerical skills; in 1229 he also expanded the gyekgu field and gathered the dobang and mabyeolcho for martial arts banquets to display favor and authority. The examination system formally followed ancestral precedent, but its substantive function had shifted into a channel for the military regime to select vassal bureaucrats.