Jeongjo of Joseon

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Jeongjo of Joseon

<tr><td align="right" style="border-top:1px solid"> Hangul:</td><td width="135" style="border-top:1px solid">정조</td></tr> <tr><td align="right" style="border-top: 1px solid">Hanja:</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid">正祖</td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="border-top: 1px solid">Revised Romanization:</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid">Jeongjo</td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="border-top: 1px solid">McCune-Reischauer:</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid">Chŏngjo</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" align="center" style="border-top:1px solid;background:#ccf">Birth name</td></tr> <tr><td align="right" style="border-top:1px solid"> Hangul:</td><td width="135" style="border-top:1px solid">이산</td></tr> <tr><td align="right" style="border-top: 1px solid">Hanja:</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid">李祘</td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="border-top: 1px solid">Revised Romanization:</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid">I San</td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="border-top: 1px solid">McCune-Reischauer:</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid">I San</td></tr>

King Jeongjo of Joseon (r. 1776-1800) was the 22nd monarch of the Joseon Dynasty dynasty of Korea.

He was preceded by King Yeongjo (1724–1776) and was succeeded by Emperor Sunjo (1800–1834).

He was the son of Crown Prince Sado, who was put to death by his own father, King Yeongjo. His mother, Lady Hyegyǒng wrote an autobiography, The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyǒng detailing her life as the ill-fated Crown Princess of Korea. This collection of memoirs serve as invaluable historical information on the political happenings during the reigns of King Yeongjo, King Jeongjo and Emperor Sunjo.

Image:Hwaseong2.jpg He made various reforms throughout his reign, notably establishing 'Gyujang-gak' (규장각), an imperial library. However, its purpose was to improve the cultural and political stance of Joseon and to recruit gifted officers to run the nation. Also, it was created to lessen the grip of various wealthy aristrocrats and relatives of the queen, which has occurred various times throughout Korea's history.

Through his various reformations, King Jeongjo also met Hong Guk Yeong, a controversial politician in Korea's history, who first toiled to improve the king's power, but ended up trying to assassinate the monarch.

Because of his various attempts in reforming and improving the nation, King Jeongjo is regarded and the reformation despot (개혁군주) in Korea.

He built Hwaseong Fortress in the Korean city of Suwon to guard Prince Sado's tomb.