Song Yu-in (; ? – October 18, 1179) was a Goryeo military official who served the

Goryeo military regime The Goryeo military regime () refers to a period in Goryeo history when military generals wielded considerable power, overshadowing royal authority and disrupting Goryeo's system of civilian supremacy and severe discrimination against military ...

. The son-in-law of military ruler

Chŏng Chung-bu Chŏng Chung-bu (; 1106 – 18 October 1179) was a medieval Korean soldier and military dictator during the Goryeo period (918–1392). He was a career soldier, qualified on military part of civil service examination. He was most noted for lea ...

, he was killed when Kyŏng Tae-sŭng took control of the government from his father-in-law.

Biography

Song Yu-in was the son of a man who died defending Goryeo during the reign of King Injong. Due to his father's death on behalf of the nation, Song Yu-in was granted the rank of executive captain () via protected appointment. Song rose through the ranks to become a commander of the Household Bureau of the Crown Prince () then general of the guards (). He married the ex-wife of a

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

merchant. Despite being from the lowly ''

cheonmin ''Cheonmin'' (), or "vulgar commoners", were the lowest caste of commoners in dynastical Korea. They abounded during the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1897) periods of Korea's agrarian bureaucracy. Social class system In the caste s ...

'' class, Song's wife was wealthy. Song was able to use his wealthy wife's money to bribe the eunuchs and obtained a government post. By the 1170 military coup, Song had achieved the rank of grand general (). Due to Song's connections to the civilian officials, Song was disliked by the other military officials who despised the civilian officials for their treatment of the Goryeo military. After the 1170 Goryeo military coup, Song abandoned his wife and married the daughter of

, one of the ringleaders of the coup, in order to avoid persecution. Song would be appointed the military commissioner () of Sŏbungmyŏn (). However, when he was unable to deal with local revolts, he feigned illness and resigned from the role, and was replaced by General

U Hakyu U Hagyu (; ? – June 13, 1179) was a Goryeo military official who served the Goryeo monarchy and later the Goryeo military regime The Goryeo military regime () refers to a period in Goryeo history when military generals wielded considerable ...

. On January 23, 1175, Song Yu-in was appointed as vice commissioner of the Security Council () and the minister of war (). On January 30, Song was replaced as the minister of war by Chin Chun (), and Song was appointed as the minister of justice () instead. Song would later also be promoted to Assistant Executive in Political Affairs (), and by the request of his wife, the daughter of Chŏng Chung-bu, he was promoted to acting Master of Works () and Secretariat for State Affairs Vice Director (). In 1178, when Chŏng retired from his government offices, Song Yu-in was given the office of the Vice-Director of the Chancellery (). Song was also given permission from King Myeongjong to use Suchang Palace as Song's own residence. In 1179, he impeached Confucian scholar-officials Mun Kŭk-kyŏm and Han Mun-jun, demoting them from their positions at the Security Council. On October 18, Song and his father-in-law were killed by Kyŏng Tae-sŭng who opposed the rule of Chŏng and his family.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Yu-in Year of birth unknown 1179 deaths Goryeo generals 12th-century Korean people