Gojong (Korean: 고종; Hanja: 高宗; 8 September 1852 – 21 January 1919), personal name Yi Myeongbok (이명복; 李命福), later Yi Hui (이희; 李㷩), also known as the Gwangmu Emperor (광무제; 光武帝), was the penultimate Korean monarch. He ruled Korea for 43 years, from 1864 to 1907, first as the last king of Joseon, and then as the first emperor of the Korean Empire from 1897 until his forced abdication in 1907. His wife, Queen Min (posthumously honored as Empress Myeongseong), played an active role in politics until her assassination carried out by the Japanese.
Gojong oversaw the bulk of the Korean monarchy's final years. He was born into the ruling House of Yi, and was first crowned on 13 December 1863 at the age of twelve. His biological father, Grand Internal Prince Heungseon (widely known as Heungseon Daewongun), acted as regent until he reached the age of majority, although he continued holding power until 1874. At this time, Korea was under policies of strict isolationism. By contrast, Japan had been rapidly modernizing under the Meiji Restoration. In 1876, Japan forcefully opened Korea and began a decades-long process of moving the peninsula into its own sphere of influence. For the following few decades, Korea was highly unstable, and subjected to a number of foreign encroachments. Incidents such as the 1882 Imo Incident, the 1884 Kapsin Coup, the 1894–1895 Donghak Peasant Rebellion, and the 1895 assassination of Gojong's wife occurred during his reign. All of these incidents were related to or involved foreign powers.
