The Korean Queen Min (1851-1895), whose Korean title was Myngsng Hwanghu, was the strong-willed consort of King Kojong and manipulated court politics in the last turbulent decades of the Yi period.

Queen Min the daughter of Min Ch'irok, a government official. Her parents passed away when she was 9, leaving her a poor orphan who had to live with the Mins of Yju, the place of her birth. She was made the royal consort in 1866 at the urging of Lady Min, consort of Hungsn Taewngun and mother of King Kojong. A court lady named Yi, however, was then enjoying the royal affection and gave birth to Prince Wanhwa.

Queen Min's resentment and hatred was soon directed mostly at Taewongun, who exercised governmental powers as the regent and appeared overjoyed at the birth of the prince. Queen Min's jealousy was intensified when her own child, Wnja, died only 5 days after...