If you look at the imperial history of Korea, you’ll notice that there are only a couple of queens who achieved the same kind of admiration and perhaps notorioty as the kings of Korean history.

Queen Seondeok (선덕여왕) was the first recorded reiging Queen in Korean history. She was the ruler over 신라 of the Three Kingdoms period. Queen Seondeok was actually favored to be the next in line to the throne by her father, King Jinpyeong (진평왕). Out of all the king’s children, the Queen was noted for her intelligence. Queen Seondeok’s reign was an uneasy period. She had to wage constant warfare to keep neighboring nations from entering her kingdom. Despite this, her reign is considered by historians to be productive, with many important monuments built, like the 첨성대 (astronomical observatory).

Queen Min also posthumously named Empress Myeongseong (명성황후), was the last queen in a line of kings to have an iconic role in Korean history. Queen Min’s personal life was tragic. She lost both her parents at age eight and lost two sons to illness. Her political life was also difficult. She was disliked by the nobles for her advocate of education and modernization. During her reign, girls of non noble lineage could go to school and through her, Korea had its first official newspaper in Korean. Her life ended when she was assassinated by the Japanese military in 1895.

Queen Inhyeon (인현왕후) is one of the best known queens in Korean history. Queen Inhyeon was exiled when her rival gave birth to a son. When Queen Inhyeon was reinstated as queen, she died thereafter. It turned out that her rival Lady Jang (희빈 장옥정) had a shaman priestess pray for her death. When King Sukjong (숙종왕) found out, he put Lady Jang to death by poison. In Korean dramas, Queen Inhyeon is always portrayed as a sympathetic figure. She is idealized as the long suffering and kind queen who died because of a greedy and evil rival.

Queen Jeheon (제헌왕후) was a jealous queen. She poisoned one of her rival concubines and struck her husband King Seongjong (성종왕) after an argument. When the king’s mother found out about this, she ordered the king to send her to exile. Thereafter, Queen Jeheon was ordered to be executed to death by poison. Queen Jeheon produced a son named Yeonsangun (연산군), who later became one of the worst kings in Korean history. At first, Yeonsangun didn’t know about the circumstances of his mother’s death. When he found out, he killed the king’s mother, and the government officials responsible for his mother’s death.