Three-time Chief State Councillor under King Seonjo; honored official of integrity and chief scholar
| Life | 1504 ~ 1585 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 남양 홍씨 |
Hong Seom (洪暹, 1504–1585) was a mid-Joseon civil official whose courtesy name was Toeji, pen name Injae and posthumous title Gyeongheon. He belonged to the Tohong line of the Namyang Hong, was the son of Chief State Councillor Hong Eon-pil and a disciple of Jo Gwang-jo. His maternal grandfather Song Jil had also been Chief State Councillor.
He passed the licentiate examination in 1528 and the civil examination in 1531. In 1535, as an official of the Ministry of Personnel, he impeached the powerful Kim An-ro and was exiled to Heungyang on a false charge by Kim's ally Heo Hang; there he wrote the gasa poem "Wonbunga" lamenting his wrongful treatment. Freed after Kim's fall, he served as deputy head of the Office of Special Advisors, governor of Gyeonggi and Inspector-General.
He was selected as an official of exemplary integrity in 1552. Offered the post of chief scholar while already holding two high offices, he declined one of them rather than hold three great posts at once. He resigned in 1560 after impeaching the powerful Yi Ryang, later returned as chief scholar, and in 1567 helped run the government as a senior regent-minister when King Seonjo came to the throne.
He became Right State Councillor in 1568 and Left State Councillor in 1571, and served three terms as Chief State Councillor in 1574, 1575 and 1578. After his death in 1585 he was enshrined at Angoksa in Namyang, and in 1591 he was posthumously named a merit subject. He left the Injaejip and Injae Japnok. His daughter married Prince Hawon, son of Grand Prince Deokheung.
He and his father are remembered as father and son who both became Chief State Councillor, the two state councillors the Tohong line produced in the Joseon period. His spirit-path stele inscription was written by Kim Gwi-yeong and is preserved in the Dongwonjip. His son Hong Gi-yeong married a daughter of Sim Su-gyeong.