Late-Goryeo general who rose to Chancellor (Munha Sijung); shared power with Yi In-im and was removed by Choe Yeong and Yi Seong-gye in 1388
| Life | 1388 |
| Era | 고려 말 |
| Clan | 평택 임씨 |
Im Gyeon-mi (d. 1388) was a late-Goryeo military official of the Pyeongtaek Im clan, son of Im Eon-su, Prince Pyeongseong. Accounts note that his father received the princely title only after Gyeon-mi became chancellor, so the line was not a great hereditary house from the start. Early in King Gongmin's reign he joined the royal guard and was made a jungrangjang.
When the Red Turbans invaded in 1361-62 he escorted the king as Naju military commissioner and became a first-class merit subject, rising to daehogun the following year. He served in many posts, as northern inspector in 1368, deputy commander with Yi Seong-gye in the 1370 campaign against Dongnyeongbu, and northwestern military commissioner in 1374, and took part in suppressing the Jeju Mongol revolt and Japanese pirates.
After removing the faction of Gyeong Bok-heung with Yi In-im in 1380, he became chancellor and Prince Pyeongwon in 1381. Until 1388, however, he was criticized for selling offices and seizing land with Yi In-im and Yeom Heung-bang, and that year he was removed by Choe Yeong and Yi Seong-gye. The Goryeosa portrays him as a treacherous minister, a view that should be read with the early-Joseon compilers' perspective in mind.
Im Gyeon-mi is described as a commander entrusted with the army through the years of frequent foreign invasion from King Gongmin to the early reign of King U. In the 1370 campaign against Dongnyeongbu he fought as deputy commander alongside Yi Seong-gye, and in 1375 he marched out as supreme commander at Seogyeong to meet the movements of Tegüs-buqa, Prince of Shenyang.
In the 1380s he stood at the center of politics with Yi In-im. The Goryeosa says he monopolized appointments and land, but this was written after Choe Yeong and Yi Seong-gye removed him and so reflects the victors' view. In the drama Six Flying Dragons he appears in fictionalized form as Gil Tae-mi.
His father Im Eon-su, Prince Pyeongseong, is the founding ancestor of the Chungjeonggong line, and brothers such as Im Seong-mi and Im Je-mi are recorded. His son Im Chi was favored by King U; see the entry for Im Chi.
The location of his grave was not confirmed here.
His son was Im Chi, and a daughter married Ban Bok-hae.