이인임 李仁任
Powerful minister who seized control of the government in late Goryeo
| Life | 약 1312 ~ 1388 |
| Era | 고려 |
| Clan | 성주 이씨 |
Life & career
Yi In-im (李仁任, 1312–1388) was a powerful official of the late Goryeo period during the reigns of Kings Gongmin and U, from the Seongju (Gwangpyeong) Yi clan. In 1359, as Pacification Commissioner of Seogyeong, he was ranked a first-class meritorious subject for repelling an invasion by the Red Turbans; in 1364 he drove back an incursion supporting Prince Deokheung as Inspector-General of the Northwestern Frontier, and in 1368 he served as Grand Commander of the Northwestern Frontier. In 1374 he rose to Vice Chancellor and was enfeoffed as Prince Gwangpyeong.
After King Gongmin was assassinated, he installed Gongmin's son as King U, seized power, and ruled as Chancellor-regent for about a decade, pursuing a pro-Yuan foreign policy. He suppressed the reformist Sinjin sadaebu faction and monopolized power, but in 1388, when his associates Im Gyeon-mi and Yeom Heung-bang were purged by Choe Yeong, he too fell from power; he was banished to Gyeongsanbu (present-day Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province), where he died.