Secret inspectors punishing the corrupt and helping out the poor

The late Joseon period was rampant with corruption in local government. People had nowhere to turn if they had all their properties confiscated or were beaten by local officials. But there was one person ordinary people could count on and that was eosa (undercover inspector) Park Mun-su. He would show up, looking rather unimposing in tattered clothes. But when the time was right and he had gathered all the evidence against the corrupt officials, he would arrest the crooks and return the money and property to the poor.

An eosa, or undercover inspector, was a special job appointed by the king to secretly investigate the conduct of local government officials and how they treat local residents. It was by no means an easy job. In order to prevent anyone from finding out the identities and destinations of the secret inspectors, they left Hanyang (present day Seoul) immediately after appointment and walked 30 or 40 kilometers a day in rags to avoid detection.

It was also a dangerous job, because in desperation some crooked officials even poisoned the inspectors to prevent them from exposing their wrongdoings. The king chose only those with the highest moral integrity for the job. Among the many secret royal inspectors that worked over the four centuries after the system was first instituted in 1509, the most famous was Park Mun-su.

The most well-known undercover inspector

Park Mun-su was born in 1691 in the 17th year of King Sukjong’s reign. He started his government career in 1723 as a historical scribe. He was promoted a year later, but was soon laid off, the scapegoat of a political feud.

But Park was reinstated when King Yeongjo carried out a court-wide reform in 1727 to bring political sects under control. Having noticed Park’s integrity and sound political views, the king sent him to the Yeongnam area (Gyeongsang Province) as his secret inspector. Up until March of 1728 Park traveled all over the southeastern part of the country to investigate the wrongdoings of local officials and dismiss them if found guilty. He also returned the illegally seized assets to their rightful owners and appointed qualified and respected figures to fill the vacant posts. His righteous actions against the powerful made him a folk hero among the ordinary people.

Park was again dispatched in King Yeongjo’s seventh year to investigate the famine and ensuing unrest in the southern regions. He gave away his personal belongings and riches to the poor and reported the dire situation back to the king. When he was touring the Gyeongsang region in southeast, he saw lumber and homes floating in the sea and realized that a big flood had swept the northern region. He ordered that 3,000 seoks (480,000 kilograms) of grain be immediately shipped to Hamgyeong Province in the north to relieve post-flood famine.

In addition to his post as undercover inspector, Park served in many different government capacities, such as defense minister, justice minister, and Gyeongsang Province governor. Records show, however, that he served as secret inspector only four times – in 1727, 1731, 1741, and 1750. But what he did to remedy the hopeless situations of the poor and stand up to high-ranking government officials to correct social injustice gave rise to numerous legends and a classical fiction named “The Story of Eosa Park Mun-su.” Understandably, these folklores, which number about 210, paint a grander picture of Park as a secret inspector appearing all over the country and carrying out superhero-like deeds. But there is reason for Park’s undying fame as the most righteous official of Joseon even after his death in 1756. That’s because he showed what a public servant should be by unrelentingly standing up against the powerful and sincerely looking after the interests of the poor.