Wrongful Deaths

Sun Joo Kim is the Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean History at Harvard University. Jungwon Kim is assistant professor of Korean history at Columbia University.

"[Wrongful Deaths] contributes significantly to our understanding of not only the inner workings of the criminal justice system but also the social, cultural, and economic contexts of the last century of the Chosōn dynasty (1392-1910). Thoughtfully compiled and translated by Sun Joo Kim and Jungwon Kim, the selected eight cases open a window onto familial and social relations and everyday struggles in nineteenth-century Korea. . . . [A] most welcome addition to the literature on the history of Chosōn Korea."

• Acknowledgments Translators’ Notes Map of Nineteenth-century Korea Introduction Choson Korea in Its Last Century Case 1 An Adulterous Widower Meets a Violent DeathYang Hang-nyon (P’yongyang, P’yongan Province, 1866) Case 2 A Family Activist Confronts a Local MagnateMs. Pak (Yongin, Kyonggi Province, Late Eighteenth Century) Case 3 A Defiant Slave Challenges His Master with DeathYi Pong-dol (Anui, Kyongsang Province, 1842) Case 4 Two Widows FightMadam Chang and Ms. Un (Yech’on, Kyongsang Province, 1842) Case 5 A Heartless Wet Nurse Abuses an InfantMun Chong-ji (Chunghwa, P’yongan Province, 1866)Case 6 A Widower Seeks Private SettlementMs. Chong (Yongch’on, Kyongsang Province, 1889) Case 7 Adultery Leads to MurderMs. Paek (Anak, Hwanghae Province, 1897) Case 8 An Illegal Burial Begets a Son but Kills a RelativeKim Kap-san (Hoeyang, Kangwŏn Province, 1899) Notes Glossary Bibliography Index