Kim Chongsŏ
Joseon dynasty general and politician (1383 - 1453)
Kim Chongsŏ (Korean: 김종서; Hanja: 金宗瑞; 1383 – 10 November 1453) was a prominent military official and politician of the early Joseon dynasty. His ancestral home was Suncheon. He was also known under the names Kukkyŏng and Chŏlchae, and his posthumous name was Ch'ungik. In 1405, he passed the state examination and became a rank 13 official. He served King Sejong the Great as a general during the campaign against the Jurchens. In 1453, he was assassinated on the order of Grand Prince Suyang along with his two sons, due to his attempts to stop the prince from seizing the throne from his young nephew, King Danjong.
Biography
Early life
Kim Chongsŏ was born in 1383 in Gongju, Yanggwang Province as the second son of Kim Su of the Suncheon Kim clan, and Lady Pae of the Seongju Pae clan. He was the third child; having two sisters and two brothers. Kim and his brothers achieved successful political careers: his older brother, Kim Chonghan was a high-ranking official, and his younger brother, Kim Chonghŭng was the magistrate of Yangju.
Career
He passed the state examination in 1405 and in 1411 he was posted as a royal inspector to Gangwon Province.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Kim Chongsŏ” as joseon dynasty general and politician (1383 - 1453). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as joseon dynasty general and politician (1383 - 1453). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6408970. VIAF identifies the subject as 315536619. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1383, 1453, 1405 and 1411.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Kim Chongsŏ”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Kim Chongsŏ primary sources, Kim Chongsŏ archive and Chongsŏ research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kim Chongsŏ”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Kim Chongsŏ” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.