Gojong (Gojong) was born on September 8, 1852 in Seoul and died there on January 21, 1919. He was the last king (1864) and first emperor (1897–1907) of Korea. Gojong was a member of the Joseon I (Yi) dynasty. He was born in 1864 as Prince I Hyeong, the third-born son of the Regent of Korea and Princess Min, under the name I Hyeong. As he was descended from a side branch of the Korean royal house, he was chosen as the future king of Korea due to the extinction of the main branch of the I Dynasty in the male line. The elderly Queen Cho of Korea, known as Mjongbok, immediately adopted him and smoothly inherited the throne on January 16, 1864. It was then that he assumed the name of the ruler of Gojong. Since he was only twelve years old, regents ruled on his behalf as a minor. When Gojong ascended the throne, Korea was still under Chinese rule. China and Japan both wanted to extend their own influence over the kingdom. In 1894, a war broke out between China and Japan, in which China lost in 1895. Gojong crowned himself emperor in 1897 and established the Korean Empire. During his reign, he launched modernization efforts, but due to the influence of foreign powers and internal political tensions, he was unable to fully implement these reforms. he suffered permanent damage and became infertile as a result, which was a great blow to the dynasty, since only legitimate descendants could inherit the throne. In 1905, Japan emerged victorious from the Japanese-Russian war, and as a result, Korea was left alone in the face of Japanese annexation efforts, so it became a Japanese protectorate in 1905. In 1907, at the Second Hague Peace Conference that was being held at the time, Gojong tried to ask for help through secret delegates from the from the western powers, but the matter was discovered, so the Japanese abdicated him on July 20, 1907 in favor of his son Sunjong. The emperor retired completely from public life, but he had to see his son's abdication, the incorporation of Korea into the Japanese Empire, the outbreak of the First World War, the Japanese victory. He died on January 21, 1919 in Seoul. He left only four children, 3 boys and one girl out of 13, as many of his children died in infancy. Even in 1912, at the age of 60, she had a child, a little girl, who later married a Japanese professor. The emperor's funeral, held on March 1, 1919, led to a demonstration of hundreds of thousands against Japanese rule, and it turned into such a large uprising that it took the Japanese two months to quell it in blood. He is also posthumously remembered as Kojong. The current head of the House of I, I Un, is the great-grandson of Emperor Gojong. Gojong's life and reign were decisive in Korean history in many ways, and his memory lives on to this day.

Gojong, also known as King and Emperor Myongbok I, was the last ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, who ruled Korea from 1864 to 1907. During his minting, changes took place in the financial system. In the mid-19th century, at the beginning of Gojong's reign, the traditional Korean monetary system still relied on bronze and copper coins and copper coins. However, in the 1870s, Gojong faced external pressure, especially from the Japanese and other foreign powers. As a result, he introduced modernization and reform measures, including the transformation of the monetary system. In 1882, Korea's own mint was established, and in addition to traditional copper coins, modern gold and silver coins were also introduced. During Gojong's reign, the modernization of the monetary system was part of the economic reforms aimed at curbing foreign influence and strengthening economic independence. However, external pressures continued to mount, and in 1905 Korea became a protectorate of Japan. Subsequently, Korea formally joined Japan in 1907 and Gojong abdicated.