Jangjin

Jangjin lay deep in the mountains of northern Korea, where distance from Hamheung complicated civil government. A memorial submitted in the seventh lunar month of 1787 described nearly three thousand households spread across more than four hundred li; over half had migrated from elsewhere. A military commander was already handling civil affairs, but without the clerks and legal machinery of a regular magistracy. Murder investigations exposed the difficulty: bringing the Hamheung official to examine a body involved a journey of five or six days, and summer decay could undermine the evidence. The proposal to establish a civil district also stressed the mountain routes leading northwest and the need to control them. Officials worried that new taxes and compulsory labour might drive settlers away. Advocates therefore urged light demands and a capable magistrate, using existing military buildings and local timber for the necessary offices. King Jeongjo approved the proposal and ordered detailed arrangements, bringing frontier administration into closer reach of these scattered households.