Crown Princess Minhoe

Crown Princess Minhoe of the Geumcheon Kang clan (18 April 1611 – 30 April 1646 ), also known as Crown Princess Consort Sohyeon, was the wife of Crown Prince Sohyeon, the son of King Injo of Joseon and Queen Inyeol of the Cheongju Han clan.

Early life and marriage
Lady Kang was born into the Geumcheon Kang clan to high-ranking state official, Kang Seok-gi, and his wife, Lady Shin of the Goryeong Shin clan as their second daughter and sixth child on 18 April 1611.

Through her maternal grandmother, Lady Kang was the great-great-great-granddaughter of Princess Myeongsuk, who was the only daughter of Queen Sohye and King Deokjong, and was also a 6th great-granddaughter of Grand Prince Imyeong, who was the son of Queen Soheon and King Sejong.

Through her maternal grandfather, she was a 5th great-granddaughter of Shin Suk-ju.

In 1627, Lady Kang, aged 16, was chosen by the court as a consort to the Crown Prince Sohyeon, the son of King Injo and Queen Inryeol.

Palace conflict and death
On 16 January 1636, the crown princess's mother-in-law died in Changgyeong Palace as she suffered from postpartum illness.

In December 1636, when the Qing invasions happened, the crown princess spent 8 years as a hostage in the Qing Dynasty with Crown Prince Sohyeon. During her time there, she birthed 3 daughters and 2 sons.

After she returned to Korea in 1644, she and her husband suffered from Injo's cold treatment. Her step mother-in-law, Queen Jangryeol, had also been receiving the same treatment due to Royal Consort Gwi-in Jo who succeeded in having her father-in-law hating the young Queen, and thus moved palaces.

The crown prince and princess were being treated as such because King Injo and his close administrators condemned Sohyeon's conduct as pro-Qing, and even though Prince Sohyeon returned to Korea in 1645, his father King Injo persecuted him for attempting to modernize Korea by bringing in Catholicism and Western science.

Prince Sohyeon died suddenly not long after his return to Korea in 1645; he was found dead in the King's room, mysteriously bleeding severely from the head. Legends say that Injo killed his own son with an ink slab that the Crown Prince brought from China; however, some historians suggest he was poisoned by the fact that he had black spots all over his body after his death and that his body decomposed rapidly. Many, including Crown Princess Kang, tried to uncover what happened to the Crown Prince, but Injo ordered immediate burial and reduced the grandeur of the practice of Crown Prince's funeral. Prince Sohyeon's tomb is located in Goyang, Gyeonggi province, but King Injo never visited his son's tomb.

Afterwards, King Injo appointed Grand Prince Bongrim as the new Crown Prince (who later became King Hyojong) rather than Prince Sohyeon's oldest son, Prince Gyeongseon.

Gwi-in Jo, who was antagonistic toward the former crown princess, started to spread rumors that she was planning to poison the king. Without checking the authenticity of the rumor, the king ordered her death by poisoning as treason.

Aftermath
Her misfortune, however, did not end there; her elderly mother and four brothers were executed by beating while her three young sons were banished to Jeju Island with two of them dying. Royal Consort Gwi-in of the Okcheon Jo clan was also the cause of Crown Princess Kang's husband's death. She was later given another name, Crown Princess Minhoe, whose Chinese characters mean “grudge and remorse.”

Her youngest son, Prince Gyeongan, returned to the mainland alive and lived to the age of 21. Out of her five daughters, Princess Gyeongsun, her youngest daughter, lived to the age of 54.

Titles

 * 8 April 1611 – 1627: Lady Kang, daughter of Kang Seok-gi of the Geumcheon Kang clan
 * 1627–1645: Her Highness, Crown Princess Consort Kang of Joseon
 * Posthumous Title: Crown Princess Minhoe of Joseon

Family

 * Father
 * Kang Seok-gi (23 March 1580 – 28 July 1643)
 * Mother
 * Shin Ye-ok, Lady Shin of the Goryeong Shin clan (1581–1647)
 * Siblings
 * Older brother - Kang Mun-seong (1602–1646)
 * Older brother - Kang Mun-myeong (1604–1646)
 * Older brother - Kang Mun-du (1606–1646)
 * Older brother - Kang Mun-byeok (1608–1646)
 * Older sister - Lady Kang of the Geumcheon Kang clan (1609–?)
 * Younger brother - Kang Mun-jeong (1613–1646)
 * Younger sister - Lady Kang of the Geumcheon Kang clan (1615–?)
 * Husband
 * Crown Prince Sohyeon (5 February 1612 – 21 May 1645)
 * Father-in-law - Injo of Joseon (7 December 1595 – 17 June 1649)
 * Mother-in-law - Queen Inryeol of the Cheongju Han clan (16 August 1594 – 16 January 1636)
 * Mother-in-law - Queen Jangryeol of the Yangju Jo clan (16 December 1624 – 20 September 1688)
 * Children
 * Unnamed princess (1629–1631); died young
 * Unnamed princess (1631–1640); died young
 * Son - Yi Baek, Prince Gyeongseon , or Prince Royal Yi Seok-cheol (1636–1648)
 * Daughter - Princess Gyeongsuk (1637–1655)
 * Son - Yi Seok-rin, Prince Gyeongwan (1640–1648)
 * Daughter - Princess Gyeongnyeong (1642–1682)
 * Daughter - Yi Jeong-on, Princess Gyeongsun (1643–1697)
 * Son - Yi Seok-gyeon or Yi Hoe, Prince Gyeongan (5 October 1644 – 22 October 1665)
 * Unnamed son (1645–1645)

In popular culture

 * Portrayed by Lee Min-hee in the 1981 KBS1 TV Series Daemyeong.
 * Portrayed by Kim Ye-ryung in the 2005 EBS TV Series Yeoksa-geukjang.
 * Portrayed by Lee Sun-young in the 2007 KBS1 TV Series The Story of Korean History.
 * Portrayed by Yang So-min in the 2008 KBS2 TV Series Strongest Chil Woo.
 * Portrayed by Kim Ha-yoon in the 2010 KBS2 TV Series The Slave Hunters.
 * Portrayed by Kyung Soo-jin in the 2012 MBC TV Series The King's Doctor.
 * Portrayed by Song Seon-mi in the 2013 JTBC TV series Blooded Palace: The War of Flowers
 * Portrayed by Seo Hyun-jin in the 2014 tvN TV Series The Three Musketeers.
 * Portrayed by Kim Hee-jung in the 2015 MBC TV Series Splendid Politics.
 * Portrayed by Jo Yoon Seo in the 2022 movie The Night Owl.
 * Portrayed by Jeon Hye-won in the 2023 MBC TV Series My Dearest.