Yi Jun-min

Yi Jun-min (12th of June, 1732 - 14th of December, 1821) was a Buyeoin politician and soldier who served as the first Chancellor of the Commonwealth from 1783 to 1789 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the Commonwealth. He served as Supreme Commander of the Commonwealth Army during the Buyeoin Revolutionary War, and later presided over the 1782 convention that drafted the Commonwealth Constitution. He is popularly considered the driving force behind the nation's establishment and came to be known as the "father of the country," both during his lifetime and to this day.

Yi Jun-min was widely admired for his strong leadership qualities and was unanimously elected Chancellor by the National Assembly for six years. He oversaw the creation of a strong, well-financed national government that established a strong defence in the borders, suppressed the Soju Rebellion, and won acceptance among Buyeoins of all types. Yi Jun-min's incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the cabinet system and the inaugural address. His retirement from office after three terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Yi Seung-ryong won an unprecedented fourth term. The 22nd Amendment (1943) now limits the chancellor to three elected terms.

He was born in Colonial Taegun to a prominent merchant family who controlled trade on the Yehan River. In his youth, he became a senior officer in the colonial militia during various colonial and native conflicts in the mid 18th century. In 1775, the First Provisional Assembly commissioned him as Supreme Commander of the Commonwealth Army in the Buyeo Revolution. In that command, Yi Jun-min forced the Jeongmians out of Ganghae in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost Asadal.

After crossing the Gungnae River in the middle of winter, he defeated the Jeongmians in two battles (Cheongu and Donghwa), retook Habaek, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause. His strategy enabled Commonwealth forces to capture two major Jeongmian armies at Chohan in 1777 and Daum in 1779. Historians laud Yi Jun-min for the selection and supervision of his generals; preservation and command of the army; coordination with the Assembly, state governors, and their militia; and attention to supplies, logistics, and training. In battle, however, Yi Jun-min was repeatedly outmaneuvered by Jeongmian generals with larger armies.

After victory had been finalized in 1780, Yi Jun-min resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to Buyeoin republicanism. Yi Jun-min presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1782, which devised a new form of federal government for the Commonwealth. Following his election as Chancellor in 1783, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation. He supported Baek Ki-nam's programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Imperial Jeongmi, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Asadal Treaty in 1786, despite intense opposition from the Nationalist Party. He remained non-partisan, never joining the Republican Party, although he largely supported its policies. Jun-min's Farewell Address was an influential primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. He retired from the politics in 1789, returning to his home in Giju.

Upon his death, Yi Jun-min was eulogized as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" by Representative Jun Chong-ho of Taegun. He was revered in life and in death; scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three chancellors in Buyeoin history. He has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day.