Sŭngjŏngwŏn (), or Royal Secretariat, was the royal administrative office during the Joseon dynasty responsible for receiving and delivering the king's orders. The office was also called Chŏngwŏn (), Huwŏn (), Ŭndae (), or Taeŏnsa (). According to the Kyŏngguk taejŏn (Complete Codes of Law), the Sŭngjŏngwŏn had six royal secretaries (), whose ranks were in the 3rd senior grade, as well as two recorders ().
The duties of the royal secretaries were primarily to deliver the monarch's orders to government organizations (under the Joseon administrative system the monarch never delivered his orders directly to any government office) and to report on official affairs of the state organizations to the throne. The six secretary system is explained by the fact that the government of Joseon was composed of six boards (or ministries).
The six secretaries served respectively the Boards of Personnel, War, Taxation, Rites, Works, and Punishment. However, the secretaries were not limited to liaison work between the six boards and the monarch; they also reported to the king the business of all government offices, primary among these being the State Council (Uijeongbu), the Office of Censor-General (Saganwon), and the Office of Inspector-General (Saheon-bu).Tai-jin Kim. 1976. A Bibliographic Guide to Traditional Korean Sources. Seoul: Asiatic Research Center, 301. As the name implies, the primary duty of the recorders was to make a record of all the official business handled by the secretaries. As the work of the secretaries had to be conducted at all hours, and it was required that they have ready access to the monarch at all times, the office of the Sŭngjŏngwŏn was established within easy reach of the king at court.
The records of the Sŭngjŏngwŏn were compiled into the Seungjeongwon ilgi (Diary of the Royal Secretariat), which remains a primary source for the study of the Joseon dynasty.
Structure The Royal Secretariat comprised: +RankPostQuotaNoteSenior 3rdChief Royal Secretary1Left Royal SecretaryRight Royal SecretaryLeft Assistant Royal SecretaryRight Assistant Royal SecretarySixth Royal SecretarySenior 7thRecorder2N/Alower clerk28
See also Seungjeongwon ilgi History of Korea Joseon Dynasty politics
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