Collection of King Seon-jo's Secret Letters

The documents shown here include seven letters which King Seonjo (r. 1567-1608) secretly wrote to one of his closest ministers, Song Eon-sin (1542-1612). In one of the letters (24.2㎝ by 36.6㎝) the king asked Song to find and protect his three children who, like the king himself, were fleeing from the Japanese troops that had invaded and devastated their country. In another letter, the king wrote to inform Song of the awards he had bestowed upon him for his meritorious services to king and country.