Yes, it seems a sham, or maybe just
a nice thing to do for an old lady - a ceremony of appreciation, as it were. However, the rules of succession in Korea are not hard and fast. Sometimes the choice of successor has been obvious, and sometimes it's been obvious that the next person in line by the rules should not be monarch, in which case a more appropriate person has been picked. In Kojong's case, there were some factions who could not agree, so this unknown country kid was tapped to be king. I'm unclear, therefore, following the rules, who would properly have a claim on any lands, and there is the question Christopher brings up of illegitimate offspring. To a degree, legitimacy is a western concept that's tough to apply here, but one can go by rank of the wives, concubines, and assorted bits on the side. My wife's grandfathers both had multiple partners of various sorts, and the lines of inheritance go in order of precedence - the first married, second, and so on - with the non-official partners or brief flings getting virtually no standing (although those offspring still engage in wishful thinking). In short, I think Yi Seok is so far out of it that he should give up and stick to his "revive the monarchy" campaign, to which I can see some merit, frankly. But he should be willing to allow the selected crown prince to have that role.
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