※ This video is part of <Documentary Prime - The Path to Survival of 5,000 Years of Korean History Part 4: The Byeongja Horan, Neutral Diplomacy in a Corner> broadcast on February 5, 2018. Is neutral diplomacy possible for a weak country? King Injo, known as a pro-Ming and anti-Jin monarch, was actually a monarch of neutral diplomacy. The last of a country that cannot see reality due to justification and prejudice. Is neutral diplomacy really possible for a weak country? Through the humiliating history of the Byeongja Horan, we can see how vain neutral diplomacy is without independent power. The 17th century can be summarized as the decline of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of the Later Jin (Qing) established by the Manchus. Injo, who took the throne after dethroning Gwanghaegun in a rebellion in 1623, aimed to completely negate Gwanghaegun's existing policies, especially in terms of diplomacy. He declared a policy of respecting Ming and anti-Jin, which was the complete opposite of Gwanghaegun's neutral diplomacy. And it is common sense in history that this kind of hard-line diplomacy eventually led to the Byeongjahoran. However, if we look specifically at the foreign policy of the Injo regime, Joseon never implemented hard-line diplomacy toward the Later Jin. First of all, Injo himself had no intention of actively confronting the Later Jin. This was because, in a situation where he did not have proper military power or capabilities, if he had even engaged in a military conflict with the Later Jin, a rising military power, he could have lost the regime he had so hard won. The anti-Jin policy was just a slogan, and his actual foreign policy was closer to the neutral diplomacy of Gwanghaegun. Neutral diplomacy is possible in peacetime, but when the confrontation between the two great powers reaches its climax, it is inevitable in history that a moment of choice will come. Joseon chose war, defining the collapsing Ming as a civilized country and the growing Later Jin as a barbaric country. However, after the Imjin War, Joseon and Injo lacked any military power to fight a war or the will to defend their country. In the end, the result ended with the shameful history of the humiliation of Samjeondo. All strategies of a weak country caught between great powers should not begin with a vague hope for neutrality, but under the premise of 'clever diplomacy' and 'strong self-defense capabilities'; this is a painful lesson that the history of the Byeongja Horan teaches future generations. ✔ Program name: Documentary Prime - The Path to Survival in 5,000 Years of Korean History Part 4: The Byeongja Horan, Neutral Diplomacy Driven into a Corner ✔ Broadcast date: February 5, 2018 #GolladyeonDocumentary #DocuPrime #History #KoreanHistory #InjoBanjeong #Gwanghaegun #Byeongja Horan #TheHumiliationofSamjeondo #NeutralDiplomacy