P'odoch'ŏng
P'odoch'ŏng and Gyeonggi Province. Its role was remarkably analogous to the modern police.
Establishment
In 1469, King Seongjong of Joseon appointed Park Joong-sun as a P'odojujang, "Officers in charge of the seizure of criminals", by King Seongjong to arrest the thieves that had been appearing in various regions at the time. Pododaejangs, in the beginning, were officers with temporary duties and authorities sent from the capital to quell thievery and such. However, in the fifth year of King Seongjong's reign, Yi Yang-saeng abused the power of his position, Podojang, to mobilize troops for his personal use, causing the office to be abolished, but it was reestablished on March in the same year.P'odoch'ŏng seems to have been slowly solidifying its status as a permanent government body during the reign of King Seongjong, and completed the process after the ascension of King Joongjong. In 1481, King Seongjong divided P'odoch'ŏng into left and right sectors. The left sector's jurisdiction covered the eastern, southern, and central parts of Hanyang along with Left Gyeonggi Province, while the right sector watched over western and northern parts of Hanyang, in addition to Right Gyeonggi Province.
The first recorded instance of the exact name "P'odoch'ŏng" appears in the Annals of the [Joseon Dynasty|Annal of King Joongjong].