The new king, King Sunjo, was still only a child of 11 and power fell into the hands of the widow of King Yeongjo, often known as Queen Dowager Kim or Queen Jeongsun.
He was related to Queen Jeongsun, the second wife of King Yeongjo, and by his adoptive mother, Nam Yang-hong, he was a cousin to Namyeon-gun Yi Gu, who was destined to be the grandfather of King Gojong (高宗, later titled 光武帝 Gwangmu Emperor. 1852–1919).
Geumgang jeondo, a famous landscape painted by Jeong Seon during the reign of King Yeongjo