He was the eldest son of
King Chunghye, and his mother was
Princess Deoknyeong. Chungmok is known in some records by his
Mongolian name,
Batma Dorji, which is rendered in
hanja as
Palsamataaji (). After
King Chunghye was deposed in 1343, King Chungmok had an audience with the Yuan Emperor
Togon-temür. He was asked whether he would prefer to follow the ways of his mother or his father; when King Chungmok answered that he would prefer to follow his mother, the Emperor said that this was a child who knew the difference between right and wrong, and made him king. During Chungmok's reign, the Goryeo government undertook several reforms to reverse the damage done by his predecessor, and abolished various government agencies that had harmed the people. He died only four years into his reign at the age of 12. ==Family==