How do you assassinate someone when you don't know what they look like?

The K-Pop Demon Hunter of her time, Korea's first empress, Queen Min, was a total bad ass. But there weren't any reliable images of her, so no one beyond her immediate court knew what she looked like.

Which turned out to be a problem when samurai assassins, part of a rabble-rousing mob, stormed her palace early one morning with one thing on their mind: assassination.

A progressive woman, who outmanoeuvred every man in her court, Queen Min was killed by those in power for being ahead of her time — and trying to drag her country, the so-called Hermit Kingdom, out of the past with her.

• Host: Aslan Pahari
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Audio Engineer: John Jacobs
• Video Producer: Tejas Bhat
• Special thanks: Michael Osmond for archives research
• Executive Producers: Joel Werner, Eric George, Jessica Radburn

To binge even more great episodes of ASSASSINS with Aslan Pahari go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more stories of the world's most shocking assassinations — from the lone wolf hitman to the professional assassin, you'll hear how famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Benazir Bhutto, Ramses III, Tupac, Rasputin, and Gandhi met their end.