Samsa(三司) of the Koryŏ dynasty functioned as a financial institution overseeing the central and local revenue, expenditure of grain and goods, and accounting. Although modeled on the Song(宋) dynasty system, it evolved within Koryŏ’s unique political and economic context. In the early Goryeo period, the Samsa installed a Pansa(判事) as its head, a position that didn’t exist in the Song, and they maintained close concurrent appointments with high-ranking officials such as Jae-chu(宰樞). Most Samsa posts were concurrent appointments without independent authority, operating alongside Hobu(⼾部) in a dual fiscal structure. Hobu managed land and population registers, while the Samsa was operated as a practical institution responsible for the expenditure of grain and goods. This system, while adopting the framework of the Song, operated within Koryŏ’s own distinctive bureaucratic and fiscal structure. In the late Koryŏ period, the Samsa saw a simultaneous elevation in both its organizational structure and official ranks, leading to a significant enhancement of its institutional status. From the reign of King Chungnyŏl(忠烈王) onward, the Samsa underwent marked institutional transformation, with increases in personnel, specialization, and rank. High officials such as Pan-Samsa-sa(判三司 事) rose to the level of Jaesang(宰相), while lower posts came to be held as full-time appointments. By late Koryŏ, the establishment of Yeong-Samsa-sa(領 三司事) confirmed its standing as a leading central government organ rivaling Munha-bu(⾨下府). So the institutional strengthening of the Samsa took place amid changes in the bureaucratic system and the reorganization of the political structure in the late Koryŏ. During the reign of King Chungnyŏl, while many government offices were downgraded accounting for that they resembled institutions of the Yuan(元) dynasty, the Samsa, being an institution that didn’t exist in Yuan, was free from such constraints. Moreover, the existing structure and operation mode of the Samsa were well suited to the needs of an expanded bureaucratic society. As a result, it came to absorb the Sangseo-seong(尙書省) and established itself as an office possessing Jaesang. Such reforms not only suited to broader changes in the bureaucratic system but also functioned as an institutional institution for the long-term preservation and utilization of Koryŏ’s distinctive administrative framework. Meanwhile, as the bureaucratic system expanded organizationally, emphasis was placed on establishing mechanisms to provide economic compensation to officials for the work they performed. This situation, overlapping with the crisis of Jeonsigwa(⽥柴科) system after the 12th century, led to the increasing importance of the Samsa, primarily responsible for expenditures, within the constraints of its coexistence with the Hobu, which had oversaw land. Accordingly, from the late Koryŏ to the early Chosŏn period, it functioned as a principal office in land reform and, in political terms, came to form one of the Three Offices alongside the Munha-bu(⾨下府) and the Miljik-sa(密直司). In this way, the enhancement of the Samsa’s status and functions resulted from Koryŏ’s effort to adaptively utilize its own institutions in response to changing social conditions.
Seohyeon Park (Tue,) studied this question.