 Grain storage became a target for corrupt politicians and tax exemptions ceased to exist to agricultural production from 1860 onward.Korea under the late Joseon dynasty was seen predatory and rent-seeking, as it was marred by rampant political corruption that led to the decline of the Joseon dynasty which created a power vacuum that drew the Qing Dynasty and Japan to compete for influence over the Korean peninsula.Corvee obligations, excessive taxation, landlord exploitation, and peasant oppression contributed to Joseon Korea's gradual economic decline.