Haetae is the Korean form of the Chinese xiezhi, a horned justice-beast that gores the guilty and devours fire, transmitted to Korea through centuries of cultural exchange and adopted as a palace guardian during the Joseon dynasty.
Gao Yao, minister of law under Emperor Shun, summoned the xiezhi to judge the guilty — the horned beast gored the dishonest and spared the truthful when human reasoning could not decide.
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