▁government ▁was ▁small , ▁a ▁great ▁many ▁y ang ban ▁were ▁local ▁gent ry ▁of ▁high ▁social ▁status , ▁but ▁not ▁always ▁of ▁high ▁income . ▁ ▁Another ▁portion ▁of ▁the ▁population ▁were ▁slaves ▁or ▁ser fs ▁( n obi ), ▁" low ▁born s " ▁( che on min ) ▁or ▁un touch able ▁out cast es ▁( ba ek je ong ). ▁S la very ▁in ▁Korea ▁was ▁her edit ary , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁a ▁form ▁of ▁legal ▁pun ishment . ▁The ▁no bi ▁were ▁soci ally ▁ind ist inct ▁from ▁fre emen ▁other ▁than ▁the ▁r uling ▁y ang ban ▁class , ▁and ▁some ▁possessed ▁property ▁rights , ▁legal ▁entities ▁and ▁civil ▁rights . ▁Hence , ▁some ▁sch ol ars ▁argue ▁that ▁it ' s ▁in app ropri ate ▁to ▁call ▁them ▁" s la ves ", ▁while ▁some ▁sch ol ars ▁describe ▁them ▁as ▁ser fs . ▁There ▁were ▁both ▁government - ▁and ▁priv ately ▁owned ▁no bi , ▁and ▁the ▁government ▁occasionally ▁gave ▁them ▁to ▁y ang ban . ▁Priv ately ▁owned ▁no bi ▁could ▁be ▁inherited ▁as ▁personal ▁property . ▁During ▁poor ▁har v ests , ▁many ▁sang min ▁people ▁would ▁volunt arily ▁become ▁no bi ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁surv ive . ▁The ▁no bi ▁population ▁could ▁fl uct uate ▁up ▁to ▁about ▁one - third ▁of ▁the ▁population , ▁but ▁on ▁average ▁the ▁no bi ▁made ▁up ▁about ▁ 1 0 % ▁of ▁the ▁total ▁population . ▁Jose on ▁slaves ▁could , ▁and ▁often ▁did