Yi Sun-sin

Yi Sun-sin (March 8, 1545 ? November 19,1598), was a famous Korean naval leader. As the Lord High Admiral of the Korean fleet under the Joseon Dynasty, Yi Sun-Sin led the fight against the Japanese during their first invasion of Korea during April 1592 in the Seven-Year War. He turned back the enemy fleet of Japanese invaders with his innovative turtle ships, and became to many Koreans a national hero.

The Seven-Year War and the Japanese invasions

This Korean admiral played the most decisive role in fighting off the Japanese invaders in 1592 and 1597. In 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave the order to invade Korea, planning to sweep through the peninsula and use it as a forward base to conquer China. (See Seven-Year War.) Hideyoshi was fully aware of the need to control the seas during the invasion. Having failed to hire two Portuguese galleons to help him, he increased the size of his own fleet to 700 vessels, assuming that the Koreans would fight hand-to-hand and be easily overwhelmed.

Related Topics:
1592 - 1597 - Toyotomi Hideyoshi - China - Seven-Year War - Galleon

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The Four Campaigns of Admiral Yi during the Imjin Year (1592)

As expected, the invasion force landed at Busan without meeting any Korean ships, and the Japanese forces began a lightning march north, reaching Seoul within nineteen days on May 2 1592. But the Korean navy was not idle. In May and June, in a series of actions, a small Korean fleet commanded by Yi Sun-sin destroyed several Japanese flotillas?in all, about 72 vessels were sunk by the end of June.

Related Topics:
May 2 - 1592 - Small Korean fleet

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Yi Sun-sin and the Turtle Ships

The Japanese response and demotion

But Hideyoshi and his commanders soon adjusted. At Busan, the surviving Japanese warships took aboard some heavier guns and iron plates, and clustered beneath the harbour?s defences of heavy shore-mounted cannon. But above all, the Japanese knew that for a successful invasion of Korea, Yi Sun-sin had to be eliminated. No Japanese fleet would be safe as long as his presence was commanding the sea.

Related Topics:
Busan - Cannon

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Seeing how the internal court rivalries of the Koreans worked, the Japanese devised a plan. A Japanese soldier named Yoshira was sent to the camp of the Korean general Kim Eung-Su, and convinced the general that he would spy on the Japanese for the Koreans. Yoshira spent a long time acting as a spy and giving the Koreans what appeared to be valuable information. One day he told General Kim that the Japanese General Kato Kiyomasa would be coming on a certain date with the great Japanese fleet, and insisted that Admiral Yi be sent to lie in wait and sink it. General Kim agreed and requested King Seonjo for permission to send Admiral Yi. The general was given permission, but when he gave Admiral Yi his orders, the admiral declined. Yi knew that the location given by the spy was studded with sunken rocks and was very dangerous. When General Kim informed the king of Admiral Yi Sun-sin?s refusal to go, Admiral Yi?s enemies at court insisted on his replacement by Won Kyun and his arrest. As a result, in 1597 Admiral Yi Sun-sin was relieved of command, placed under arrest, taken to Seoul in chains, beaten, tortured, and imprisoned. The king wanted to have Admiral Yi killed but the admiral?s supporters at court convinced the king to spare him due to his past service record. Spared the death penalty, Admiral Yi was again demoted to the rank of a common infantry soldier. Yi Sun-sin responded to this humiliation as a most obedient subject, going quietly about his work as if his rank and orders were totally appropriate.

Related Topics:
Kim Eung-Su - Kato Kiyomasa - King Seonjo - Won Kyun

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With Admiral Yi stripped of any influence, when negotiations broke down in 1596, Hideyoshi again ordered his army to attack Korea. The invasion came in the first month of 1597 with a Japanese force of 140,000 men transported to Korea in thousands of ships. Had Admiral Yi been in command of the Korean Navy at that time, the Japanese would most likely never have landed on any shore again. Instead, the Japanese fleet landed safely at Sosang Harbour.

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