Japanese invasions of Korea: A Visual History

The Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598) were launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, unifier of Japan, as the first step to conquering China. In May 1592 some 160,000 troops landed at Busan and took Seoul in three weeks and Pyongyang by July; the king fled to the Chinese border. Korean naval victories under Yi Sun-sin (Hansando, 1592), righteous army guerrillas, and a Ming Chinese army that retook Pyongyang in January 1593 drove the Japanese back to coastal forts. After failed truce talks Hideyoshi invaded again in 1597; Yi, restored to command, destroyed a Japanese fleet at Myeongnyang with 13 ships, and after Hideyoshi's death the Japanese withdrew, Yi dying in the last battle at Noryang in December 1598. Korea was ravaged, Ming finances drained, and Japan's Tokugawa turned inward.

When it was fought: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Japanese invasions of Korea (Imjin War). The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Ships at Myeongnyang, 1597

Yi Sun-sin's victory against overwhelming odds; figures for the Japanese vary between 133 and 330.

Timeline of the Japanese invasions of Korea (Imjin War)

1. 1592
   Landing at Busan; Seoul and Pyongyang fall; Hansando
2. 1593
   Ming retake Pyongyang; Japanese retreat south
3. 1596
   Peace talks collapse
4. 1597
   Second invasion; Chilcheollyang; Myeongnyang
5. 1598
   Hideyoshi dies; Noryang; withdrawal

1592

Hideyoshi demanded passage through Korea to attack the Ming; refused, he sent nine divisions armed with arquebuses against a Korean army that had not fought a major war for 200 years. Busan fell on 24 May, Seoul on 12 June, Pyongyang on 20 July. But Yi Sun-sin's southern fleet, with its cannon-armed panokseon and iron-roofed turtle ships, destroyed Japanese squadrons at Okpo, Sacheon and Hansando, cutting the sea supply line, while righteous armies of peasants and monks harried the invaders and Kato's advance to the Tumen stalled.

The Ming intervene

Li Rusong's 40,000 Chinese retook Pyongyang in January 1593 with artillery but were checked at Byeokjegwan; the Japanese, starving, evacuated Seoul in May and dug in around Busan. Four years of talks foundered on Hideyoshi's demand for a Ming princess and half of Korea and the Ming offer to make him a vassal king. Korean court intrigue meanwhile had Yi Sun-sin dismissed and tortured.

1597-1598

The second invasion of 140,000 men was met by a Ming-Korean army; the Japanese destroyed the Korean fleet under Won Gyun at Chilcheollyang and massacred Namwon, sending back pickled noses. Yi, restored, met 130 Japanese ships in the Myeongnyang strait with 13 and won. Ming-Korean sieges of Ulsan and Suncheon failed, but Hideyoshi died in September 1598 and the regents ordered withdrawal. Yi and Chen Lin caught the retreating fleet at Noryang on 16 December; Yi was killed by a stray bullet in victory. Korea took a century to recover; Japan gained potters and printing; the Ming's expense hastened its fall.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644)
• Empire of Japan (1868 to 1947)
• Qing dynasty (1636 to 1912)
• British Empire (1583 to 1997)
• Northern Yuan dynasty (1368 to 1635)
• First Portuguese Empire (1415 to 1663)

Wars of the same era and region

• Manchu conquest of China (1618 to 1683)
• Goguryeo-Sui War (598 to 614)

8 surprising things about the Japanese invasions of Korea (Imjin War)

1. Yi Sun-sin never lost a naval battle in 23 engagements and is Korea's supreme national hero.
2. The Mimizuka mound in Kyoto holds the pickled noses and ears of tens of thousands of Koreans sent home as trophies.
3. The turtle ship's spiked iron roof and dragon-head cannon made it the world's first ironclad, by Korean tradition.
4. Korean potters kidnapped to Japan founded Satsuma and Arita ware; Korean movable type went to Japan too.
5. The war is called the Imjin War in Korea after the year of the water dragon.
6. The Ming reportedly spent 26 million ounces of silver, contributing to the crisis that let the Manchus in.
7. Konishi and Kato, the two lead generals, hated each other; one was Christian, the other a Buddhist zealot.
8. Yi's Myeongnyang victory is the subject of the highest-grossing Korean film of all time, The Admiral: Roaring Currents.

Sources

• Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598) Wikipedia
• Yi Sun-sin Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Imjin War World History Encyclopedia
• Samuel Hawley, The Imjin War (2005) Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch

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