The Imjin War: Japan invades
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's armies invade Korea on the way to China; seven years of war devastate the country before Korean admirals, guerrillas and Ming troops drive them out.
- The Imjin War: Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China — Samuel Hawley, Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch (2005)
- A Concise History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present — Michael J. Seth, Rowman & Littlefield (2016)
- A History of Japan (2nd edition) — Conrad Totman, Blackwell (2005)
Having unified Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi demanded passage through Korea to conquer Ming China. When Joseon refused, around 150,000 Japanese troops landed at Busan in May 1592 and took Seoul within three weeks; King Seonjo fled north. On land, Korean armies collapsed, but at sea Admiral Yi Sun-sin won a string of victories, including at Hansan Island, that cut Japanese supply lines. Volunteer “righteous armies”, including Buddhist monks, harried the invaders, and a large Ming army arrived in 1593.
- The Imjin War: Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China — Samuel Hawley, Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch (2005)
- A Concise History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present — Michael J. Seth, Rowman & Littlefield (2016)
After failed peace talks, Japan invaded again in 1597. Yi, recently jailed through court intrigue and restored to command, won an astonishing victory at Myeongnyang with about a dozen ships against a far larger fleet. Hideyoshi died in 1598, the Japanese withdrew, and Yi was killed in the final battle at Noryang. The war left Korea’s population, farmland and cultural treasures devastated; thousands of captives, including skilled potters, were taken to Japan.
- The Imjin War: Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China — Samuel Hawley, Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch (2005)
- A Concise History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present — Michael J. Seth, Rowman & Littlefield (2016)
A war of aggression that killed perhaps hundreds of thousands, burned palaces and temples and carried off artisans and captives, survived thanks to Yi Sun-sin and the people's righteous armies.
- The Imjin War: Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China — Samuel Hawley, Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch (2005)
- A Concise History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present — Michael J. Seth, Rowman & Littlefield (2016)
In Japan the campaigns are remembered mainly as part of Hideyoshi's story as the unifier of the country, and as a costly overreach; the Mimizuka ("ear mound") in Kyoto, where severed noses of Korean dead were buried, is little visited.
- The Imjin War: Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China — Samuel Hawley, Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch (2005)
- A History of Japan (2nd edition) — Conrad Totman, Blackwell (2005)
Why it matters today
The Imjin War is the first great Japanese invasion in Korean memory and set the template for later suspicion of Japan. Admiral Yi Sun-sin is perhaps the most revered hero in South Korea, and the righteous armies (uibyeong) of ordinary volunteers are remembered as the spirit of popular resistance.