The Aftermath of the Imjimgaeran War

With the destruction of the Japanese fleet by Admiral Yi Sun-shin’s forces this hastened the retreat of the Japanese forces from the peninsula. However, what should have been a joyous moment for both the Koreans and the Chinese left a bittersweet taste in their mouths with the death of Admiral Yi, the destruction of the Korean peninsula, the heavy Korean and Chinese military losses, and the bankrupting of both countries due to the war against the Japanese.

The military and economic crippling of the Ming Empire by the Imjimwaeran War was complete 30 years later when the Manchu invaders conquered the Ming Empire and took control of China. Korea as well was crippled by the invasion and the incompetent Korean rulers in order to save money and weary of war virtually disband the military. An additional factor was that Chosun rulers were always concerned about a military general overthrowing the monarcy and now they had their chance to do away with the military by depending on Chinese hegemony. Admiral Yi’s state of the art and invincible turtle boats and navy were left in disrepair and sent to the dust bin of history.

The Korean court would later pay for this decision as well when the Manchu invaders attacked and conquered Korea. Possibly if Korea had maintained their naval might the peninsula might have a different story to tell. Instead this began a process of 250 years of Korea becoming a defacto province of Manchu China because they had to make annual tribute payments to the Chinese emperor. An additional humilation was the fact that as the Japanese retreated from Korea they kidnapped any artisan they find and took them back to Japan with them. These artisans would help lead Japan to a cultural revolution in their arts and ceramics during the Tokugawa era. Plus what cultural properties the Koreans had left were torched and destroyed by the Japanese. When reading about cultural buildings or Buddhist Temples in Korea you will notice that just about everyone of this buildings had been destroyed and rebuilt after the Hideyoshi invasion of the peninsula.

These humiliations caused the Koreans to look inward and distrust foreigners. Korea had once been a great maritime nation with strong influence in northeast Asia. After the war with the Japanese and the Manchu invasion afterwards, the Koreans became a poor, destitute nation, that closed their borders to foreigners. This inwardness would cause Korea to become known as the Hermit Nation. This Hermit Nation mentality caused Korea to not receive advancements in technology from the west before the Japanese. This would have consequences years later in 1898 when the Imperial Japanese Army would once again attack and occupy Korea in their quest to conquer China.

The Japanese on the other hand also faced steep change in the political make up of their country. The warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu had allied with Hideyoshi but he never sent soldiers to support Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea. Tokugawa always felt that invading Korea would be a failure and that it would only be a matter of time before Hideyoshi’s forces would fail in Korea. Fail they did and the forces that did remain were not enough to defeat Tokugawa as he made his claim to the title of Shogun of all of Japan by winning the epic battle of Sekigahara in 1600, two years after the end of the Imjimgaeran War. Tokugawa’s clan would rule Japan for the next 250 years. At no time during this reign did the Tokugawa rulers ever attack Korea again. This was all a legacy of the military prowess of Admiral Yi Sun-shin.

So what effect has Admiral Yi had on Koreans today? He is obviously a source of national pride for Koreans. He has statues everywhere and plenty of TV shows and movies have featured Admiral Yi. However, very little is known about the great admiral overseas compared to a comparable legend such as Lord Horatio Nelson. Both Yi and Nelson had a lot in common. Both became legends in their respective countries because they both were respected leaders who had never lost a battle at sea. Plus both admirals died in combat during one last epic battle that determined the fate of their countries. Lord Nelson died during the battle of Trafalgar where the British had finally soundly defeated Napoleon’s navy that ultimately ended his plans to invade the British Isles. Like Yi, Nelson also did not tell his men that he had been wounded until after the battle had been won. The only real difference between the two men is that, Yi according to legend never lost a boat which if true, is an extremely amazing accomplishment.

However, Nelson remains globally known compared to Admiral Yi who remains an unknown outside of Korea. This is historically due to Korea’s Hermit Nation policy, but also it is due today to Korea not promoting such a verifiable legend. People of western cultures know more about Japanese and Chinese historical figures than they do of any comparable Korean figures. This is mostly do to China and Japan’s promotion of their history.

Maybe things will change as Korea is now promoting their Hallyu phenomenon to spread Korean culture. However, it appears Hallyu is spreading not real Korean history or culture just cheap “dramas”, plastic surgery, and Bae Yong-joon. KBS did make a drama of Admiral Yi, but has yet to make an impact globally or even regionally. I wonder what would happen if they dressed up Bae Yong-joon as Admiral Yi? If he doesn’t appeal to a global audience they could always have Nicolas Cage play Admiral Yi. Doesn’t he look good in traditional Korean dress?

Never the less Admiral Yi remains a cetifiable legend worthy of respect from all people. He stepped up and became a great leader for the nation when a leader was needed most. Though often compared to Lord Nelson he reminds me more of the legendary Roman Cincinattus. Though beloved by the people, Yi never made a play for political power. He was strictly an honorable military leader that fought for the good of the nation, but was consistently being torn down by political opponents.

One could make an arguement that this Korean phenomenom continues today. In recent history the greatest Korean leader Park Chung-hee is consistently being attacked by his politcal opponents in an attempt to rewrite history. It is appears that every new President in Korea attempts to rewrite the history of past presidencies for their own political purposes. Even former generals such as Paik Sun-yup who distinguished themselves and led Korea out of what may have been the nation’s darkest moment, the Korean War, have been declared traitors by their political opponents by being recasted as Japanese collaborators. At least no one has recasted Admiral Yi as a Japanese collaborator. Instead he has a naval destroyer named after him to guard the Dokto islets with. Even in death the legend of Admiral Yi continues to defend Korea.

Prior Posting:  The Return of Yi Sun-shin

__________________________________________

Hopefully this series of posts has been able to shed a little light on the guy foreigners see all over the place in Korea, be it statues, paintings, or even the Korean currency, but know little of. I tried to write the posts as a series of brief overviews of his life. If you know more information or want to discuss deatails about Admiral Yi’s life feel free to add to the discussion in the comments section.