At the end of the 16th century the Korean kingdom fought Japan in a monumental struggle that is still remembered today
The recurring challenge that weighed on pre-modern Korea, no matter its leadership, was establishing harmony between China and Japan. The Goryeo dynasty (918 – 1392) stayed independent through peace with the Yuan dynasty but was under threat from the Ming dynasty by the late 1300s. In a bid to quell domestic unrest and normalise ties with the Chinese, a Goryeo general named Yi Seong-gye overthrew his monarch. Yi began his reign as King Taejo in 1394 and the new Joseon dynasty’s capital Hanyang (modern-day Seoul) relocated farther away from the northern border as a precaution, and is where the Gyeongbokgung Palace complex was erected for his descendants.
The five centuries of the Joseon-era are characterised by its adherence to Chinese philosophical values and a feudal hierarchy. A lasting achievement was preserving its territorial extent and independence despite difficult circumstances. Of course, the duration of 518 years saw its fair share of inadequate rulers, including the 19th century monarchs who were helpless against foreign threats. But it was not until 200 years after its founding that Korea endured a weak king and a ruinous invasion by Japan concocted by the power-mad Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the dreaded taiko. He enthralled the once quarrelsome civil war era (1467 – 1568) samurai clans and sent them off to war.
The struggle against Japan, known as the Imjin War (1592-98), is a Korean national epic of sorts memorialised and retold with its own heroes and villains. The courageous admiral Yi Sun-sin was a main protagonist leading the outnumbered Joseon fleet against daunting odds. In reality, it helped that Korean shipbuilding at the time could rival that of European countries such as England or Spain. From a technological standpoint, there was a remarkable quantity of ships and cannon in East Asia, the latter being a technology the Joseon excelled at since the kingdom had to fend off hostile nomads along its northern frontier, as well as the Wokou pirates who marauded its seas. Joseon’s state-owned foundries mastered casting heavy guns, one particular model having a bore of 5in (130mm), and different kinds of ammunition.
The kingdom’s focus on border security and coastal fortresses meant it neglected a large standing army. As a result, a few thousand garrison troops were unable to withstand the Japanese assault on Pusan just a day’s sailing from Tsushima. In spite of Japan’s military prowess (some 400,000 samurai were committed to the war across seven years) and the Joseon capital being almost razed in 1592, Joseon’s arsenal and loyal subjects blunted the enemy�
