364 Part IV: East Asian Civilization
Korea as Japanese Colony
Today Korea has a troubled relationship with Japan (as Japan does with
China). Memories of World War II may have faded but still cast a long shadow,
and in the case of Korea, the ambivalence goes further than that. From 1910 to
1945 Korea was a colony of Japan. In 1987 South Korea built Independence
Hall, outside Seoul, which was devoted to keeping alive memories of Japanese
exploitation and where visitors see dioramas illustrating atrocities and are
reminded of a time when speaking Korean even at home was punished,
Korean-language publications were shut down, Japanese surnames were
required, and Shinto shrines were substituted for Korean ones, all in an effort
to eradicate consciousness of Korean national identity.
The Japanese effort to colonize Korea—or use Korea as an avenue for
attacking China—has a longer history. In the sixteenth century, Japan spent
seven years invading Korea by land and sea under the leadership of General
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, failing finally under the brilliant Korean admiral Yi Sun-
sin, a passionate guerilla movement by the Korean people, and the assistance
of the Chinese Ming army. In 1592 Hideyoshi headed toward Korea with 700
ships, 158,000 men, and the latest musketry and artillery. (The Spanish
Armada, less than a decade earlier, had only 130 ships and 30,000 men.)
Hideyoshi nearly succeeded. The port city of Pusan where the attack began fell
in a few hours. Within three weeks King Sonjo had to abandon the capital, and
Seoul fell to the Japanese. Pyongyang fell soon after, and by three months later
the Japanese had reached the Yalu River, the northern border with China.
It was a different story at sea. Although Japanese pirates had been attack-
ing Korean ports and islands for years, their 700 ships did not amount to a
great navy. Korea had a naval genius in Admiral Yi Sun-sin, who had been
constructing a fleet of modern warships to stop the Japanese pirates. One ship,
designed by the admiral himself, became legendary as the “turtle ship” (kobuk-
son), said to be the world’s first ironclad battleship. The admiral’s drawings for
the ship were preserved at a shrine in Asan, from which a reconstruction has
been attempted (many illustrations can be seen online). It was equipped with
straw mats hiding iron spikes on the deck and 14 cannon that could fire in any
direction, with a dragon’s head figurehead. With his fleet, Admiral Yi had 10
successive naval victories against the Japanese armada, which was never a
match for the superior Korean navy.
The combination of the guerilla movement, the Korean navy, and Ming
dynasty assistance turned back the Japanese advance, but not for long. In 1597
they launched a second invasion. Unfortunately, the great admiral was in jail on
misconduct charges launched by a rival, and Japan had a quick initial victory.
But Admiral Yi was let out of jail, and with 12 ships he destroyed 133 Japanese
vessels, keeping the Japanese navy out of the Yellow Sea. Over the next year the
Japanese kept up the attack on land and sea, but in 1598 Hideyoshi died in
Japan. His successors soon saw the Korean conquest was a lost cause and gave