Soon-Shin Lee

Soon-Shin Lee is a national hero of Korea who saved Korea from the invasion of Japan in late 16th century. He was a naval leader. He is also respected as one of the greatest admirals ever throughout history. (He is often compared with Lord Nelson of England.) Also, one of his sweeping victories, the Battle of Hansando, is considered as one of four top naval battles ever fought. Furthermore, he was creative and invented a "Turtle ship," which worked like a tank at sea.

In his period, there was the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. In Japan, there was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who always wanted to invade Korea. In 1592, Japan finally started to invade Korea. Although the Korean government could prepare for that invasion, and knew about it, government officials thought Japan would not do such a thing. Admiral Lee was the only one who was prepared when the Seven-Year War (1592-1598) occurred.

Map of battles

In 1592, right after Seven-Year War occurred, Admiral Lee went to Okpo with 85 ships, and he defeated Japanese naval forces. Almost 50 Japanese ships were destroyed. Because of his result in all the big and little battles, Korea achieved control of most of the sea. In May 1592, Admiral Lee went to Sa-cheon and defeated Japanese forces once again. At this battle, the “Turtle ship” was used for the first time. In July 1592, he lured the Japanese forces into the open sea in front of Hansando. He positioned Joseon forces in a U-shape called Hak-ik-jin in Korean, which means the wings of a big bird. He could surround Japanese ships easily because of that position. In this battle, Joseon forces destroyed more than 70 Japanese ships and killed more than 9,000 soldiers. This battle in Hansando eventually became the turning point of the first part of Seven-Year War.

There was a short peace in 1596. Some officials who didn’t like Admiral Lee, although he never planned it, accused him of spying for Japan. The king wanted to have Admiral Yi killed, but the admiral’s supporters at court convinced the king to spare him due to his past service record. Spared the death penalty, Admiral Lee was again demoted to the rank of a common infantry soldier.

A portrait of Admiral Lee

In 1597, Hideyoshi again ordered his army to attack Joseon. Lee's successor, Won Kyun, fought against the Japanese fleet with 133 battleships and 30,000 crews at Chilchon Straits on Aug. 28, 1597. In the battle, the Joseon navy was completely destroyed except for 12 battleships. Admiral Lee was reassigned as the commander of Joseon navy again. The Japanese navy tried to eliminate the remaining 12 battleships under command of Lee on the way to the capital city of Joseon. On Sep 15, 1597, Lee decoyed the Japanese fleet consisting of 133 battleships and 100,000 crews within the Myungryang Straits, defeating them with his 12 battleships. In this battle, Japanese forces lost about 120 battleships.

The "Turtle ship"

Admiral Lee recovered the Joseon navy after the Myungryang battle. On Nov 19, 1598, Admiral Lee attacked Japanese forces trying to escape to Japan at Noryang Strait. Unfortunately, Admiral Lee was shot dead in this battle, leaving orders not to let his soldiers know of his death. In this battle, about 450 battleships were destroyed and only 50 battleships could return to Japan. The Seven-Year War between Joseon and Japan ended. Admiral Lee is respected by a lot of Korean people and important to them, because if he were not there, there would not be a country called Korea now.

Admiral Lee was a good strategist. He constructed the U-shape surrounding system. It looks pretty easy, but at that time, it was one of the most innovative ones. Also he made a creative ship called “Turtle ship”(in Korean, “gu-book-sun”). It is considered one of first ironclad warships. It had armor covering the top of the ship that protected rowers. It had a dragon’s head. It was not only used for decoration, but to emit fumes as a smokescreen. It had guns on each broadside (usually six) and larger guns in the bow and stern. These primary armaments were supplemented by archers inside the ship who could shoot flaming arrows out of portholes.

Although Admiral Lee is dead, his sprit will always be in people’s minds.