Japan Invades Korea

In 1592 the Japanese warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi, having unified Japan after a long period of civil war, launched a massive invasion of Korea. His ultimate ambition was the conquest of Ming China, for which Korea, then ruled by the Joseon dynasty, served as the intended invasion route. When the Koreans refused to grant passage and rejected Japanese demands, Hideyoshi dispatched a large army across the strait.

The well-armed and battle-hardened Japanese forces, equipped with firearms, advanced rapidly up the peninsula and captured the capital, Seoul, within weeks, soon pushing on to Pyongyang. At sea, however, the Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin inflicted a series of devastating defeats on the Japanese fleet, using his armored ships to cut their supply lines and prevent reinforcement by water.

Ming China then intervened on Korea's behalf, sending troops across the Yalu River, while Korean guerrilla bands harassed the invaders. Together they forced the Japanese to retreat to the southern coast, and the war settled into a stalemate punctuated by a second invasion in 1597. The conflict ended only with Hideyoshi's death in 1598 and the withdrawal of Japanese forces, leaving Korea devastated but independent.