Mr Paul Wanklyn 4th Dan Choong-Moo CHOONG-MOO was the name given to the great Admiral Yi Sun-Sin of the Yi Dynasty. He was reputed to have invented the first armoured battleship (Kobukson) in 1592 AD, which is said to be the precursor of the present day submarine. The reason why this pattern ends with a left hand attack is to symbolize his regrettable death, having no chance to show his unrestrained potentiality checked by the forced reservation of his loyalty to the king. 30 Movements. Admiral Yi achieved a battle record few could match and is probably Korea’s most famous Patriot. In his four campaigns against the Japanese from 1592 – 1598, he fought 23 naval battles and was never defeated. Of Admiral Yi's 23 sea battles, the most crucial were the Battle of Hansan and Battle of Myongnyang. In the Battle of Hansan, considered as among the greatest naval engagements in history, Yi, by means of his famous 'Crane Wing' formation, achieved a great victory by sinking and capturing 59 of the 73 Japanese ships which opposed him, thereby frustrating Hideyoshi's plan of advancing along the coast. The Battle of Myeongnyang, in which he defeated 333 enemy ships (133 of which were battle ships with 200 in support) with only 13 ships of his own, is regarded among maritime historians as nothing less than a miracle. Yi Sun Sin was born on the 28th April, 1545, in the aristocratic neighbourhood of Hansung (now Seoul) as the third son of Yi Chong and his wife Byun. Although he was of good ancestry, his family was not wealthy because his grandfather had been embroiled in a political purge during the reign of King Jung Jong. When the economic situation worsened for his family, they moved to Asan, the country home of Yi’s maternal family. At the age of 21, he married a woman from a neighbouring town and had three sons and a daughter. Like any other young man of aristocratic family, he studied Confucian classics from an early age but, he began to train in the military arts when he turned 22. Although Yi was fully aware that the literacy tradition was more highly regarded than the military tradition in his society, he chose the military service because of his personal conviction. The refined writing in his dairy, reports and poems demonstrate that he had remarkable literacy talent as well as the valour and brilliance of a warrior. When he was 28, Yi took a military service examination and is said to have impressed the judges with his swordsmanship and archery, but failed to pass the test when, during the exam, he fell from his horse and broke his leg. The crowd was astonished when they saw him quietly get up on one leg to bind the broken leg with a branch from a nearby willow tree. Four years after his first trial, without giving up, he took the exam again and, at the age of 32 he passed the military service examination, this would now enable Yi to join the military forces. During Yi’s initial military career he did not seek favours from those in power because of his unwillingness to compromise his integrity, therefore his career languished and his accomplishments went unnoticed except from Prime Minster Yu, however, his brilliance and accomplishments so soon in his career made his superiors jealous, and they falsely accused him of desertion during battle. The conspiracy was led by General Yi IL, who would later fail to repel the Japanese invasion at the Battle of Sangju. This tendency to downplay people was very common in the later years of the Joseon military and government. Yi was stripped of his officer rank, imprisoned, and tortured. After his release, Yi was allowed to fight as a common foot soldier. After a short period of time, however, he was appointed as the commander of the Seoul Hunryeonweon (a military training centre) and was later transferred to a small county, to be its military magistrate. Yi's efforts in northern Korea were rewarded when Yi was assigned as Commander of the Left Jeolla Province Naval District. He straightened the administration system, improved the condition of weapons, tightened the sailors discipline and re focused their loyalty and also during this time he, focused on improving the Turtle Ships. With Yi stripped of any influence, and negotiations between Korea and Japan breaking down in 1596, Hideyoshi again ordered his army to attack Joseon. The second invasion came in the first month of 1597 with a Japanese force of 140,000 men transported to Korea in 1000 ships. Unfortunately for the Japanese, Ming China had sent down thousands of reinforcements to aid Joseon. With the help of the Chinese, the Joseon army was able to push the Japanese south during the winter of 1597. The Japanese failed to reach Seoul but, in the naval arena, Joseon was doomed. Won Gyun (Yi’s successor) failed to respond quickly enough and allowed the Japanese to land. Had Admiral Yi been in command of the Joseon navy at that time, the Japanese would most likely never have landed on any shore again. Instead, the Japanese fleet landed safely at Sosang Harbor and began their activities. Won Gyun, decided to attack with the entire naval force of Joseon, a fleet consisting of 150 battleships operated by 30,000 men that had been carefully built and strengthened by Admiral Yi. Won Gyun left his headquarters at Yeosu with few apparent plans and the next morning met the Japanese near Busan. At the Chilchon Straits on August 28, 1597, the Joseon fleet was massacred. As the tired from rowing soldiers stumbled, the Japanese launched a surprise attack, grappling hooks were thrown and Japanese sailors jumped aboard the Joseon ships, engaged in melee combat, and began a wholesale slaughter. It was the kind of battle Yi had always won, with careful coordination of enemy movements and strategic moves. Won Gyun allowed the Japanese to gain the upper hand, board his ships, and fight hand-to-hand combat, which was their primary strategy. At the end of the battle, the Joseon navy was completely annihilated except for 13 battleships, which were saved by a general named Bae Seol. Bae Seol fled before the battle to save the ships because he predicted the outcome. After the destruction, Won Gyun and Yi Eok-gi, another Joseon commander, fled to an island with a straggling band of survivors but were killed by waiting Japanese soldiers from the nearby fort. The Battle of Chilchonryang was the only naval battle the Japanese won during the war. King Seonjo heard the terrible news and quickly reassigned Admiral Yi to his post. Yi found the abandoned 12 battleships and rallied the 200 surviving sailors. Adding his flagship, Admiral Yi's entire fleet totalled 13 ships. At that time, King Seonjo, who judged that the Joseon navy had lost their power and would never be restored again, sent a letter to abolish the navy and join the ground forces under General Gwon Yul. Admiral Yi responded with a letter written “I still own thirteen ships. As I am alive, the enemies will never gain the Western Sea” (a.k.a. the Yellow Sea, the closest sea to Hanseong, or Seoul). The Japanese navy made up their mind to eliminate the 13 battleships under Yi on their way to the capital. Encouraged by their great victory, Kurushima Michifusa, Todo Takatora, Kato Yoshiaki, and Wakisaka Yasuharu sailed out of Busan Harbour in hopes of squashing what they thought would be a minor annoyance but Admiral Yi responded powerfully. In October 1597, Yi lured the Japanese fleet into the Myeongnyang Strait which was at the time called Uldolmok by Koreans. He lured them in by sending a fast battleship in near the Japanese naval base and quickly started to retreat when the Japanese navy mobilized themselves for a chase. The Japanese forces figured that this was a scouting ship and the pursuit of it would lead to the base of General Yi, meaning they could finally destroy General Yi forever. What they did not know was that the Myeongnyang Strait is very dangerous for ships to be entering in groups. Korean ships would only enter one by one, since the strong tide of it can cause the ships to lose control and collide with each other also, it was very misty, reducing visibility, which proved a major hindrance to the pursuing forces. The Japanese navy of about 333 ships blindly entered this strait in large groups. Many ships were sunk, and those that survived had been shaken up. When the surviving Japanese ships reached the other end of the strait, they were met with 12 Korean warships ready to bombard them in a round formation. About 33 of the 333 Japanese ships that entered the Myeongnyang Strait were destroyed, and many others were damaged beyond repair. No Korean ships even took any damage, and not a single Korean marine was hurt. A Japanese general, Kurushima Michifusa, was killed by archers who got close to his flagship. Admiral Yi achieved a truly legendary naval record during the period of 1592 – 1598 (The Severn Year War known as the Imgin Wars). The most famous battle was the battle of Noryang in which he died. On the morning of December 15th the last major battle of the Japanese invasions was fought. About 20,000 Japanese troops boarded 500 ships and began to mass east of Noryang in an attempt to break the allied blockade of Suchon.