Won Gyun

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Korean spelling
Hangeul 원균
Hanja 元 均
Revised
Romanization
Won Gyun
McCune-
Reischauer
Won Kyun

Won Gyun (* 1540 near Pyeongtaek ; † August 27, 1597 near Chilchonryang) was a Korean general and admiral during the Joseon Dynasty in the 16th century.

Life and military career

Exact details of Won Gyun's life prior to starting his military career are not known. Won was born near the city of Pyeongtaek in 1540 . He demonstrated his talent as a soldier very early on and, after successfully completing his military training as a cavalry officer, took part in the campaigns against the Jurchen . In 1592 he was appointed admiral of the Gyeongsang Right Naval Division.

In the spring of 1592, however, the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched an invasion of Korea , and his troops were able to build a beachhead in the city of Busan without being visibly hit by the disorganized Korean resistance. In view of the rapid advance of the Japanese, Won acted rashly and sank his entire fleet but four ships so as not to let them fall into the hands of the enemy instead of facing them in battle. He and Admiral Yi Eok-ki later joined the Jeolla left naval division, which was under the command of his colleague Yi Sun-sin , and participated in the latter's successful campaigns against the Japanese supply fleet during the first two years of the war. Won, however, resisted I several times, repeatedly questioning his authority and strategic skill and attempting to defame him at the royal court, with which he initially achieved no success.

Because of his success, Yi Sun-sin made many enemies not only among the Japanese, but also in his own camp. When Hideyoshi finally carried out a double agent conspiracy to get rid of I in 1596, Won participated in the protests and judgments against I, who was accused of cowardice in front of the enemy, describing his colleague as a lazy and drinker. Yi Sun-sin was convicted of high treason, but was not executed but downgraded to an ordinary soldier because of his merits and the advocacy of his sympathizers, including Prime Minister Ryu Seong-ryong . In his place, Won Gyun was appointed commander in chief of the entire Korean fleet.

Although Won Gyun was a completely loyal follower to the king, he did not have the strategic skill - or at least the characteristic prudence - of his predecessor I. Due to the false information that the Japanese had sowed as part of the plot, Won went on the orders of King Seonjo in late August 1597 with the entire Korean fleet to Busan, without informing himself beforehand about the exact location and strength of the enemy fleet. The Japanese, however, expected Won to be overwhelmingly superior, and although Won found himself in a clearly inferior position and his troops were severely exhausted from the journey, he attacked the Japanese immediately. In the ensuing battle , the Korean fleet was completely destroyed except for twelve ships that had previously deserted the battlefield. Won, Admiral Yi Eok-ki and some surviving soldiers managed to escape to a nearby island, but were discovered and killed by the Japanese garrison there.

Contemporary and Today's Views

Until recently, Won Gyun was given a bad name in Korean historiography as an incompetent commander, despite his previous performance as a cavalry officer during the Jurchen incursions. According to recent research, however, the assumption has been made that Won was perhaps deliberately depicted so poorly as to emphasize the heroic qualities of his rival Yi Sun-sin all the more. This view is also represented in the South Korean historical drama series Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin ( 불멸 의 이순신 , 2004–2005, KBS ), where Won is portrayed as a generally honorable but extremely hot-headed man.

It should be noted, however, that regardless of his actual military skills, Won also appeared to have had serious personal problems. In the records that exist of him, he is described as an impulsive hothead, notorious drinker and philanderer, among other things . Yi Sun-sin himself gives some accounts of Won's misconduct in his war diaries, especially after his appointment as commander in chief of the Korean fleet. Despite his disadvantaged position in history, Won Gyun received posthumous honors as well as Yi Sun-sin.

Battles waged by won

Naval battles

Won Gyun took part in the following naval battles, mostly under the command of Yi Sun-sin:

  • Battle of Okpo (May 7, 1592)
  • Skirmishes at Happo and Chokjinpo (May 7 and 8, 1592)
  • Sea Battle of Sachon (May 29, 1592)
  • Battle of Dangpo (June 2, 1592)
  • Battle of Danghangpo (June 5, 1592)
  • Sea Battle at Yulpo (June 6, 1592)
  • Sea Battle at Hansan (July 8, 1592)
  • Naval Battle of Angolpo (July 10, 1592)
  • Battle of Jangnimpo (August 29, 1592)
  • Sea Battles of Hwajungumi, Tadaepo, Sopyongpo, Cholyongdo and Choryanmok (September 1, 1592)
  • Battle of Pusan (September 1, 1592)
  • Sea Battle at Jinhae (March 4, 1594)
  • Second Sea Battle of Danghangpo (March 5, 1594)
  • Sea Battle at Changmunpo (October 4, 1594)
  • Battle of Chilchonryang (August 26-27, 1597)

literature

  • Yi Sun-sin, Nanjung Ilgi [The War Diary] , eds. Ha Tae-hung and son Pow-key. Seoul: Yonsei University Press. 1977.
  • Sadler, AL "The Naval Campaign in the Korean War of Hideyoshi, 1592-1598." In Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, ser. 2, vol. 14, June 1937, pp. 178-208.
  • Underwood, Horace Horton. "Korean Boats and Ships." In Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, Seoul, vol. 23, pp. 1-89, 1934.
  • Park, Yun-hee. Yi Sun-sin . Seoul: Hanjin. 1978.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Yi Sun-sin, Nanjung Ilgi , pp. 266, 267-268.
  2. Jung-Ja und Diamant Sutra recitation group Holm [ed.]: "Admiral Yi Soon-Shin. A brief overview of his life and work", pp. 63–64. Pohang, Yonghwa Publishing 2007. ISBN 978-1-84603-254-7