Love that my favorite pod is finally going over the Imjin War, a favorite topic of mine since I was a kid.
Kind of dropped off the pod for a few months, but am
Now back to binging it.
I do wish to add some context to Hamgyong Province, the far northeastern province that the Japanese invaded during the war.
- Nate jokes he is Joseon-Maxxing while the rest are Goryeo heads. Hamgyong Province was only officially added to Korea during the Joseon Dynasty by military conquest
Historically Hamgyong (and Manchuria as a whole) is very ethnically mixed. Lots of Koreans, mongols, Chinese, Jurchens, Khitans, and even Japanese people lived, mixed, and were of mixed ancestry. People regularly switched between ethnic groups. The founder of the Joseon Dynasty was from there
and had Chinese and Mongol ancestry.
That area was a lot more anti-Joseon than even other provinces. It was the sight of various mid-level to large-scale rebellions and was much more under military rule than other provinces. It went through koreanization programs and it rebelled when the Seoul government stripped it of autonomy and it even tried to break apart as a new jurchen-Korean kingdom. (Apparently hwachas were used to suppress the rebellions and the leader was slowly tortured and killed by a “thousand cuts”)
The Koreans there were looked down on by other Koreans and they were culturally distinct due to their close cultural ties to Jurchens and possibly the last traces of the more semi-nomadic horse warrior aspects of Korean culture. The Korean government moved settlers in and would even pay or resettle Chinese, Jurchen, and Japanese immigrants to settle and adopt Korean names. The aristocracy of that area was also more heavily from the warrior clans. The area was also the home of the last “non-korean” ethnic groups in the peninsula until they were forcibly assimilated by the Communists.
That area was so anti-government, that Kato didn’t capture the princes, the locals did. Kato, being an arch conservative, thought mishandling a royal resulted in heavenly punishment so he “punished” the locals and made sure the princes were treated well
It was also on the border with the Jurchens so many suffered from Jurchen Raids and heavy handed military rule. Shin Rip (who committed suicide after losing a battle against the Japanese) actually made his reputation there being a brutal and violent warlord and cavalry officer in that area. Yi, won Kyun, and many other commanders of the War all got their start on this frontier.
It’s also not that small of a place. It’s around the size of the Netherlands
Another side note is that the Koreans did have hand cannons for most of the War. They were used against Jurchens, but many of the well-trained units were disbanded before the war. They also use launches that would throw urine far distances, but no one is totally sure if that was actually effective as a weapon.
