The Japanese invasions of Korea, known in Korea as the Imjin War, were two campaigns launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had unified Japan and aimed to conquer Joseon Korea and then Ming China. The first invasion in 1592 brought a quick advance by Japanese troops armed with arquebuses, who took Seoul and Pyongyang within weeks, but it was checked by Korean guerrilla forces called righteous armies, by Admiral Yi Sun-sin's naval victories, and by the intervention of Ming China. Peace negotiations failed and a second invasion in 1597 stalled. Hideyoshi's death in 1598 led Japan to withdraw. The wars devastated Korea, strained Ming finances and helped open the way for the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan.
Before and after
- 13 July 1590Birth of Clement X
- 1591Construction of Rialto Bridge
- 1592Publication of Journey to the West
- 15 January 1592Birth of Shah Jahan
- from 23 May 1592 to 16 December 1598Japanese invasions of Korea
- 8 July 1592Battle of Hansan Island
- from May 1593 to March 1603Nine Years' War
- from 29 July 1593 to 11 November 1606Long War
- 2 February 1594Death of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 23 May 1568 to 30 January 1648Eighty Years' War
- from 25 April 1588 to 1 August 1588Spanish Armada
- 13 April 1598Edict of Nantes
- 24 October 1648Peace of Westphalia
- from 22 February 1700 to 10 September 1721Great Northern War
- from March 1701 to September 1714War of the Spanish Succession
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.