Letter of Joseon naval commander Yi unveiled

A newly discovered hand-written letter of Joseon’s most celebrated naval commander Admiral Yi Sun-sin has confirmed his efforts to establish military ties with China’s Ming Dynasty during the Japanese invasions of Korea, said a scholar on Thursday.

“The letter is the only written record that shows that Yi tried to forge ties with the Ming Dynasty’s navy during the war,” said Lee Sang-hoon, the chief curator of Korea Naval Academy Museum, who has been studying the document since February.

“It reveals that he contacted Confucian scholars in addition to politicians to form the ties.”

According to Lee, the letter was written in 1598 ― just eight days before the allied naval force of Joseon and Ming were established to jointly fight against the Japanese. Lee assumes that the letter was written to an official named Han Hyo-soon, who was responsible for providing essential commodities for the Ming soldiers during their stay in Joseon.

In the letter, Yi (1545-1598) wrote of how busy he was preparing for the arrival of the Ming navy, and how grateful he was for the support of Confucian scholar Baek Jin-nam (1564-1618) and Baek’s visit to his base. Soon after Yi wrote the letter, about 10,000 naval soldiers from Ming China, led by Gen. Chen Lin, arrived in Joseon to aid Yi’s navy. The combined force of some 150 ships won the famous Battle of Noryang four months later, destroying more than half of the 500 Japanese ships. Yi was fatally shot during the battle and died.

The letter had been kept by its private owner up until late last year. About six months ago, the individual asked Auction Dan ― a private company that appraises artifacts and relics upon request ― to examine the document. Scholar Kim Young-bok, who also serves as the CEO of Auction Dan, asked curator Lee of the Korea Naval Academy Museum to study the letter.

Lee on Thursday held a presentation on his findings about the letter during an academic forum hosted by the Northeast Asian History Foundation in Seoul. A total of 16 Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese scholars participated in the forum which was organized to generate new areas of research on the 16th century Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598) from an international perspective.

By Claire  Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)