Choong-Moo

Choong-Moo was the name given to the great Admiral Yi Soon-Sin of the Lee Dynasty. He was reputed to have invented the first armoured battleship (Kobukson) in 1592, 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.

The Life of Choong-Moo

Yi Soon-Sin (Choong-Moo) was born in Seoul on April 25, 1545. His family moved to Asan Chungcheongdo province where he started his education. He eventually took up the military course, passed the entrance examination at the age of 32 and was appointed an officer to start his military service.

Through the years he rose through the ranks and was appointed as naval commander of the Left Division of Cheollado when he was 47 years old. This was the time when he came up with the idea of the armoured battleship “Kobukson” which had iron plates covering the top decks resembling a turtle’s shell. At his time the ship was regarded as revolutionary as being the most developed warship of its time.

The Japanese Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi wanted conquest of China but knew it would be financially draining thus requested that Korea aid in this request. But after being refused, he ordered to attack Korea as his plan was to sweep through the peninsula and on to China.

With superior technology such as muskets imported from Europe, the Japanese troops reached Seoul in a matter of 2 weeks and occupied the entire country by May 1592.

In 1592 Admiral Yi Soon-Sin made headquarters in the port city of Yosu wherein he started construction of the Kobukson. He engaged the Japanese at Okpa and was successful in setting fire to 26 japanese ships and forced the rest to flee.

A courageous and tactical genius Admiral Yi fought every Japanese squadron he encountered and seemed to always outguess the enemy. His bravery was shown by not demonstrating pain when shot in the shoulder, rather revealing his injury once the battle was over.

Admiral Yi’s greatest engagement was on August 1592 when 100,000 Japanese reinforcements headed to the Pyongyang peninsula. He confronted them among the islands off the southern coast of Korea. He used his Kobukson to ram into the Japanese ships and his fleet copied his actions and were successful in sinking 71 vessels. Reinforcements came and Admiral Yi was able to sink 48 of them. It was considered as one for the history’s greatest naval battles.

Admiral Yi also took command of the entire Korean Navy of 180 ships and used them to attack the main Japanese naval forces that were still in anchor. He was able to sink over half of the Japanese vessels and this has been regarded as the most important series of naval engagements in history.

He was so dominant over the seas that no Japanese supply ship could reach Korea and forced Japanese forces to dwindle.

But then a Japanese spy was able to ingratiate himself to the Korean General Kim Eung-Sun and convinced that the Japanese was due to attack Korea with a great numbers. Choong-Moo was ordered to sink the Japanese fleet but yet refused orders claiming the area given was highly dangerous and filled with rocks. He was arrested due to insubordination and was eventually demoted to a foot soldier where he responded with humility and followed such orders.

As Hideyoshi learned of Admiral Yi’s departure, the Japanese attacked Korea with 140,000 men and thousands of ships. With the near destruction of the Korean navy under Won Kyun, Yi was reinstated as naval commander. He immediately set out and confronted with 12 ships the Japanese fleets of 133 ships. He was able to repel such numbers of the Japanese fleets with cunning tactics and maneuvers.

Korea relied on troops supplied by her close ally China and in 1598 the Chinese emperor sent Admiral Chil Lin to command Korea’s west coast. Admiral Yi made all efforts to win the trust of the Chinese admiral as he allowed Admiral Chil Lin to take credit for many of Admiral Yi’s victories. Praise and recognition for himself were set aside in order to have the enemies of his country destroyed.

Unfortunately Admiral Yi was shot by a stray bullet during the final battle of war. As he lay wounded on deck he commanded that his body be hidden by a shield so his enemies wouldn’t see that he had fallen. He was 54 years of age when he died.

He was primarily known for his invention of the Kobukson along with other military devices. One of which was a smoke generator wherein sulphur and saltpetre were burned then emitting great clouds of smoke used to mask movements of the troops.

Another is the invention of a type of flamethrower using small cannon that had an incendiary charge. His tactical manoeuvres such as the ‘V’ formation proved Yi’s brilliance as a naval tactician.

Admiral Yi Soon-Si was one of the greatest heroes in Korean History. In 1643 he was awarded the honorary title of Choong-Moo which means Loyalty-Chivalry. The distinguish Military Service Medal of the Republic of Korea is also named after this title.

His name is held with such high esteem that the when the Japanese fleet defeated the Russian Navy in 1905 the Japanese admiral was quoted as saying “You may wish to compare me with Lord Nelson but do not compare me to Admiral Yi, Soon-Sin, he is too remarkable for anyone.