What are the most famous battles in Korean history?
The best known are Admiral Yi Sun-sin's sea victories at Hansan Island (1592) and Myeongnyang (1597) and the Inchon landing of 1950. Korean readers also learn about Salsu (612), Gwiju (1019), Yi's last battle at Noryang (1598) and the Pusan Perimeter (1950). This guide sets out 13 battles from 612 to 1950 by date.
Korea sits between China and Japan, and its states have fought invaders from both directions for fourteen centuries. This guide covers battles fought in Korea, on its coasts or by Korean states, from the wars of the Three Kingdoms to the Korean War, in three eras. It runs by date, oldest first, and is not a ranking: every battle that scored 35 points or more on our five criteria is in, and the scores decide only which battles made it; see how we chose them. Korean, Chinese and Japanese records often disagree on numbers, so each entry says who gives which figure.
For the Korean War of 1950 to 1953 as a whole, its causes, phases, the armistice and the cost, see our guide to the Korean War.
The Three Kingdoms and Goryeo, 612 to 1019
1 Salsu, 612
- Where
- The Salsu River, today's Cheongcheon River, North Korea
- War
- Goguryeo and Sui War of 612
- Sides
- Goguryeo under Eulji Mundeok against the Sui armies of Yu Zhongwen and Yuwen Shu
- Strength
- 305,000 Sui soldiers in nine armies (Book of Sui); no figure survives for Goguryeo
- Result
- Goguryeo victory; by the Book of Sui only 2,700 of the 305,000 got back
In 612 Emperor Yang of Sui invaded Goguryeo with, by the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture's count, 1,130,000 men. While his main army was stuck before the fortresses of Liaodong, nine armies under Yu Zhongwen and Yuwen Shu, 305,000 men by the Book of Sui's count, struck out for Pyongyang. Each man carried 100 days of food, and many secretly buried theirs to lighten the load.1
Eulji Mundeok came to their camp feigning surrender, saw how hungry they were, then fell back, losing skirmish after skirmish on purpose until the Sui stood 30 li from Pyongyang. He sent Yu Zhongwen a mocking poem urging him to quit while ahead. The Sui fleet that was to feed them had already been beaten near Pyongyang, so when Eulji offered a second false surrender, the generals took it as their excuse to go home. As the army was halfway across the Salsu, Goguryeo fell on its rear guard. The ranks broke, and the survivors ran 450 li to the Yalu in a day and a night; the Book of Sui says only 2,700 reached Liaodong. Myth vs fact: both famous figures come from that one Chinese chronicle, and no number survives for Eulji's own army. Emperor Yang retreated, and the failed Goguryeo wars helped bring down his dynasty, which fell in 618.2
Why it made the guide: Every Korean reader knows it, and it ended the war of 612 and helped topple a dynasty, so top marks for recognition, consequence and memory and 4 for decisiveness: its 45 points are the highest in this guide. Only certainty, 2, holds it back, because the numbers rest on the Book of Sui alone.
2 Ansi, 645
- Where
- Ansi fortress, usually placed at Yingchengzi near Haicheng, Liaoning, China
- War
- Goguryeo and Tang War of 645
- Besiegers
- Tang army of Emperor Taizong (about 200,000 for the whole invasion, by the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture's estimate)
- Defenders
- Goguryeo garrison, strength and commander not recorded in the early sources
- Outcome
- Tang lifted the siege after 88 days and withdrew
In 645 Emperor Taizong of Tang led his own invasion of Goguryeo. His armies took Gaimou, Liaodong and Baegam, and on the 20th day of the sixth month reached Ansi, on the main road toward Pyongyang. A relief army of 150,000 Goguryeo and Malgal troops attacked rashly and was surrounded; 36,800 survivors surrendered.3
Alone now, Ansi was pounded with stone throwers and rams, but the defenders drove off every assault and patched each breach. Over 60 days the Tang heaped up an earth ramp higher than the walls, with some 500,000 days of labor. Then the ramp collapsed against the wall, the defenders poured out through the gap and seized it, and three days of furious attacks failed to take it back. With frost and hunger setting in, the Tang raised the siege after 88 days, on the 18th day of the ninth month. Myth vs fact: the early chronicles never name Ansi's commander; the name Yang Manchun appears only in Joseon era unofficial histories, and the tale that an arrow struck Taizong in the eye comes from late Goryeo writings. The 2018 film The Great Battle (Ansi-seong) made Yang its hero, on what Weekly Kyunghyang called just three surviving lines of record. Goguryeo fell to Tang and Silla in 668.4
Why it made the guide: The fortress that sent an emperor home is well known in Korea from legend and film, so recognition, memory and decisiveness 4. But Goguryeo still fell 23 years later, so consequence 3, and with the commander's name and the numbers resting on late or one-sided texts, certainty 2; its 36 points clear the line of 35 by one.
3 Hwangsanbeol, 660
- Where
- The plain of Hwangsan at Yeonsan, today's Nonsan, South Chungcheong, South Korea
- War
- Silla and Tang conquest of Baekje, 660
- Sides
- Baekje under Gyebaek against Silla under Kim Yu-sin
- Strength
- 5,000 Baekje vs 50,000 Silla (Samguk sagi)
- Result
- Silla victory; Gyebaek killed, Baekje fell the same year
In 660 Silla and Tang struck Baekje together: 130,000 Tang soldiers under Su Dingfang came by sea and Kim Yu-sin led 50,000 Silla troops overland. King Uija's court failed to block the Tanhyeon pass, so the king sent the general Gyebaek with 5,000 men to stop the Silla army. The Samguk sagi says Gyebaek killed his wife and children before he marched, so they would not live as slaves, and told his men that the ancient king Goujian had beaten a host of 700,000 with 5,000.5
On the plain of Hwangsan he took the high ground in three camps, and his men threw back four Silla attacks. Then Silla generals sent their own sons to die: Bangul, and after him the 16 year old hwarang Gwanchang. Roused, the Silla army attacked again and overwhelmed the Baekje line; Gyebaek was killed. The Tang army had landed meanwhile; the allies took the capital Sabi, King Uija surrendered, and Baekje, a kingdom of almost seven centuries, came to an end that same year. Joseon scholars made Gyebaek a model of loyalty, and Lee Joon-ik's 2003 film Hwangsanbeol retold the battle as a dialect comedy. The famous odds of 5,000 against 50,000 come from the Samguk sagi.6
Why it made the guide: The battle that decided the fate of Baekje takes full marks for decisiveness and 4 for consequence, since it opened the way to Silla's unification, and Gyebaek's last stand is known to Korean readers from school and film, so recognition and memory 4. Its numbers rest on one chronicle, so certainty 2, but its 40 points are well above the line of 35.
4 Gwiju, 1019
- Where
- Guju (also read Gwiju), one of the six garrison districts between the Cheongcheon and Yalu rivers, North Korea
- War
- Third Khitan invasion of Goryeo, 1018 to 1019
- Sides
- Goryeo under Gang Gam-chan against the Khitan (Liao) army of Xiao Paiya
- Strength
- 208,000 Goryeo vs 100,000 Khitan (Korean records)
- Result
- Goryeo victory; by the Goryeosa only a few thousand Khitan got home
In 993 the envoy Seo Hui had won Goryeo six garrison districts south of the Yalu from the Khitan Liao empire. When Goryeo later refused to return them or send King Hyeonjong to the Liao court, Xiao Paiya crossed the Yalu in the twelfth month of 1018 with 100,000 men. Gang Gam-chan met him with 208,000. At Heunghwajin Goryeo loosed a dammed stream on the crossing Khitan, who still pushed to within 100 li of Kaesong before turning back.7
Gang waited for them at Guju. As Kim Jong-hyeon's troops struck the retreating column, Gang's army chased it across the river in front of the town and on to Banryeong, and by the Goryeosa only a few thousand of the 100,000 came home. The Goryeosa, the official history completed in 1451, says the Khitan had never been beaten so badly. The Khitan never again demanded the king's visit or the districts, and the two states kept largely peaceful relations until the Liao fell in 1125. Seoul's Gwanak district holds a festival in Gang's name, and KBS 2TV's drama Goryeo Khitan War, first aired on 11 November 2023, ended with the battle on 10 March 2024 and its best rating, 13.8 percent by Nielsen Korea's count.8
Why it made the guide: Gang Gam-chan's victory ended the Goryeo and Khitan wars, so decisiveness 5, and is alive in festivals and a hit drama, so memory 5; it is a household name in Korea but little known abroad, so recognition 4. The account rests mainly on the Goryeosa, compiled four centuries later, though the Liao history confirms the defeat, so certainty 3; its 43 points put it far above the line of 35.
Joseon: the Imjin War and the Manchu invasion, 1592 to 1637
5 Hansan Island, 1592
- Where
- Off Hansan Island, near today's Tongyeong, South Korea
- War
- Imjin War (Japanese invasions of Korea, 1592 to 1598)
- Fleets
- Joseon navy under Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi and Won Gyun against Wakisaka Yasuharu's squadron
- Strength
- 55 Korean warships vs 73 Japanese ships (Korean records)
- Result
- Korean victory; 47 Japanese ships burned and 12 captured, no Korean ship lost
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's armies invaded Korea in 1592 meaning to advance by land and sea together. At sea the plan went wrong: Yi Sun-sin beat Japanese squadrons at Okpo, Dangpo and Danghangpo. The Japanese answered by sending Wakisaka Yasuharu west with 73 ships, 36 large, 24 medium and 13 small, with Kuki Yoshitaka following with 42 more.9
On the 8th day of the seventh lunar month Yi, now with 55 warships from three provincial fleets, found Wakisaka in the Gyeonnaeryang strait, a narrow channel full of reefs where his heavy panokseon could not maneuver. Five or six Korean ships attacked and fell back, and the Japanese chased them into the open water off Hansan, where Yi's whole fleet closed round them in the hagikjin, the crane wing formation, firing its cannon as it came. Korean records count 47 Japanese ships burned or wrecked and 12 captured; some 400 survivors fled ashore, and the Korean fleet lost no ship. The victory wrecked that plan and gave Joseon command of the southern coast; the American writer Homer Hulbert later called it the Salamis of Korea. It counts, with Jinju and Haengju, among the Imjin War's three great victories, and Tongyeong still reenacts it at an annual festival.10
Why it made the guide: For Korean readers Yi Sun-sin's crane wing victory is one of the best known battles of all, so recognition 5, and it gave Joseon command of the southern coast; but the land war went on until 1598, so decisiveness 4, and with consequence and memory 4 and well documented losses, certainty 4, its 43 points sit well above the line of 35.
6 Jinju, 1592
- Where
- Jinju fortress on the Nam River, South Gyeongsang, South Korea
- War
- Imjin War (first Japanese invasion)
- Besiegers
- Japanese army under Hasegawa Hidekazu and Nagaoka (Hosokawa) Tadaoki: about 20,000, or 100,000 by the stele of 1619
- Defenders
- Fewer than 1,000 (stele) to about 3,800 under Kim Si-min, with militia harassing the besiegers from outside
- Outcome
- Japanese withdrew after a week of assaults; Kim Si-min mortally wounded
Jinju, the chief town of western Gyeongsang, lay on the road into Jeolla and held the region's main force. In the ninth lunar month of 1592 Hasegawa Hidekazu and Nagaoka Tadaoki marched on it from Gimhae with 20,000 men. Inside, the magistrate Kim Si-min had some 3,700 soldiers and 100 more from Gonyang, and the governor Kim Seong-il armed the townspeople, men and women.11
The siege began on the 5th day of the tenth month. The Japanese brought up bamboo ladders and three-story siege towers; Kim answered with cannon, burned the ladders with gunpowder and smashed the towers with long axes, while Gwak Jae-u's militia harried the besiegers from outside. Before dawn on the 10th the Japanese stormed the east and north gates, met by arrows, bombs, stones and boiling water. Kim was shot and Yi Gwang-ak took over; the attack failed, the Japanese withdrew, and Kim died of his wound on the 18th. The numbers are disputed: a memorial stele of 1619 claims fewer than 1,000 defenders against 100,000, other records 3,800 against 20,000. It counts among the Imjin War's three great victories. In 1593 the Japanese came back in strength and took the town, a disaster remembered through the legend of Nongae, who is said to have leapt into the river clasping a Japanese officer.12
Why it made the guide: Kim Si-min's defense is well known and remembered, so recognition and memory 4, but it decided one campaign and the town fell the next year, so decisiveness and consequence 3, and the strength of both sides is reported very differently, so certainty 3. Its 35 points, level with Haengju, are exactly the line.
7 Haengju, 1593
- Where
- Haengju mountain fortress above the Han River, Goyang, just west of Seoul, South Korea
- War
- Imjin War (first Japanese invasion)
- Sides
- Joseon troops and monk soldiers under Gwon Yul against the Japanese army of Ukita Hideie
- Strength
- About 30,000 Japanese vs under 10,000 Koreans, built round Gwon's 2,300 picked troops (sources differ)
- Result
- Joseon victory; the Japanese assault beaten off with heavy loss
After Pyongyang was retaken early in 1593, Gwon Yul, the governor of Jeolla, marched north to help win back Seoul and settled on the hill fort of Haengju above the Han, ringing it with a double palisade and earth banks against musket fire. The Kyeonggi Ilbo says Gwon brought 2,300 picked troops; with the monk Cheoyeong's 1,000 monk soldiers and other units, the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture puts the whole garrison at under 10,000.13
At dawn on the 12th day of the second month Ukita Hideie attacked with some 30,000 men in seven divisions, one after another. Gwon's men answered with hwacha gun carts and cannon; Ukita was wounded, and the monk soldiers threw ash into the attackers' eyes. When Kobayakawa Takakage broke in, Gwon led the counterattack sword in hand, and when arrows ran out the defenders threw stones until boats brought fresh arrows up the Han. The Japanese fell back, leaving more than 200 dead. Soon after, they hurried out of Seoul, and the battle is counted among the Imjin War's three great victories. Myth vs fact: the haengju chima apron was not named for the women who carried stones here; the word appears in an older form in a book of 1527. Goyang still holds a memorial rite at the fortress every year.14
Why it made the guide: Gwon Yul's stand is well known and honored every year at the fortress, so recognition and memory 4, but it repelled one assault in a war that lasted five more years, so decisiveness and consequence 3, and the numbers come mostly from Korean records, so certainty 3. Its 35 points, level with Jinju, are exactly the line.
8 Myeongnyang, 1597
- Where
- Myeongnyang (Uldolmok) Strait, between Jindo Island and the mainland, South Korea
- War
- Imjin War (second Japanese invasion, 1597 to 1598)
- Fleets
- Joseon navy under Yi Sun-sin against the Japanese invasion fleet
- Strength
- 13 Korean warships vs 133 Japanese ships in Yi’s diary (other accounts over 330)
- Result
- Korean victory; 31 Japanese ships destroyed by the Korean count; Japanese push west by sea halted
In 1597 the Joseon fleet under Won Gyun was all but destroyed at Chilcheollyang; Bae Seol escaped with 12 warships. The court gave Yi Sun-sin back the command he had been stripped of, and when King Seonjo judged that the navy could no longer win, Yi answered with words Koreans still quote: “we still have 12 ships left.” A thirteenth came later. The Japanese fleet was pushing west toward the Yellow Sea, and Yi chose to stop it in the narrow, tide-swept Myeongnyang strait off Jindo.15
On the 16th day of the ninth lunar month the Japanese entered the strait, 133 ships by the count in Yi’s war diary, and Yi formed a single line across it. When the current turned against the attackers, a Japanese defector pointed out the body of the commander Madashi in the water (Kurushima Michifusa in Japanese accounts); Yi had the head hung up, Japanese morale broke, and by the Korean count 31 ships were destroyed before the rest withdrew, leaving the sea route west shut. Myth vs fact: the iron chain said to have been stretched across the strait rests on a family chronicle published in 1914 and appears neither in Yi’s diary nor in the royal annals. The 2014 film Roaring Currents drew 17.6 million viewers, the largest audience of any film in South Korea.16
Why it made the guide: With top marks for recognition and memory it scores 44, far above the line of 35. Decisiveness and consequence are 4, since the land war went on into 1598, and certainty only 3, because every count of the Japanese fleet comes from Korean records.
9 Noryang, 1598
- Where
- Noryang strait between Namhae Island and the mainland, and Gwaneumpo bay, South Korea
- War
- Imjin War (second Japanese invasion, 1597 to 1598)
- Fleets
- Joseon navy under Yi Sun-sin and Ming navy under Chen Lin against Shimazu Yoshihiro’s Japanese fleet
- Strength
- Over 200 Joseon and Ming ships vs over 300 Japanese (Joseon report) or over 500 (Korean encyclopedia)
- Result
- Allied victory at sea; Yi Sun-sin killed; Konishi’s garrison escaped; last battle of the war
By late 1598 Toyotomi Hideyoshi was dead and the Japanese armies in Korea were going home. Konishi Yukinaga’s garrison at Suncheon was trapped by the Joseon and Ming fleets, and Konishi bribed the Ming admiral Chen Lin to let a single boat through to summon Shimazu Yoshihiro’s fleet from Sacheon.17
The fleets met in the Noryang strait in the night of the 18th to the 19th day of the 11th lunar month. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives the allies over 200 ships against over 500 Japanese, while the minister Yi Deok-hyeong reported over 300 Japanese ships to the king. He reported over 200 of them wrecked and thousands of men killed or wounded; Chen Lin’s report claimed 200 sunk and 100 captured. As Yi Sun-sin chased the beaten Japanese into Gwaneumpo bay that morning, a bullet struck him; the court historian wrote that he was shooting arrows himself, and people said that the dead Sun-sin had routed the living enemy. His last words, “the battle is urgent, do not announce my death”, come from Ryu Seong-ryong's memoir, the Jingbirok, not from the court record. Konishi slipped away during the battle and Japan completed its withdrawal; with Noryang the war ended. The site where Yi died has been a national historic site since 1973.18
Why it made the guide: It makes the guide on 36, one point above the line, carried by Yi’s death, which every Korean reader knows (recognition and memory 4). The win did not stop the Japanese leaving, so decisiveness and consequence are 3; certainty is 4 because the royal annals record the battle and Yi’s death, though ship counts differ by hundreds.
10 Namhansanseong, 1636 to 1637
- Where
- Namhansanseong mountain fortress, southeast of Seoul, South Korea
- War
- Second Manchu invasion of Korea (Byeongja horan), 1636 to 1637
- Besiegers
- Qing army under Hong Taiji; about 120,000 set out from Mukden, by the Korean encyclopedia’s count
- Defenders
- King Injo’s court and about 13,000 Joseon troops
- Outcome
- Surrender at Samjeondo after 47 days; Joseon became a Qing tributary until 1895
In 1636 Hong Taiji, who had proclaimed the Qing dynasty, demanded that Joseon accept him as overlord, and the court refused. He led his army across the Yalu himself in the twelfth lunar month, and when word came that the road to the island refuge of Ganghwa was cut, King Injo shut himself up instead in Namhansanseong, the mountain fortress southeast of the capital. By the count of the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, about 120,000 men had set out from Mukden, and some 13,000 defended the walls.19
The fortress held, but it had food for about 50 days and relief armies were beaten on the way. When news came that Ganghwa, with the royal family sheltering there, had fallen, the court gave in. After 47 days, on the 30th day of the first lunar month of 1637, Injo came down and bowed to Hong Taiji at Samjeondo on the Han River. The terms broke Joseon’s ties with the Ming, sent Crown Prince Sohyeon and Prince Bongnim to the Qing as hostages and imposed tribute; tens of thousands of captives were taken north. The tributary bond lasted until 1895, when China, beaten by Japan, recognized Korea as fully independent: more than 250 years, by our count. The fortress has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014.20
Why it made the guide: Full marks for decisiveness, since the surrender settled the fate of the Joseon state, and 4 for consequence, recognition and memory give it 42, the only Joseon battle here not from the Imjin War. It is a defeat remembered with pain rather than pride, which keeps recognition at 4.
The Korean War, 1950 to 1953
11 Pusan Perimeter, 1950
- Where
- Southeastern corner of South Korea, behind the Naktong (Nakdong) River from Masan to Yeongdeok
- War
- Korean War
- Sides
- South Korean army, US Eighth Army and UN contingents against the North Korean People’s Army
- Strength
- 5 South Korean and 3 US divisions on a 240 km line vs North Koreans estimated at up to 133,000 by September
- Result
- Perimeter held; counteroffensive after the Inchon landing broke through on 22 to 23 September 1950
Five weeks into the war, the South Korean and American troops had been pushed back to the Naktong River. By 1 August they held only the southeastern corner of the country, about 10 percent of its territory, a beachhead the US Marine Corps history measures at about 90 miles long and 60 wide, with the port of Pusan behind it. Five South Korean and three US divisions held a line of about 240 km from Masan through Waegwan to Yeongdeok.21
The North Koreans attacked from 5 August and again on 1 September, in what the Marine history calls an all-out offensive, with a strength estimated as high as 133,000. North of Taegu the South Korean 1st Division held the Dabu-dong line against three North Korean divisions, a fight on which, by the Korean encyclopedia’s judgment, the whole August battle turned. In the south, US Army units and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade twice threw the enemy back out of the Naktong Bulge, and the British 27th Brigade, the first ground unit from another UN member, arrived in early September. After the Inchon landing of 15 September the South Korean and UN forces counterattacked, broke through on 22 to 23 September, and the North Koreans began to retreat. Without the perimeter there would have been no landing at Inchon.22
Why it made the guide: Every Korean reader knows the Naktong line (recognition 5) and the record is full on both sides (certainty 5), so it reaches 44, the highest total among the Korean War battles here. It held the Republic of Korea alive rather than winning the war, which keeps decisiveness and consequence at 4.
12 Inchon, 1950
- Where
- Incheon harbor and Wolmido island, then the road to Seoul, South Korea
- War
- Korean War
- Sides
- US X Corps (1st Marine Division, 7th Infantry Division) with the South Korean 1st Marine Regiment and 17th Regiment against the North Korean People’s Army
- Strength
- About 70,000 ground troops and 261 ships (Encyclopedia of Korean Culture) vs an estimated 1,500 to 2,500 North Koreans in the landing area
- Result
- UN victory; Seoul retaken on 28 September 1950
With the North Koreans pinned against the Pusan Perimeter, MacArthur chose to land far behind them at Incheon, about 150 miles (240 km) behind the front. It was a hard harbor: the tide ranged from an average spring height of 23 feet to an occasional 33, landing craft needed 25 feet and the LSTs 29, so only a few days in mid-September or October would do, and 15 September was chosen. The Korean encyclopedia counts 261 ships and about 70,000 ground troops, among them the South Korean 1st Marine Regiment and 17th Regiment; the US planners expected 1,500 to 2,500 North Koreans in the landing area.23
A Marine battalion took Wolmido on the morning tide, and the main landings went in with the evening tide on 15 September. The landing cut the North Korean supply lines at a stroke. Seoul took almost two weeks more: the Korean encyclopedia dates its full recapture to 28 September, and MacArthur returned the capital to Syngman Rhee at a ceremony the next day, while North Korean counterattacks were still being beaten off at the city’s edge. The 1st Marine Division lost 366 killed in action, 49 dead of wounds, 6 missing and 2,029 wounded in the whole Inchon and Seoul campaign. In Incheon a memorial hall to the landing opened on 15 September 1984, and the city and the South Korean navy mark the anniversary on 15 September.24
Why it made the guide: Recognition 5 and certainty 5 give it 42, well above the line of 35, and memory is 4, with the anniversary marked at Incheon every 15 September. Consequence is only 3, because China’s entry turned the war again within weeks.
13 Chosin Reservoir, 1950
- Where
- The road from the Chosin (Jangjin) Reservoir to Hungnam, North Korea
- War
- Korean War
- Sides
- US 1st Marine Division and US Army Regimental Combat Team 31 against the Chinese Ninth Army Group
- Strength
- About 30,000 UN troops (25,473 in the 1st Marine Division on 27 November) vs an estimated 120,000 Chinese in 12 divisions
- Result
- Breakout to the coast; X Corps and about 91,000 Korean civilians evacuated from Hungnam; northeastern Korea given up
In late November 1950 the 1st Marine Division, 25,473 men with attached troops, and an Army regimental combat team east of the reservoir were strung out along a single mountain road from Hungnam when the Chinese Ninth Army Group struck on the night of 27 November. The Marine Corps’ official history identifies at least 11 and probably 12 Chinese divisions; the usual totals are about 30,000 UN troops against an estimated 120,000 Chinese. East of the reservoir the Army task force, about 3,200 men including 700 South Koreans, was destroyed; of just over 1,000 survivors, only 385 could fight.25
From 6 December the Marines fought south through roadblock after roadblock, and their last units cleared Chinhung-ni on 11 December. Marine battle casualties from 26 October to 15 December came to 4,418, plus 7,313 non-battle cases, mostly frostbite. Then X Corps sailed from Hungnam, the last unit leaving on 24 December, with 105,000 troops and 91,000 Korean refugees by the Marine history’s count; the Korean encyclopedia also gives about 91,000 boarding, and its navy entry rounds it to over 100,000. One ship alone carried 14,000 refugees to Geoje Island, among them the parents of Moon Jae-in, who in 2017 laid a wreath at the new Chosin memorial in Virginia as his first stop on a visit to the United States.26
Why it made the guide: Memory 5, because the Hungnam evacuation is still a living story in South Korea, carries it to 38, three points above the line of 35. It decided the campaign in the northeast in China’s favor and ended in retreat, so decisiveness and consequence are 3, and the Chinese strength is an estimate.
How we chose these battles of Korea
This guide covers battles fought in Korea, on its coasts or by Korean states, from the wars of the Three Kingdoms to the armistice of 1953. Sieges count when they decided a campaign, which is why Ansi, Jinju and Namhansanseong are here. The fights of the independence armies in Manchuria in 1920 were fought outside Korea and not by a Korean state, so they are left out. The naval battles of Admiral Yi Sun-sin are also weighed against the rest of the world in our guide to the greatest naval battles, and Myeongnyang in our guide to battles won against the odds.27 › Jeju uprising, 1948
We considered 25 candidates and scored each one from 1 to 5 on five criteria. Recognition counts three times and is judged for this question, with Korean readers in mind, so a battle every Korean learns at school scores higher here than in our worldwide guides; the other four count twice, except certainty, which counts once:
- Recognition (×3). Judged for a guide to the battles of Korea, with Korean readers in mind: 5 if almost every Korean reader knows it (from school, the 'great victories', a film) and it is known abroad, 4 if almost every Korean reader knows it, 3 if readers of history know it in Korea or it is famous in one other country, 1 if only specialists know it.
- Decisiveness (×2). 5 if it decided a war or the fate of a Korean state, 3 if it decided a campaign, 1 if it settled nothing beyond the day itself.
- Consequence (×2). 5 if it changed the course of Korean or East Asian history for generations, 1 if it changed nothing beyond the war.
- Memory (×2). 5 if it is still a living tradition (a national hero, a festival, a monument, films), 1 if it is forgotten.
- Certainty (×1). 5 if the numbers and events are confirmed by independent sources, 1 if they rest on one source or are disputed.
The guide runs by date, in chronological order, oldest first, and is not a ranking: the scores only decide which battles make it. Every battle that scored 35 or more is in, which gives the Three Kingdoms and Goryeo four places, Joseon six (five from the Imjin War of 1592 to 1598 and the surrender at Namhansanseong in 1637) and the Korean War three. We set no fixed number of places per era in advance; the gap between the last battle in (35) and the best one out (33) decided the size. The scores are our editorial judgment, made on the evidence in the sources below, and the table shows every one of them, so you can see why the Imjin River, the Glosters' famous stand of 1951, is not here: it is a legend in Britain, but Korean readers know it far less than the battles their own army fought.28 › US military government in Korea, 1945 to 1948
| Rank | Name | Recognition ×3 | Decisiveness ×2 | Consequence ×2 | Memory ×2 | Certainty ×1 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salsu | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 45 |
| 2 | Ansi | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 36 |
| 3 | Hwangsanbeol | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 40 |
| 4 | Gwiju | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 43 |
| 5 | Hansan Island | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 43 |
| 6 | Jinju | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 35 |
| 7 | Haengju | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 35 |
| 8 | Myeongnyang | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 44 |
| 9 | Noryang | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 |
| 10 | Namhansanseong | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 42 |
| 11 | Pusan Perimeter | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 44 |
| 12 | Inchon | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 42 |
| 13 | Chosin Reservoir | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 38 |
Close calls
Five battles came close and did not make the guide:
Baekgang, 663. The Tang fleet trapped the Japanese ships sent to restore Baekje at the mouth of the Baekgang and, by the Korean encyclopedia’s count, burned 400 of them; the restoration collapsed, and Japan pulled all its troops out of Korea and built defensive forts at home. It is remembered more in Japan, as Hakusukinoe, than in Korea, and misses on 32 points.29
Chungju, 1592. Sin Rip drew up his army with the river at its back at Tangeumdae, where rice fields hampered his cavalry, and Konishi Yukinaga’s troops routed it; Sin Rip drowned himself, and King Seonjo fled Seoul for the north. Koreans remember it as a disaster rather than a battle to be proud of, and it misses on 32 points.30
Chilcheollyang, 1597. Won Gyun led about 160 ships to sea and lost almost all of them; he and the admirals Yi Eok-gi and Choe Ho were killed, and only Bae Seol escaped with 12 warships, the only defeat of the Joseon navy in the war. It is told in the Myeongnyang entry above and misses on 33 points.31
Imjin River, 1951. From 22 to 25 April 1951 the British 29th Brigade held the Imjin line against three Chinese divisions, and the Gloucestershire Regiment, surrounded on Hill 235, was mostly captured; the stand bought time to block the Chinese drive on Seoul. It is a legend in Britain, but Korean readers know it far less than their own army’s battles, and it misses on 33.32
White Horse Hill, 1952. For ten days, from 6 to 15 October 1952, the South Korean 9th Division held Hill 395 near Cheorwon against the Chinese 38th Army; the hill changed hands seven times in twelve rounds of fighting. The division took the hill’s name, but it held one hill in a static war, and it misses on 32 points.33
Why is Admiral Yi Sun-sin so famous?
Three of the 13 battles in this guide are his: Hansan Island, Myeongnyang and Noryang. Yi Sun-sin commanded the Joseon navy against the invasion ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi from 1592 to 1598. His victories at sea gave Joseon command of the southern coast; he was imprisoned by his own court in 1597, restored to command after the fleet was destroyed at Chilcheollyang, won again at Myeongnyang and was killed at Noryang in 1598. Korea remembers him as its best-known national hero.34
Victories and defeats alike
This is not a list of one side's triumphs. Hwangsanbeol ended the kingdom of Baekje, and Namhansanseong made Joseon a tributary of the Qing. Myeongnyang was fought with only 13 warships because the rest of the Joseon fleet had been destroyed at Chilcheollyang two months earlier, Noryang let the Japanese army finish its withdrawal, and Chosin was a Chinese strategic victory remembered in the West for a breakout. Korea, China and Japan remember these battles differently, and the entries say how.
