Battle of the Imjin River (1592)

Battle of Imjin River (1592)
Part of Imjin War
Date May 17–18 (Lunar Calendar) 1592 Location Imjin River Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Joseon Korea	Toyotomi Japan
Commanders and leaders
Kim Myeong-won Yi Il Yi Yang-won Yu Geuk-ryang † Sin Hal †	Katō Kiyomasa Konishi Yukinaga Kuroda Nagamasa Mori Terumoto Ukita Hideie Kuki Yoshitaka
Strength
13,000 Korean Army [1]	10,000
Casualties and losses
Heavy	unknown

The Battle of Imjin River (Japanese: 臨津江の戦い) was a battle during the 1592 Japanese invasion of Korea. It resulted in a Japanese victory.

In the Fall of 1592, King Seonjo left Hanseong shortly before the arrival of Japanese vanguard led by Katō Kiyomasa, which forded the Han River in what is today Yongsan. At this time, the Korean public already abandoned the king and the minister, and cooperation with the Japanese army was becoming more common. Moreover, when the reinforcing Ming army retreated, the people that suffered were the civilians. Gyeongbokgung had already become ashes before the Japanese army marched through the gates, and Korean slaves greeted them as a liberation army, and set fire to the building that kept the slaves' ledger. Following the sack of the city, Katō built an imposing Japanese castle on the Namsan mountain overlooking Seoul on what is today the site of the City Library. Seonjo and his court retreated north to Pyongyang and eventually China on foot while harassed by peasants who felt abandoned.

Reaching the Imjin, and hearing of Japanese pursuit, they forded the river at night. As it was dark, they decided to burn the pavilion near the Imjin ford. The burning pavilion provided enough light to allow the King's party to ford the river and reach Gaeseong by morning. Little did he know that the burning pavilion was the retirement home of Yi I the late prominent scholar who had strongly petitioned to strengthen national security by enlarging the armed forces to 100,000 men, only ten years before. Yi I was dead by this time, but his retirement home provided for the King's safe retreat across the Imjin.

As the King reached Kaesong and continued north towards Pyeongyang, the northern cavalry from Hamgyeong province finally arrived. Being battle-hardened veterans of numerous border clashes against the Jurchens of Manchuria, the cavalry forces quickly moved to the Imjin River, where the forces of Katō Kiyomasa in pursuit of the king had camped on the southern bank, awaiting to ford the river. There the forces faced each other in a stalemate.

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