Gwon Yul
| Kwon Yul | |
| Hangul | 권율 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 權慄 |
| Revised Romanization | Gwon Yul |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kwŏn Ryul |
| Courtesy name | |
| Hangul | 언신 |
| Hanja | 彦愼 |
| Revised Romanization | Eonsin |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ŏnsin |
| Posthumous name | |
| Hangul | 충장 |
| Hanja | 忠莊 |
| Revised Romanization | Chungjang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'ungjang |
Kwon Yul (1537–1599) was a Korean Army General and the Commander-in-chief (도원수; 導元帥) of Korea, who successfully led the Korean forces against Japan during the Japanese invasions of Korea (임진왜란). He is best known for the Battle of Haengju (행주대첩; 幸州大捷) where he defeated a force of about 30,000 Japanese with 2,800 troops.
Kwon Yul hailed from the prestigious Andong Kwon clan (안동권씨; 安東權氏); his father, Kwon Cheol (권철), was the Yeonguijeong (영의정, 領議政), the equivalent of Prime Minister of the Korean court. However, Kwon did not begin his political or military career until he was 46. In 1582, he was first appointed a position in the Korean government and promoted to several different positions including the mayor of Uiju (의주) in 1591.
When the Japanese forces invaded Korea in 1592, Kwon was appointed the mayor of Gwangju (광주; 光州), Jeolla province (전라도) and given the military command of the region. Kwon and his troops followed his commander Yi Gwang and headed towards Seoul to join the main force. However, Yi was eventually defeated by Japanese at Yongin (용인). Kwon managed to retreat back to Gwangju, and gathered around 1,000 militia.
When Japanese troops at Geumsan (금산), Jeolla province began to move to Jeonju (전주), Kwon moved his army to Ichi (배고개, 이치; 梨峙), a gateway to Jeonju. Ten thousand Japanese troops under Kobayakawa Takakage (小早川隆景) attacked Ichi. About 1,000 of Kwon's men fought and won the battle. Kwon supervised his unit by executing deserters personally, and his vanguard commander Hwang Jin (황진; 黃進) kept fighting despite a gunshot injury. The battle resulted in the recapture of the Jeolla province.
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