Who is who in the War Diary
This is a story of the battlefield and just as much a story of the court and the family behind it. The people around Yi Sun-sin are grouped by their place here. Start with whoever you are curious about and jump straight to the chapters they appear in.
Those who fought beside him 4
People who stood on the same sea as Yi Sun-sin, Joseon officers and one Ming admiral alike.
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Yi Sun-sin
the man who kept this diary. Appointed commander of the Left Jeolla Navy, he had spent the year drilling his fleet, and when the war broke out he chose to sail beyond his own waters into Gyeongsang
Relations son of Lady Byeon · father of Yi Myeon
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Chen Lin
admiral of the Ming navy. In 1598 he arrives at Gogeumdo with some four hundred ships and five thousand men to fight alongside the Korean fleet
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Bae Seol
commander of the Right Gyeongsang Navy. On the night Chilcheollyang fell he led the twelve ships under his command out of the battle, and those ships become the whole of what the navy has left
Appears in -
Deng Zilong
an aged Ming naval commander. At Noryang he fights aboard a Korean warship and dies when friendly fire sets it alight
Appears in
The court 4
The king and his ministers. Far from the sea, they decide his fate all the same.
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King Seonjo
the 14th king of Joseon. He appoints Yi Sun-sin as commander of the Three Provinces' Navy, but later comes to suspect him as well
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Yu Seong-ryong
chief state councillor and supreme field commander. A longtime supporter of Yi Sun-sin, he speaks in his defense at court
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Gwon Yul
supreme field commander of Joseon's land forces. He helps in Yi Sun-sin's rescue and later takes him in as a disgraced soldier under his command
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Jeong Tak
junior state councillor. He saves Yi Sun-sin from execution with a memorial called the singucha
Appears in
His rival 1
On the same side, yet the one who contested his place.
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Won Gyun
commander of the Right Gyeongsang Navy. Having lost nearly his whole fleet to the invasion, he sends an urgent request for Yi Sun-sin's help
Family 2
The people who filled his life apart from the war.
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Yi Myeon
Yi Sun-sin's youngest son. He dies fighting Japanese troops at Asan in 1597, and the news reaches his father in camp about ten days later
Relations son of Yi Sun-sin
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Lady Byeon
Yi Sun-sin's mother. Traveling by boat to see her son, she dies aboard ship at the age of eighty-three
Relations mother of Yi Sun-sin
Appears in