Yi Gwal - Background

Background

In 1622, he joined the Injo revolution, which was a movement in Korea to get rid of the government of King Gwanghaegun, who advocated evenhanded diplomacy between the Ming and the Qing. At that time, the Han Ming Dynasty had recently fallen to the invading Jurchen, who had renamed themselves the Manchu. Historically, Korea was in a long time conflict with the semi-nomadic Jurchen tribes, who inhabited the wide plains of Manchuria. They took Liaoning during the late Ming and established the Later Jin dynasty.

Yi Gwal revealed his military genius during the revolution, and was one of the first to capture the capital of Hanyang and exile Gwanghaegun. However, despite his amazing victories in the revolution, he was rewarded only as a second class helper and neglected by the King.

As the relations with Later Jin deteriorated, the Korean government sent Yi Gwal to the border of Pyongan Province to ward off invasions. There, Yi strengthened the walls and fortresses around the border and maintained strict military order. Moreover, recent historians argue that the reason Injo sent Yi Gwal to the border was not due to political crisis. The popular argument states that Injo was very aware of Yi Gwal's talented skills and sent him north to give him the command of a powerful army of Korea.

Out of the fifteen thousand troops stationed in the northern border, Yi Gwal had command of ten thousand, stationed in Yongbyon while the five thousand stayed with General Jang Man in Pyongyang.