5 - Atrocity and Genocide in Japan’s Invasion of Korea, 1592–1598

Summary

In 1592 Japan’s Toyotomi Hideyoshi mobilized a massive force and invaded Chosŏn Korea. Upon landing on Korea, the Japanese slaughtered almost all Koreans they could find in the fort of Pusan – an atrocity they called “a festival of blood.” In the sixth month of 1593 the Japanese attacked a local town (Chinju) and killed thousands of Koreans in it. Why did the Japanese troops commit atrocity until their invasion ended in failure in 1598? In addition to act of brutality which they had praticed for long in their country, the Japanese troops got frustrated as their war of invasion was falling apart. They directed their anger and vexation to Korean people. A widespread genocide took place in the second half of 1597 when the Japanese resumed a massive attack on Chosŏn’s southern provinces. Hideyoshi was livid that the Koreans who staged “rebellions” for defense spoiled his military campaign. Hideyoshi ordered his generals: “I will send more troops year after year, kill Koreans one by one, and empty their country.” The freewheeling atrocities the Japanese troops committed in Chosŏn reflected Hideyoshi’s senseless and ruthless push for Chosŏn’s submission to his authority that he thought was boundless.