First Stage of Invasion
- invasion begins in May 1592
- the Japanese initially have enormous success
- Pusan falls in one day -- many Korean commanders abandon their posts
- Seoul falls three weeks after the invasion -- the Korean King flees from Seoul
- by July, Japanese forces had reached P'yŏngyang
- the Japanese forces treated conquered areas of Korea as though they were Japanese territory
- they taxed the peasants
- confiscated their weapons
- ruthlessly put down any insurrections
Problems with invasion
- the rapid Japanese expansion led to several weaknesses in Japanese control over Korea
- their troops were spread out -- this left their lines of communication and supply vulnerable to attack
- they did not have sufficient force to deal with guerrilla resistance
- Ming dynasty China responds
- cannot respond immediately because of problems with Mongols in western China
- but they are able to enter the Koren theatre in force in February 1593
- Japanese are completely surprised
- driven out of P'yôngyang -- within a week they are driven back as far as Seoul
- they hold onto Seoul for another week and then set fire to city rather than let it fall into Chinese hands
- Japanese forces regroup and retake Seoul, but cannot move north -- retreat again to Pusan
