Japanese invasions of Korea 

Japanese invasions of Korea
The Japanese landing at Busan
Date May 23, 1592 – December 16, 1598 (Gregorian Calendar); April 13, 1592 – November 19, 1598 (Lunar calendar) Location Korean Peninsula Result Korean and Chinese strategic victory[1] Withdrawal of Japanese armies from Korean peninsula following military stalemate[2]
Belligerents
Joseon  Ming	Toyotomi regime
Commanders and leaders
Joseon Political leaders  King Seonjo  Prince Gwanghae  Ryu Seong-ryong Yun Doo-su Yi Hang-bok Military commanders  Gwon Yul  Yi Sun-sin †  Yi Eokgi †  Won Gyun †  Shin Rip †  Kim Si-min † Song Sang-hyeon † Go Gyeong-myeong † Kim Cheon-il † Jo Heon † Kim Myeong-won Yi Il Gwak Jae-u Jeong Gi-ryong Kim Deok-nyeong Yujeong Hyujeong Jeong Mun-bu Kim Chung-seon Ming Inspectors, General, Field Commanders  Emperor Wanli Chen Lin Song Yingchang Ma Gui (pr.) Yang Hao Liu Ting Li Rusong Wu Weizhong Xing Jie Yang Shaoxun Deng Zilong † Qian Shizhen et al.	Japan Political leaders  Emperor Go-Yōzei  Toyotomi Hideyoshi  Toyotomi Hidetsugu Military commanders  Toyotomi Hidekatsu  Ukita Hideie  Kobayakawa Hidetoshi  Kobayakawa Takakage  Kobayakawa Hidekane  Mōri Terumoto  Mōri Hidemoto  Mōri Yoshimasa  Mōri Yoshinari  Mōri Katsunobu  Uesugi Kagekatsu  Nabeshima Naoshige  Hosokawa Tadaoki  Katō Kiyomasa  Katō Yoshiaki  Shimazu Yoshihiro  Shimazu Toyohisa  Shimazu Tadatsune  Hachisuka Iemasa  Konishi Yukinaga  Ōtomo Yoshimasa  Tachibana Muneshige  Tachibana Naotsugu  Tsukushi Hirokado  Ankokuji Ekei  Ikoma Chikamasa  Ikoma Kazumasa  Kuroda Nagamasa  Sō Yoshitoshi  Fukushima Masanori  Toda Katsutaka  Chōsokabe Motochika  Matsura Shigenobu  Tōdō Takatora  Kurushima Michifusa †  Kurushima Michiyuki †  Arima Harunobu  Takahashi Mototane  Akizuki Tanenaga  Itō Suketaka  Kuki Yoshitaka  Wakisaka Yasuharu  Ōmura Yoshiaki  Sagara Yorifusa  Gotō Sumiharu  Ōtani Yoshitsugu  Hasegawa Hidekazu  Ikeda Hideo  Gamō Ujisato Mitaira Saemon  Ōyano Tanemoto †  Ishida Mitsunari  Asano Nagamasa  Asano Yoshinaga Mashita Nagamori Nakagawa Hidenari Nakagawa Hidemasa
Strength
Joseon: 84,500+[3]–192,000[4] (including insurgent fighters)[4] 300 ships (200 scuttled in the initial phase of the war)[5] Ming: 1st. (1592–93) 48,000[6][7] 2nd. (1597–98) 75,000–98,000 soldiers (including naval reinforcements)[8][9] Total: ~200,000[10] ~300,000[4]	Toyotomi regime: 1st. (1592) 158,800[11] (including sailors)[4] 700 transport ships[12] 300 warships[13] 2nd. (1597–98) 141,900[14] 1,000 ships (some armed with cannons)[15] Total: ~300,000[11][14]
Casualties and losses
Joseon: 1,000,000+ civilian and military deaths[4] (including 260,000+ troops killed or wounded) 20,000–100,000 captives[16] 157 ships[17] Ming: ~36,000 killed[18][19]	Toyotomi regime: 100,000+[4] unknown captives[16] 460+ ships[20]

The Japanese invasions of Korea of 1592–1598 or Imjin War involved two separate yet linked invasions: an initial invasion in 1592 (Imjin Disturbance), a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 (Chongyu War). The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of the Japanese forces^[1][21] from the Korean Peninsula after a military stalemate^[22] in Korea's southern coastal provinces.^[23] It ultimately resulted in Joseon Korean and Ming Chinese victory and the expulsion of Japan from the peninsula.

The invasions were launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with the intent of conquering the Korean Peninsula and China, which were respectively ruled by the Joseon and Ming dynasties. Japan quickly succeeded in occupying large portions of the Korean Peninsula, but the contribution of reinforcements by the Ming,^[24][25][26] as well as the disruption of Japanese supply fleets along the western and southern coasts by the Joseon navy^{[27][28][29][30]}, forced a withdrawal of Japanese forces from Pyongyang and the northern provinces to the south in Busan and nearby regions. Afterwards, with righteous armies (Joseon civilian militias)^[31] launching guerrilla warfare against the Japanese and supply difficulties hampering both sides, neither were able to mount a successful offensive or gain any additional territory, resulting in a military stalemate. The first phase of the invasion lasted from 1592 until 1596, and was followed by ultimately unsuccessful peace negotiations between Japan and the Ming between 1596 and 1597.

In 1597, Japan renewed its offensive by invading Korea a second time. The pattern of the second invasion largely mirrored that of the first. The Japanese had initial successes on land, capturing several cities and fortresses, only to be halted and forced to withdraw to the southern coastal regions of the peninsula. However, the pursuing Ming and Joseon forces were unable to dislodge the Japanese from their remaining fortresses and entrenched positions in the southern coastal areas,^[32][33][34] where both sides again became locked in a ten-month long military stalemate.

With Hideyoshi's death in 1598, limited progress on land, and continued disruption of supply lines by the Joseon navy, the Japanese forces in Korea were ordered to withdraw back to Japan by the new governing Council of Five Elders. Final peace negotiations between the parties followed afterwards and continued for several years, ultimately resulting in the normalization of relations.^[35]

Busan (Korean pronunciation: [pusan]), formerly romanized as Pusan and now officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second-most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over approximately 3.5 million inhabitants.^[3] It is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, with its port—Korea's busiest and the fifth-busiest in the world ^[a]—only about 193 kilometers (120 mi) from the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Honshu. The surrounding "Southeast Economic Zone" (including Ulsan and South Gyeongsang) is South Korea's largest industrial area.

Busan is divided into 15 major administrative districts and a single county, together housing a population of approximately 3.6 million. The full metropolitan area, the Southeastern Maritime Industrial Region, has a population of approximately 8 million.^[5] The most densely built-up areas of the city are situated in a number of narrow valleys between the Nakdong and the Suyeong Rivers, with mountains separating most of the districts. The Nakdong is Korea's longest river and Busan's Haeundae Beach is also the country's largest.

Busan is a center for international conventions, hosting APEC in 2005. It is also a center for sports tournaments in Korea, having hosted the 2002 Asian Games and FIFA World Cup. It is home to the world's largest department store, the Shinsegae Centum City.^[6] Busan was added to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a "City of Film" in December 2014.^[7]