Navy captain Jeong Bal (정발, 鄭撥, 1553–1592) was a

Joseon dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

navy captain who commanded a garrison at Busan port.

Death

He was killed in action in 1592, during the

Siege of Busan Japanese army sacks the city of Busan. The siege of Busanjin was a battle fought at Busan on 24 May 1592, between Japanese and Korean forces. The attacks on Busan and the neighboring fort of Dadaejin were the first battles of the Japanese inv ...

, while defending the garrison from elements of the Japanese vanguard, led by the Christian warlord Konishi Yukinaga. Eventually, his entire battalion was overrun and massacred by Japanese forces. He was the first high-ranking officer to be killed in combat during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). Some Korean accounts of the war say that Jeong fled the battle rather than fight, but the accepted version is that he stayed and died fighting the invaders. Nanjungjaprok contains the witness reports of survivors of the Siege of Busan, in which the survivors claimed that Jeong stood his ground instead of running. There is a statue of him defending the city in the centre of Busan.Turnbull, Stephen: ''Samurai Invasion. Japan's Korean War 1592–98'' (London, 2002), Cassell & Co He was enshrined in the

Chungnyeolsa (Busan) Chungnyeolsa is a sacred shrine, where the spirits of those who fought against the Japanese troops during the Japanese invasions of Korea of 1592, are enshrined. The present Chungnyeolsa was first built in 1605 (the 38th year of the reign under ...

in 1624.Busan's official website, Pride of Busan subsection

Retrieved 4 June 2007.

References

1553 births 1592 deaths Korean generals People of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) {{mil-hist-stub