Siege of Namwon

Also called: Tomb of Ten Thousand

In the second invasion over 50,000 Japanese entered Jeolla and surrounded Namwon. Defended by Ming and Korean troops, it fell in four days, and more than 10,000 soldiers and townspeople were killed.

Invading again in 1597, the Japanese aimed first at Jeolla, the province they had failed to enter before. With the Korean navy destroyed at Chilcheollyang and the sea lanes open, a left army of over 50,000 under Ukita Hideie and others surrounded Namwon on the 12th of the eighth month. It was held by some 3,000 Ming troops under Yang Yuan and Korean forces under Yi Bok-nam.

The Japanese filled the moat with rice cut from the surrounding paddies and scaled the walls. When the fortress fell on the 16th, Yang Yuan broke out and fled, while Yi Bok-nam and others fought to the death. The dead were buried together in the Tomb of Ten Thousand at Namwon. Jeonju then fell without a fight.