The Imjin War (1592–1598): Its Traces at Seoul's Palaces and Jongmyo

The war in four points

• ⚔️Two invasions

  The first campaign began in 1592; renewed invasion in 1597 is called the Jeongyu War, but it is usually included within the Imjin War.

• 🏯A rapid northern advance

  Japanese forces landed at Busan and advanced quickly while Joseon's mobilisation and field defences broke down.

• 🌊Resistance had several fronts

  Joseon's navy, local volunteer armies and Ming forces all changed the course of the war; no single battle explains the reversal.

• 🧭The landscape still records it

  Palaces, fortresses, shrines and museums across Korea preserve different parts of the conflict and its aftermath.

The first invasion began in the Imjin year of 1592, which supplied the Korean name Imjin War. The renewed invasion of 1597 is separately called the Jeongyu War, yet standard Korean usage generally treats both campaigns as one conflict ending in 1598.

That distinction helps when reading labels. A site dated to 1592 belongs to the first advance; a reference to 1597–1598 belongs to the second campaign. “The Imjin War” may refer to the entire seven-year span.

Japan prepared a large expedition after Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the country. Joseon had received warnings, but court disagreement, weakened military arrangements and late defence measures left the state unable to respond consistently.

The first division reached the waters off Busan on 14 April 1592 and entered Busanpo that day. Japanese forces then moved north through several routes. Reports reached the court slowly, locally assembled troops lacked training and supply, and the defence at Chungju failed. The court left the capital while Gwanghaegun was named crown prince and assigned a role in maintaining wartime government.

It is tempting to reduce this collapse to one factional dispute or one ignored warning. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture's account instead shows several failures operating together: preparation, command, mobilisation, communications and logistics.

The loss of the capital did not end organised resistance. Local volunteer armies attacked occupation forces and supply lines. Ming troops entered the war on Joseon's side. At sea, Joseon's fleet disrupted the maritime routes on which the invading armies depended.

Naval victories at Hansando and Angolpo prevented an advance into the West Sea and strengthened Joseon's control of the southern waters. Those operations are essential to the war's course, but they were one part of a wider response that also included government armies, local fighters and allied troops.

This is where the two articles separate. The present page follows the interaction of those forces; the Yi Sun-sin article examines how one commander prepared, chose battle conditions, lost command and returned.

Peace negotiations began after the first campaign stalled, but they did not produce a durable settlement. Japan invaded again in 1597. Joseon's navy suffered a major defeat after Yi Sun-sin was removed from command; following his return, the victory at Myeongnyang blocked a westward naval advance.

The fighting ended in 1598 as Japanese forces withdrew after Hideyoshi's death. The war had devastated settlements, farmland and cultural property, displaced people and altered the regional balance among Joseon, Japan and Ming China. A timeline of victories alone therefore misses much of what the war meant to those who lived through it.

In Seoul, palace reconstruction is the clearest visible layer. The palaces burned during the first invasion, but they did not all return on the same schedule. Changdeokgung became the principal working palace after its reconstruction, while Gyeongbokgung remained largely vacant until its nineteenth-century rebuilding.

The surviving records disagree over responsibility for the palace fires. The Revised Veritable Records of Seonjo associates them with fires set after the royal departure, while a Japanese campaign diary presents a different account. The destruction is established; the perpetrator should not be stated as settled.

Beyond Seoul, Jinju, Haengju, Hansando, Myeongnyang and Noryang each represent a different front. Treat them as parts of a national conflict rather than stops in a single hero narrative.

The four Seoul sites below — Changdeokgung, Gyeongbokgung, Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo — are all in Jongno-gu. Each keeps its own opening hours and closing day, so check the tables below and each site's notices before you plan the day.

Changdeokgung opening hours

The rear garden (Huwon) is separate timed-entry admission, capped at 100 people per slot per language — 50 online and 50 on the door — so it is not covered by these hours.

Source: Royal Palaces and Tombs Centre — visiting hours · Aug 7, 2026

Gyeongbokgung opening hours

Source: Royal Palaces and Tombs Centre — opening hours · Aug 4, 2026

Changgyeonggung opening hours

Two details are published separately and are not the palace's hours: the Yulgok-ro gate opens on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and Culture Day with an earlier entry cut-off (17:00 to 18:00 depending on the month), and visitors are moved into the designated evening zone at 17:30 in November-February, 18:00 in March-May and September-October, and 18:30 in June-August.

Source: Royal Palaces and Tombs Centre — visiting hours · Aug 7, 2026

Jongmyo opening hours

Closed Tuesdays — the same day as Gyeongbokgung, not the Monday the other palaces keep. The hours above are the self-guided days: Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and Culture Day, the last Wednesday of each month. Self-guided translates 자유관람 and means unescorted, not free of charge — the ordinary admission fee applies on every open day. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays the shrine is normally open only by timed guided tour, which departs at fixed times and takes about an hour. One dated exception is in force: because of extreme heat, self-guided entry is also being allowed on timed-tour days through July and August 2026, so recheck the format for September onward.

Source: Royal Palaces and Tombs Centre — visiting hours · Aug 7, 2026

Places that help explain the war

• 

  Changdeokgung Palace

  Changdeokgung shows how the capital's palace system was rebuilt after the wartime destruction.

• 

  Gyeongbokgung Palace

  Gyeongbokgung remained unreconstructed for centuries, making the gap after 1592 part of its history.

• 

  Changgyeonggung Palace

  Changgyeonggung burned with the other principal palaces and was rebuilt beside Changdeokgung.

• 

  Jongmyo Shrine

  Jongmyo was destroyed during the invasion and rebuilt, linking the war to the restoration of Joseon's royal rites.

Frequently asked questions