My name is Daniel.

     I was an English teacher in Seoul, South Korea, and now I am a writer and scholar who has written 

    three books including South Korea: Our Story by Daniel Nardini.

     His name is legendary on the Korean peninsula and among the Korean people. Admiral Yi Sun Shin has been immortalized throughout Korean history since what the Koreans call the Imjin War(1592-1598).

     His tactics at defeating the Japanese naval fleets were brilliant, and without him the Imjin War might have dragged on longer or the Koreans might have lost. Yet there is one thing that is not always acknowledged among Korean historians and that is the immense Ming Chinese contribution to helping the Koreans defeat the Japanese. It is important to note that without the Chinese, Korea would have most likely been subdued by the Japanese. 

      Fearing that the Japanese would invade Chinese territory, the Ming Emperor Wanli sent a force of 400,000 Chinese soldiers to aid the Koreans. 

      This allied force of Chinese and Koreans was important in defeating the Japanese on land and driving the Japanese all the way back to Busan. 

      In fact, the Chinese General Li Rusong was placed in command of all Chinese and Korean forces by the Joseon court. 

      In the battle of Noryang, Yi Sun Shin had a Ming fleet of at least 27 large war junks led by Chinese Admiral Chen Lin. 

      Without the Chinese, it is most unlikely that Korea would have been able to defeat the Japanese,and that eventually Korea would have become a colony of Japan centuries earlier.