AH: Yi Sun-Sin executed in 1597

There were many instances that the competent, loyal Admiral Yi Sun-Sin was stripped of command and rank, tried for trumped-up charges by jealous officials and military officers, sentenced to death only to escape death time after time, because he had a close relationship with Yu Seong-ryong, the Korean PM at the time. The most notable and the most closest that Yi Sun-Sin was being executed was in 1597, when he's arrested when he refused to act on dubious information from Japanese 'Double-agent'. So what happen if Yi Sun-Sin was executed in that instance? How will it affect the Japanese invasion into Korea? How it will affect the history of east Asia? Post your opinions.
 
I think the relationship between the Korean Government and Korean populace would be heavily strained, especially after the execution of Yi Sun-Sin. My belief is that people will believe that Yi Sun-Sin was stabbed in the back by a corrupt, fractured government and a weak, cowardly king
 
Unless there's someone else with a brain to lead the Korean forces - someone - then Joseon still has some hope of forcing off the Japanese. If not, it's likely the Japanese will overrun the country before the Ming bails them out. The level of corruption, politicking and imaginary lead poisoning in the court was that ridiculous, and I'd say, a worse threat to Yi Sun-Sin than the Japanese.
 
Unless there's someone else with a brain to lead the Korean forces - someone - then Joseon still has some hope of forcing off the Japanese. If not, it's likely the Japanese will overrun the country before the Ming bails them out. The level of corruption, politicking and imaginary lead poisoning in the court was that ridiculous, and I'd say, a worse threat to Yi Sun-Sin than the Japanese.
Well, there was the Korean general, Gwon Ryul who was another lengendary figure from the war, who won battles despite the enemy's numerical and technological supeiority
 
The 1597 episode is during the 2nd half of the war, after the peace talks. The Japanese were far less successful in this part and failed to reach even the central part of the peninsula before retreating. The Ming were in the peninsula as well, unlike in the 1st half of the war, so it's doubtful the Japanese could've done much more than they did OTL, considering Hideyoshi is close to dead by this point and both sides were tiring of the pointless conflict that didn't see anyone gain a huge amount like they were promised. At best, the Japanese get a bit further into the peninsula but then it'd turn into a protracted stalemate like the end of the first half of the war. The war's not likely to go long past Hideyoshi's death; his megalomania was the cause of it and it's far more of a drain and slog than promised. The Jianzhou Jurchens and Tokugawa benefit from this (not fighting and getting time to consolidate), the Ming and Toyotomi suffer (spending resources fighting, aren't able to check their rebellious underlings due to lack of focus) and Joseon history manages to get that much more depressing with even worse famines. The greater devastation might prevent the Injo Coup by virtue of not being able to help either Ming nor Jin, however, which does help the Joseon a bit more by virtue of avoiding King Injo and the subsequent Manchu mistakes.

I think the relationship between the Korean Government and Korean populace would be heavily strained, especially after the execution of Yi Sun-Sin. My belief is that people will believe that Yi Sun-Sin was stabbed in the back by a corrupt, fractured government and a weak, cowardly king
I've heard some Koreans say precisely. One theory is that Admiral Yi, rather than die by being shot by a Japanese gun, actually offed himself following the Battle of Noryang Point because he figured it be better to go down as a war hero than to be executed for some nonsense the moment he arrived back in the capital (since King Seonjo tried to do that anyways). Not sure of the veracity of the claim but it's reasonable enough, seeing how Admiral Yi was treated even when his service was needed by the court.

But yeah, overall, the second phase of the invasion's not likely to see the conquest of Korea, just based on how it petered out OTL. The first half, maybe, but it's still worth noting the Japanese went from Busan to Pyongyang in a few months and then lost everything to Hanseong in an equally short period of time. A decent army and strategy means no easy conquest and years of bogged down warfare for the invading force, with or without a brilliant leader.
 
In this timeline, Korea and it's government is in a lot worse situation. Although the Koreans, along with the Chinese threw off the Japanese off the Korean peninsula, the Koreans will be in a terrible situation. Famines, high civilian and military deaths and broken economy. The already fractured government will a lot weaker situation and have there's less trust between the Korean populace and government, since A) they executed Yi Sun-Sin for bullshit reasoning and Yi Sun-Sin was a loyal and competent war hero, compared to the corrupt and incompetent officers that were running the military at that time (except Gwon Ryul) and B) the king is perceived as a coward who run away, instead of facing the Japanese and the government was seen as corrupt and fractured, with each faction want to enrich themselves, rather than defend Korea from the Japanese.
 

raharris1973

Gone Fishin'
Donor
Monthly Donor
The Chinese and Koreans in these centuries were nuts about executing officers, for losing, or winning in the wrong way. It seems like contemporaneous European and Japanese generals were not killed so much by their own governments. Not sure about Islamic Empire's generals.
 

samcster94

Banned
The Chinese and Koreans in these centuries were nuts about executing officers, for losing, or winning in the wrong way. It seems like contemporaneous European and Japanese generals were not killed so much by their own governments. Not sure about Islamic Empire's generals.
With the Turks at least, they often got into brother v. brother fights. On topic, The Japanese probably would still lose as they were fighting a medieval Korean War and their puppet state even had similar boundaries to modern South Korea.
 
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