Volta
Conflict5–10 October 1592(Lunar)

First Siege of Jinju

Magistrate Kim Si-min held Jinju Fortress for six days with about 3,000 men against some 20,000 Japanese troops, but died of his wounds.

Victory stele of Kim Si-min, erected in Jinju Fortress in 1619
Victory stele of Kim Si-min, erected in Jinju Fortress in 1619

Kang Byeong Kee · CC BY 3.0 · Source

Jinju was the hub of western Gyeongsang and the gateway to the granary province of Jeolla. In the tenth month of 1592 the Japanese sent a large army to take it.

Magistrate Kim Si-min prepared gunpowder and cannon and resisted with soldiers and townspeople. The Japanese came on with ladders and tall siege towers, but were driven back with cannon, arrows, stones and boiling water. Outside the walls, militia sent by Gwak Jae-u and others and volunteers from Jeolla harassed the besiegers. After six days the Japanese withdrew with heavy losses. Near the end Kim was shot in the forehead, and he died soon after.

The victory secured the link between Gyeongsang and Jeolla. In the sixth month of 1593 the Japanese attacked again and took the fortress (the Second Siege of Jinju); Kim Cheon-il and Choe Gyeong-hoe were killed, and the courtesan Nongae is said to have leapt into the Nam River clasping a Japanese officer.

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States and rulers at the time
Joseon · victor — Seonjo
Japan · defeated

People

  • Kim Si-min1554 – 1592

    commander · Magistrate of Jinju who held the fortress in 1592 but died of wounds from the siege

Before and after

Earlier
1592 Battle of Busanpo
Later
1593 Recapture of Pyongyang

Themes that include this event

  • Imjin War1592 – 1598

    From the Japanese invasion to the Battle of Noryang — the righteous armies, Yi Sun-sin at sea, and Ming intervention

  • JinjuAD 685 – 1923

    Centre of western Gyeongsang — site of the sieges of Jinju, the 1862 peasant uprising and the butchers’ equality movement