Yi Mong-hak Rebellion

In 1596, while Ming and Japan were negotiating peace during the Imjin War, Yi Mong-hak, an illegitimate descendant of the royal house, rose in revolt at Hongsan in Chungcheong. The revolt collapsed before Hongju fortress, and the righteous-army leader Kim Deok-ryeong died in prison after being implicated.

As the war dragged on, famine and epidemics spread, and supplying grain and labour for the armies made life still harder. In the 7th lunar month of 1596, while Ming and Japan were negotiating peace, Yi Mong-hak, an illegitimate descendant of the royal family, formed a society called the Donggaphoe, gathered peasants and others, and rose at Hongsan. The rebels took Hongsan, Imcheon, Jeongsan, Cheongyang, Daeheung and other counties, but when the Hongju magistrate Hong Ga-sin held Hongju fortress they scattered, and Yi was killed by his own men.

In the hunt for accomplices that followed, the righteous-army leader Kim Deok-ryeong, whose name the rebels had invoked, was arrested and died in prison under torture. Righteous-army leaders grew wary after this, and the revolt shows how shaken popular feeling was in wartime.