Gwak Jaeu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gwak Jaeu

Hangul	곽재우
Hanja	郭再祐
Revised Romanization	Gwak Jae-u
McCune-Reischauer	Kwak Chaeu

Courtesy name

Hangul	계수
Hanja	季綬
Revised Romanization	Gyesu
McCune-Reischauer	Kyesu

Posthumous name

Hangul	충익
Hanja	忠翼
Revised Romanization	Chungik
McCune-Reischauer	Ch'ungik

General Gwak Jae-u (1552 – 1617) was a Korean patriot from Uiryeong; in 1592, nine days into Japanese invasions of Korea, he formed a militia to fight against the Japanese army. He was originally common people, but the King Seonjo granted him government service.

1 Raising an army
2 Trivia
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Raising an army

Gwak Jae-u disrupted Japanese supply lines around the Nakdong River in many guerrilla actions. Gwak also had the distinction of winning Korea's first land victory of the war: The Battle of Uiryeong. In part of a two-pronged offensive into Jeolla, Ankokuji Ekei led 6th division men from the south. Ankokuji needed to cross the Nam River to reach Uiryeong, an objective. He had his men find the shallowest parts of the river and mark them with stakes. While Ankokuji's army slept, Gwak's men moved the stakes to deeper sections of the river. When the crossing began, the Japanese soldiers foundered in the deep water, and Gwak's army attacked then. In multiple attempts to cross, Ankokuji suffered many losses, and was forced to abandon his attack on Uiryeong. The battle gave the Korean government respect for Gwak's abilities, and he was placed in command of the Korean forces in and around Uiryeong and the nearby Samga.

[edit] Trivia

In 1597 in the Battle of Hwawangsan. he defended the Hwawangsan Mountain Fortress.^[1]

There is a statue of Gwak Jae-u in Mang-u Park in Daegu^[1].

Gwak Jae-u's pen name was Mang-udang. He was called the "Red Robe General" (천강홍의장군, 天降紅衣將軍) after his habit of wearing red costumes dyed with blood of maidens murdered by japanese and riding a white horse in battle.^[2]