Korea Research Paper

Although with the assistance of China, Korea was free from the occupation of Japan. However, as the main battlefield, Korea was the biggest victim in this war. suffered from casualties and population loss, social destruction and cultural loss, and significant economic retrogression.

Firstly, Korea suffered heavy casualties and population loss. A great number of individuals were killed, enslaved, or sold. Two million people, including solider and citizens, were killed during the war, they were killed by invaders, famine, or diseases, taking up approximately twenty percent of the whole population. Also, samurais caught people from various parts of Korea to be slaves-“Japanese also captured and enslaved...fifty thousand Korean.” For women slaves,

Cities and buildings were plundered and ruined. Daejeonsa Temple, built by famous monk Uisang, was burnt to the ground by Japanese invaders in 1358. Also, Japanese soldiers were divided into six units, stole and robbed a lot of documents, books, paintings, valuable metals, and handicrafts, especially potteries, and sold them for money. “Japanese merchants sold some to Portuguese merchants anchored offshore and took the rest to Japan.” Since pottery and printing were both more advanced in Korea, both techniques were introduced to Japan. The plunder to the countries caused severe cultural loss to Korea; for example, nearly all treasures in “Korean national treasure”- Magoksa Five-story Stone Pagoda were robbed, and they were not tracked back till now. Valuable documents such as the original drafts of The True Records of Ri dynasty was disappeared. The effects of the destruction of these buildings and the loss of the documents were irreparable and long-lasting: burnt buildings could be rebuilt, but lost culture could never be

Within the countries, the war was a heavy blow to agriculture. “About four fifth of the land was laid waste,...which lead to a tremendous drop in production and government revenue”, the war turned the land unusable. Land was reclaimed by those survivors, due to the reduction in people, they gained more land. However, because the loss of human labors and cultivated land, agricultural in Korea after the war collapsed. Due to its collapse, the revenue on land were not able to be collected, and thus the country was short of money. It took a century for agriculture in Korea to revive, and after 250 years, the palace was still not able to be rebuilt. In terms of trade with other countries, due to the hatred between Korea and Japan, trade was cut off untill the Treaty of Kiyu was sign in 1609, and thus limited trade was allowed between two