Righteous armies

Righteous armies were important during the war as a significant portion of the expected government organized resistance had been destroyed in Gyeongsang and Chungcheong Provinces by the Japanese forces at the outset.

Many of the district officers had obtained their commissions through bribery or influence, and were essentially incompetent or cowards, evidence in their own performance and of their units in the early days of the conflict.

Japanese strategies were based on the premise that the people of Korea would submit to them and assist their supply line by giving their food.

Second, the creativity of the righteous army was for the defense of the local people and their relatives, and furthermore, it was the manifestation of national sentiment for Japan's barbarity.

During the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, the righteous army chiefs were at the top of society in the provinces and served as spiritual leaders, and economically, they were small and medium-sized landowners and had an organic connection with farmers through land.

The reason was that after the Imjin War, political turmoil, economic collapse, and social unrest continued, resulting in no sense of unity between the authorities and the people centered on the dynasty.

Mock activities were carried out in the rear areas of Honam and Yeongnam, but they were disbanded when Injo gave in to the Qing dynasty while heading to the northern battlefield.

The Japanese colonial authorities fought with rifles, state-of-the-art cannons, machine guns, repeaters, mounted cavalry reconnaissance units in the mountains, and an entrenched class of informers and criminals developed over the previous decade before the battles began.

In one period, according to Japanese records in Boto Tobatsu-shi (Annals of the Subjugation of the Insurgent), between October 1907 and April 1908, over 1,908 attacks were made by the Korean people against the invaders.

Smugglers from Japan as well supplied Murada weapons, with links to anti-Meiji forces who hoped to see Ito and his clan toppled in the wake of disasters in the Japanese economy.

Among the troops were former government soldiers, poor peasants, fishermen, tiger hunters, miners, merchants, and laborers.

In 1907, the Righteous Army under the command of Yi In-yeong amassed 10,000 troops to liberate Seoul and defeat the Japanese.

The Righteous Army was no match for two infantry divisions of 20,000 Japanese soldiers backed by warships moored near Incheon.

Many of the surviving guerrilla and anti-Japanese government troops fled to Manchuria and Primorsky Krai to carry on their fight.