Exhibition on Admiral Yi Sun-sin to open at the National Museum of Korea
Published: 27 Nov. 2025, 15:54
Updated: 30 Nov. 2025, 16:48
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- LEE JIAN
- [email protected]
![Visitors to the preview of "The Great Admiral Yi Sun-sin" exhibit view portraits of Yi at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Nov. 27. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/30/bcd6cb4c-baa9-48ac-809c-49f70a6c09f3.jpg)
Visitors to the preview of "The Great Admiral Yi Sun-sin" exhibit view portraits of Yi at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Nov. 27. [NEWS1]
The National Museum of Korea’s new exhibition on Admiral Yi Sun-sin (1545-98) will spotlight both the professional and personal aspects of the naval hero, its curators said on Thursday.
“The Great Admiral Yi Sun-sin,” opening Friday, features 258 artifacts, including the original copy of Yi’s handwritten war diary, “Nanjung Ilgi”; “Chingbirok” (1647), the first-hand account of the Imjin War written by high-ranking Joseon scholar-official Yu Sŏngnyong (1542-1607); and Yi’s swords.
Yi was a naval commander of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) who famously led Korea’s navy against the series of Japanese invasions between 1592 and 1598, collectively known as the Imjin War. Although vastly outnumbered, his fleet never lost a single naval battle. The admiral died during the war’s final engagement.
![Admiral Yi Sun-sin's swords [NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/30/6b0433df-51b7-492d-8797-f350138d7c16.jpg)
Admiral Yi Sun-sin's swords [NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]
While there have been many exhibitions devoted to Yi, this is the first presented by the National Museum of Korea. It commemorates both the 480th anniversary of Yi’s birth and the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation.
“Yi Sun-sin is someone who turned moments of the impossible into possibility,” curator Seo Yoon-hee told reporters at the museum in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Thursday. “His anguish in the face of defeat, despair and overwhelming crisis — his struggle not to collapse and his resolve to rise again — resonates deeply with us today.”
The show unfolds in four sections, beginning with how Yi prepared for the Imjin War, moving on to his victories at Myeongnyang (1597) to his final battle at Noryang (1598). It then traces his life in the admiral’s own words through his personal artifacts, like the “Nanjung Ilgi” and letters, and explores how Yi has been remembered — immediately after his death and into modern times.
The exhibit notably presents 20 artifacts — 34 individual pieces — belonging to Yi’s descendants, including the Admiral’s sword. It also examines the war through Japanese artifacts preserved by daimyo families — the feudal lords of Japan — such as helmets, spears and portraits and wooden statues of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-98), the warlord who led the invasions.
![Nanjung Ilgi, otherwise known as the handwritten war diaries by Yi Sun-sin during the Imjin War (1592-8)[NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/30/cb1e8449-5872-45a6-8c03-c3c4d31113c1.jpg)
Nanjung Ilgi, otherwise known as the handwritten war diaries by Yi Sun-sin during the Imjin War (1592-8)[NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]
Equally central to the exhibition is the human side of Yi, said Seo.
“We know Yi Sun-sin as a never-failing legend, but the breadth of artifacts here reveals his more complex facets: his poetic sensibilities, his deep devotion to family and his long nights wrestling with a heavy sense of duty and fear.”
You Hong-june, the director of the National Museum of Korea, added that the exhibition is not merely a tribute to a historic figure but an opportunity for visitors to reflect on their own lives through the records Yi left behind.
“Admiral Yi’s writings are a record of war, of his inner life and of the ways a human being endures hardship,” he said. “I hope this special exhibition will serve as a record of encouragement — one that supports the hearts of all who strive to overcome difficulties.”
BY LEE JIAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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