임진전쟁 초기 이광의 활동과 용인전투에 대한 재고

Abstract

In June 1592, Joseon army led by Yi Gwang, the governor of Jeolla Province, was defeated by Japanese army, in the vicinity of Yongin. The battle, which is called as the Battle of Yongin, has been recorded as one of the most humiliating defeats that Joseon experienced. And Yi Gwang, who led the battle as the governor of Jeolla Province, was remembered as an incompetent general who ran away from thousand of enemy despite superior numbers of soldiers under his commands. Yet in the description for war history, it is not suitable to assign whole blame for a lost battle to one certain person. Before the battle of Yongin, Joseon army had faced many difficulties. In terms of military mobilization, morale, general sentiment on the war and even military tactics, Joseon army was at a big disadvantage. Nevertheless, evaluation on Yi Gwang afterwards was full of obloquy, which criticized him as ‘a runaway general.’ It menat paradoxically, that Joseon government and her people counted him a lot. Also, the situation should be considered, where the Joseon army took strick precautions against the act of desertion from battle field. His activities were seen in a negative light and was symbolized as a historic failure and shame, with the literati of Joseon exaggerating his faults. One should, however, distinguish historical facts during the battle both from the evaluation of contemporary people and from the later criticism. Of course, as a leader of mobilized force, the supreme commander should hold the responsibility for the result of one battle. Yet it is not reasonable to make a naive assumption, that the battle could have been a ‘won battle’ if the leader was not ‘him’, under the premise that ‘the supreme commander is the only reason of defeat.’ Before impute the responsibility for defeat to someone, one should doubt if the battle had any factor for victory and see if there existed any strategy for minimize the loss.