The Human Side of Admiral Yi Sun-sin: ‘Our Yi Sun-sin’ Exhibition Opens
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
A major special exhibition, “Our Yi Sun-sin,” opened at the National Museum of Korea to mark the 80th Liberation anniversary and the 480th anniversary of Admiral Yi Sun-sin’s birth. The show reunites 369 artifacts (258 items) including rare originals from the Yi family—such as the Nanjung Ilgi (난중일기, wartime diary), Imjin Jangcho (임진장초, official war reports), personal swords, and other national treasures and designated cultural properties—offering a comprehensive portrait of Yi not only as the invincible naval hero (성웅) but as a deeply human figure marked by grief, doubt, and duty. Visitors can see battlefield relics, personal writings revealing his sorrow over family loss and the weight of command, and overseas objects from Japanese daimyo collections and a Chinese–Korean alliance painting returned from Sweden. Curator Yu Hong-jun says the exhibition aims to show how Yi endured hardship and to inspire those facing adversity today. The exhibition runs through March 3 next year.
