The Ōei Invasion (応永の外寇, Ōei no gaikō), also known as the Gihae Expedition (Korean: 기해 동정; Hanja: 己

亥東征; RR: Gihae dongjeong),[12] was a 1419 invasion from Joseon against wokou (Japanese pirate) bases
on Tsushima Island, which is located in the middle of the Tsushima Strait between the Korean
Peninsula and Kyushu.[13]

The Japanese identifying phrase derives from the Ōei era (1394–1428), which is the Japanese era name of the
calendar system in use in Japan.[14] The Korean identifying title derives from Gihae in the Chinese sexagenary
cycle of the calendar system then in use in Joseon. In both, the terms are explicit equivalents for the Gregorian
calendar year of 1419.

Background
In the 13th century, wokou established themselves in the Tsushima Island area, conducting raids on the Korean
mainland. From about 1400,[15] Japanese authorities had been unable to control and limit wokou activity in this area.
Throughout Japanese history, Tsushima had been a front-line defense against raids from China and Korea.
However, a large part of Tsushima's economy was sustained by trade with Korea;[15] it was used as a "frontier
territory" and a diplomatic meeting place between Korea and Japan, but was considered historically by Koreans as
a vassal or dependent state of Korea. Despite a variety of changes in terminology over the ages designed to
indicate its status as being in the Japanese sphere of influence, it was considered by many Koreans to be Korean
land under foreign occupation.[15]

From the end of the Goryeo dynasty through the early Joseon dynasty, the coastal regions of Korea, their
populations, and their resources were often the objective of wokou raids. In 1389, General Pak Wi (Korean: 박
위; Hanja: 朴威) of Goryeo cleared the island of wokou, he burnt 300 ships and rescued more than 100 Korean
captives. The Joseon ordered a strengthening of Korean naval defenses, a strategic response to the constant threat
posed by the pirates. In 1396, Korean official Kim Sa-hyeong (김사형, 金士衡) led a campaign into Tsushima.

Joseon subsequently asked the Ashikaga shogunate and its deputy in Kyūshū to suppress pirate activity, favoring
legitimate traders. In exchange for certain privileges, it gave authority to Sō Sadashige, the de facto ruler
of Tsushima Province, over ships sailing from Japan to Korea. When Sō Sadashige died in 1418, power was seized
from Sadashige's infant son Sadamori (Tsutsukumaru) by Soda Saemontaro, a powerful wokou leader. Suffering
from famine, wokou on Tsushima invaded Ming China in 1419. On the way to China, they invaded Korea's Bi-
in and Haeju counties after their demands for food were rejected.

After receiving reports of these incidents, the Korean court approved an expedition of Tsushima. King Taejong, who
had abdicated his throne in 1418 but was still a military adviser of Sejong the Great, favored a more offensive
approach. On June 9, 1419, Taejong declared a war against Tsushima, citing that it belonged to Joseon, and Yi
Jongmu was chosen to conduct the expedition.

Invasion
The Koreans waited until a large Japanese fleet had left the island for a raid.[16] Yi Jong-mu's fleet of 227 ships and
17,285 soldiers set off from Geoje Island toward Tsushima on June 19, 1419.[13] The following day the fleet landed
in Asō Bay (浅茅湾).

Yi Jong-mu first sent captured Japanese pirates as emissaries to ask for surrender. When he received no reply, he
sent out expeditionary forces, and the soldiers proceeded to raid the islanders and pirates and plunder pirate
settlements. According to Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, in the battle of June 20, the Korean army
captured 129 wokou ships, burned 1,939 houses, killed 114 people, captured 21 people, and rescued 131 Chinese
who were captured by the wokou.[5] On June 29, the Joseon expeditionary forces "set fire to 68 houses belonging to
the pirates, burned 15 vessels belonging to the pirates, beheaded 9 pirates, and obtained 15 Chinese men and
women and 8 Joseon people who had been held in captivity.[6] In the record of July 10, the number of soldiers killed
by wokou was 180.[10] On the other hand, according to Kanmon Nikki (看聞日記), a diary written by Prince
Fushiminomiya Sadafusa (ja) on August 13, citing a report sent by Shoni Mitsusada (ja), the Tsushima side entered
the battle with a cavalry force of about 700 cavalrymen and fought especially hard all day on June 26, killing over
3,700 Koreans by July 2.[11] According to the Taishuu Chronenryaku, which was a Japanese source compiled later,
the death toll of the Korean army was 2,500.[9]