That heihachiro Togo, a Japanese naval hero, conceded that he could perhaps be compared for greatness to Horatio Nelson, but never to Korea's Yi Sun-shin, has long delighted South Koreans. Admiral Yi fought 23 campaigns against the Japanese in the 16th century, and won all of them. The Battle of Myeongnyang in 1597 is his most celebrated: then, he beat them back with only 13 ships against a fleet of hundreds, using the eponymous strait's treacherous currents to outmanoeuvre them. Every South Korean pupil learns about Yi's war diary. His pluckiness and self-sacrifice have made him a standard-bearer for the country. Park Chung-hee, a strongman who ruled the country for almost two decades, erected a statue of Yi in central Seoul, the capital, in 1968 and visited a shrine in the admiral's memory on Yi's birthday. South Koreans were mobilised to watch state-sponsored films on his life.
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