BS in the movie's beginning about the fate of Yi Sun Shin
The movie's beginning shows demoted and dismissed Korean hero admiral of the Left Cholla province, Yi Sun Shin in prison being tortured by Korean guards. That is historically true. But the caption is unbelievable bs by the Koreans to change history. The caption blames a Japanese double-agent for getting admiral Yi demoted, dismissed, imprisoned, and tortured.
Every Korean and every military historian knows the truth.
Admiral Yi was beloved and unquestionably trusted by the Korean people, but Yi was betrayed by everyone he counted upon, from Korean King Sonjo who vacillated between praising Yi and condemning him, the venal treachery of the Korean government, divided into two antagonistic factions, East faction and West faction, to the supreme treachery and gross incompetence of admiral Won Kyun, to the Chinese generals who started playing their own game with the Japanese behind the Korean's back.
The conniving Korean officials in the government, jealous, suspicious, and fearful of Admiral Yi, convinced the fearful king that admiral Yi was insubordinate, disloyal, and incompetent. The king approved his treacherous officials' decision to dismiss Yi, imprison him and torture him.
The movie doesn't tell the whole story. Yi was eventually released from prison, demoted to a mere private and ordered to report to duty. Yi did so but the commanding general allowed Yi a 'permanent leave of absence'. Yi took up residence in a small hut on a mountain top. That is where Yi was when disaster struck Korea and in a desperate panic, the Korean king summoned Yi, reinstated him, and gave him full command of what was left of the Korean navy, a mere 12 vessels to be added to Yi's only ship. This is what the movie is about, the 'miracle' of the naval battle of Miryong, where Yi, taking advantage of geography, knowledge of the local waters and tides, enticed the superior Japanese fleet of 200 plus ships into meeting him in battle at a place and time of Yi's choosing. The overconfident Japanese took the bait and allowed themselves to fight Yi in a constrained coastal area where their fleet could only sent several ships against Yi at a time. Yi outmaneuvered the Japanese fleet and inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Japanese. The ramification of this victory was that Admiral Yi was back and the Koreans gained time to rebuild the Korean navy. The Japanese line of resupply and communications was once again cut, preventing the second invasion attempt from making further progress.