Korean History › Opening & Korean Empire › Korean Empire
Righteous armies against Japan (1895–1915)
1895 – c. 1915; peak 1907–1909· War· Wars & invasions
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Volunteer militias (uibyeong) that fought Japanese encroachment from 1895 to about 1915, peaking after Korea's army was disbanded in 1907.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
Uibyeong (의병), "righteous armies," was the old name for volunteer forces, used against Japan in the 1590s. The first wave (1895–96), led by Confucian scholars such as Yu In-seok, answered the queen's murder and the topknot order. A second followed the 1905 protectorate treaty and included commoner leader Sin Dol-seok. The largest came in 1907–09, after Japan disbanded Korea's army and soldiers joined. Japanese records count about 17,600 fighters killed in 1907–11; estimates vary.
Why it matters
They were the first sustained armed resistance to Japanese control; survivors carried the fight into Manchuria and the Russian Far East, seeding later independence armies.
How we know
Japanese army and police statistics, leaders' proclamations and diaries, and photographs such as Frederick McKenzie's 1907 picture of a righteous army unit.
Still debated
Total numbers and losses are uncertain, since Japanese records likely undercount; scholars debate how unified or effective the movement was.
Connections (4)
▸Assassination of Empress Myeongseong (Eulmi Incident) sparked the first wave of Righteous armies against Japan (1895–1915)Well documented
The connection
Outrage at the queen's murder, followed less than three months later by the Japanese-backed order to cut topknots, led Confucian scholars such as Yu In-seok and Yi So-eung to raise volunteer forces in early 1896. They attacked Japanese and pro-Japan officials; most disbanded when Gojong, safe in the Russian legation, asked them to.
When and how
Gangwon, Chungcheong and Gyeongsang provinces, January to autumn 1896: the Eulmi righteous armies.
How we know
Leaders' proclamations citing revenge for the queen and the topknot order, and Japanese and Korean government reports.
Debates and open questions
Which grievance mattered more, the queen's death or the topknot order, is debated, as is how much the uprisings helped Gojong escape.
▸Eulsa Treaty (Japan–Korea Protectorate Treaty) provoked a new wave of Righteous armies against Japan (1895–1915)Well documented
The connection
The 1905 protectorate treaty, which put Korea's foreign affairs under Japan, set off a second rising. Former officials Min Jong-sik and Choe Ik-hyeon led forces in 1906, and commoner Sin Dol-seok led a large band in the east. After Japan disbanded Korea's army in 1907, the movement grew into a near-national war.
When and how
Chungcheong, Jeolla, Gyeongsang and Gangwon, 1905–1907; Min Jong-sik captured Hongju fortress in May 1906.
How we know
Leaders' proclamations denounce the treaty; Japanese military records track the spreading fighting.
Debates and open questions
The treaty's legality is disputed because Gojong never signed it; scholars also debate tensions between yangban and commoner commanders.
▸Righteous armies (uibyeong) of the Imjin War lent their name and tradition to Righteous armies against Japan (1895–1915)Mostly agreed
The connection
As Japan's control tightened from 1895, Confucian scholars, then commoners and disbanded soldiers, raised militias under the same name, uibyeong. They drew on the memory of the Imjin volunteers who rose when the state failed, giving them a model of local, loyal resistance to Japan.
When and how
From 1895, after Queen Min's assassination and the topknot-cutting decree, to a peak in 1907–1909; leaders included Yu In-seok and Choe Ik-hyeon.
How sure are we?
The shared name, and proclamations framed in the same Confucian language of loyalty and righteousness used in the 1590s.
Debates and open questions
How directly later fighters drew on Imjin memory, versus Confucian ideas of righteousness in general, is debated; Japanese records called them 'rioters' (bōto).
▸Righteous armies against Japan (1895–1915) supplied veteran fighters for Battle of CheongsanriMostly agreed
The connection
After Japan crushed the righteous armies at home, survivors crossed into Manchuria and the Russian Far East. Hong Beom-do, a righteous army leader from 1907, commanded one of the units at Cheongsanri in 1920; other fighters there came from independence military schools and former Korean army officers rather than uibyeong ranks.
When and how
Jiandao (Gando), Manchuria, 1910–1920; Hong Beom-do's Korean Independence Army and Kim Jwa-jin's Northern Military Administration Office.
How sure are we?
Hong Beom-do's career is well documented; Korean and Japanese records list former uibyeong among the Manchurian units.
Debates and open questions
The share of righteous-army veterans in the 1920 forces is unclear, and both sides' casualty claims at Cheongsanri are disputed.