Battle of Kyongju
The Battle of Kyongju was an engagement between United Nations (UN) and North Korean (NK) forces early in the Korean War from August 31 to September 15, 1950, in the vicinity of Kyongju in South Korea. It was a part of the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, and was one of several large engagements fought simultaneously. The battle ended in a victory for the United Nations after large numbers of United States (US) and Republic of Korea (ROK) troops repelled a strong North Korean attack.
Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)
As usual, the Japanese took no prisoners, killing almost everyone both military and civilian, and the Nam river ran red with blood as thousands attempted to swim across the Nam, only to be cut down by the samurai waiting on the other side. The chronicler of the Kato family noted: "All the Chinese were terrified of our Japanese blades, and jumped into the river, but we pulled them and cut off their heads". Korean accounts mention that almost all of the 60, 000 soldiers in Jinju were killed while Japanese accounts mention the samurai sent 20, 000 heads back to Japan after their victory. Only the "kisaneng" (courtesans) of Jinju were spared as they pressed to service the victorious Japanese generals at a party they held to celebrate their victory on the evening of the same day at the Ch'oksŏngu Pavilion on a nearby hill as it offered the best view of the "hellish scene" below them. One courtesan, Nongae, attracted the attention of a samurai, Keyamura Rokunosuke, whom she lured to a cliff by promising him sex, and then threw both herself and him off the cliff, becoming a national heroine in Korea. Jinju was taken only for symbolic purposes, and instead of advancing, the Japanese force at Jinju retreated back to Busan as there was a larger Chinese force to the north. Hideyoshi was well satisfied that he had avenged the defeat of 1592 at Jinju, through Turnbull argued that to lose so many men to take a town only for symbolic reasons was wasteful.