Victory before the War

 In 1592, Japanese army suddenly invaded and occupied Joseon dynasty, a peaceful land of ancient Korea. For the next seven years, a terrible war continued, and during that war, many people were killed and their property lost in the land of Joseon.

Shortly before the end of the war, the strong Japanese navy led over 300 warships the coastal waters of the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula, and attacked the Joseon navy with 12 old warships and some of defeated soldiers tired of the long war.

Unfortunately, Admiral Yi Sun-sin, who was being temporarily punished for political party fights during the long war, had to hurry to participate the battlefield of crisis by leading the so weak Joseon navy as a classless soldier.

Just in September 1597, Admiral Yi Sun-sin resisted by encountering a mighty Japanese warship on the narrow waterway between the land Haenam and the island Jindo in south Jeolla Province with 13 more battleships. The narrow sea road on the battlefield there was about 1.5 km wide, while the narrowest road was about 500 m. In such a place, the tide was so fast that it seemed like a strong cry.

As soon as the Japanese navy first attacked violently, the Yi Sun-sin army retreated and reached a narrow sea path. At that moment, the waterway suddenly changed from high tide to low tide, and the Japanese warship began to lose its balance along with the whirlpools and noise of the fierce low tide. Just in time, the Joseon navy turned its prow and shot cannons and arrows at the Japanese army.

Admiral Yi Sun-sin was well aware that the sea water always changes from high tide to low tide and vice versa every six hours. Not only that, even though the Joseon navy is weak, he made a good strategy to achieve victory by fighting the mighty Japanese navy.

During the 7-year war fought against the Japanese invasion, Admiral Yi Sun-sin fought 23 battles and won 100% of those battles. His military strategy was so outstanding that no case could be found in world history. The strategy was to ‘win first and then fight later’ paradoxically. 

Whenever Admiral Yi Sun-sin went to battle, he prepared a rational strategy and thoroughly prepared for the various situation and its conditions of the time and space. We are so proud of him.

-Some of the popular Dongdaemun fashion items we exported last week, seoulclick.com- 

Like most Seonbi who were virtuous scholars in the Joseon dynasty, Admiral Yi Sun-sin had a tremendous amount of reading on classical books at home and abroad, and he may have understood Sun Tzu’s quotes as follows.

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” +

Although his troops were weak, he thoroughly prepared for the victory and then went on the battlefield. These days, Dongdaemun merchants have also changed from before. In the late period of economic growth, the aging of the workforce became common in other sectors such as rural areas and small self-employed stores. However, the merchants in Dongdaemun market have become younger and smarter.

Fortunately, Korea has a high proportion of the population enrolling in universities, and the competitiveness of business administration departments is high in each university. In this situation, considering that the Dongdaemun merchants are younger, they may be able to conduct more rational commerce with management know-how or IT information.

People always talk about commerce compared to war or sports. Dongdaemun merchants also knew that commerce management is a means to climb the ladder of success, and they thought it is especially important to find out what not to be done for business performance.

Nevertheless, future management is quite difficult in a market that always faces a management crisis amid competition. An American computer scientist Alan Kay said.

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” ++

As always, Dongdaemun market is always full of heat from 8:30 every night until the sun rises the next morning. In the heat of the night market, many merchants are learning by seeing, feeling, listening and accumulating commerce know-how through trial and error. They are demonstrating better commerce skills day by day by mirroring the strategic wisdom of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, who saved the country 400 years ago.

In particular, Dongdaemun market is brightening its future by pursuing of online and un-tact commerce to keep up with the new wave of the 4th industrial revolution.

+ azquotes.com/quotes/topics/strategic-management.html

++ ibid

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Bong Sul (Advisor, SeoulClick)

www.seoulclick.com

Read more: Bong (Bong Sik) Sul, Dongdaemun Style, ebook.kstudy.com, Seoul, 2019.