Piracy in the Seokdo

The X pirates were a group of pirates who terrorized the Yedal island and Jeongmi in the mid-17th century. Their nationalities were very diverse, including Jeongmi, Jihwa, Hwasan and Nukigurun. At first, the residents of Seokdo afraid the pirates, but as soon as they handed out some of the looted property to the residents of Seokdo, they stood them as saviors. Due to the chaotic states of the Sinju at the time, the people had a very difficult life, and therefore, there were so many applicants for pirates.

The main target of the pirates was the Jihwa, because the country was small (population less than 4 million at the time) and there were fewer standing troops(25,000 standing troops at the time) and there was a lots of thing to take because of the large number of trade ships gathered. This activity took a heavy strike on the kingdom, so Jihwa set up a joint fleet with the Hwasan to fight the pirates. But because their ships were flatlines in favor of defense, and used large-scale artillery, which prevented them from catching up with fast and small pirate ships, a joint fleet defeated. As a result, the pirates were able to capture numerous weapons and firearms, and their power grew even larger.

Pirate's forces have grown so much that they have looted Jeongmi. Nukigurun, whose been watching everything, supports the pirates, judging that the pirates will deal a heavy blow to Sinju and it will be easier to expand their power to the east. At that time, Jeong-mi was in such a serious condition that the country was showing signs of collapse, so they did not even think about eradicating pirates and focused only on defense.

Meanwhile, Ji Hwa-guk also made great efforts to improve speed by thinning the ship and making the anchor bigger accordingly, while cannons were also changed from large-caliber to small-caliber artillery, and increased the gun barrel to improve accuracy. Also, the firearms were actively improved. In 1672, Jihwa put all its national strength into the battle to wipe out the pirates with 32 ships and 18,600 troops. After a big victory in the naval battle off Seokdo Island, the remaining troops on the island will be wiped out. Pirates entered the island and resisted until the end, but were defeated by Jihwa forces who prepared for war, which eventually led to the end of history.