Battle of Namdaemun

Battle of Namdaemun (Battle of the South Great Gate)
Contemporary French artistic depiction of the Battle of Namdaemun, showing Korean and Japanese soldiers in a heated contest.
Date 1 August 1907 Location Namdaemun Gate, Seoul, Korea Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Japan	Korea
Commanders and leaders
Ito Hirobumi	Lieutenant General Nam Sang-deok †
Strength
Imperial Japanese Armed Forces: 1,100 (approx.)	Imperial Korean Armed Forces: 1,200 (approx.) [a]
Casualties and losses
4 dead, 40 wounded	13 officers, 57 soldiers killed Other sources: 68 soldiers killed, over 100 wounded, 516 POWs

The Battle of Namdaemun (Korean: 남대문 전투), also known as the Battle of the South Great Gate, was an insurgency by the Korean army against Japanese forces in Korea as a reaction to the disbandment of the Korean army following the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907. It took place at the Namdaemun Gate in Seoul on August 1, 1907. Under the pretext of the Hague Secret Emissary Incident, the Japanese coerced Emperor Gojong into abdicating and imposed the Eulsa Treaty. When some armed soldiers joined the protests against Emperor Gojong's abdication, the Japanese hastened the disbandment of the military. At midnight on July 31st, they threatened the royal court and issued an imperial decree for the disbandment of the military, followed by the disbandment ceremony the next day. Although the military of the Korean Empire resisted, they were suppressed. The disbandment of the military symbolized the practical downfall of the Korean Empire. As soldiers from disbanded units joined the independence army, the anti-Japanese armed resistance unfolded in earnest.^[1]

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