_{­    A visit to the War Memorial of Korea made me think about Korea all over again. I became more proud that our nation always tried the best they could do and used a clever strategy to win wars with other countries. I liked the War Memorial of Korea very much, and wanted to go there again and have another look at our history. Now, I would like to share some of the things I learned.}

   First, I got to know about the Sal-Su war. Sui China attaked Goguryeo with 1 million soilders, and, later, another 300 thousand men. But Goguryeo still defeated them quite well, relying on a great strategy. The Goguryeo army did not fight hard with Sui on purpose, and made the Sui's soilders tired. Soon they ran out of food . When they started to retreat, they got blocked with Sal-Su River, but the Sui military thought the water level was low. When they crossed half the river, Eul-ji-moon-deok (Goguryeo's great general) opened the dam. So only 2, 700 soilders could go back to China alive. I think this is the greatest victory I have ever heard about in the past, and started to admire Eul-ji-moon-deok because of his cleverness.

   To say something else then Goguryeo, I also learned a little about the Silla Kingdom, too. Silla had Hwa-rangs (sons of noblemen or kings ), which studied martial arts such as archery or handling swords. They had five basic rules they needed to keep-1.loyalty to the country, 2.be good to parents, 3. trust friends, 4. never retreat in battles, and 5. don't kill anything without reason. I think all of these reasons are very good, but the poor part is that sons of normal citizens could not become a Hwa-rang.

   Now, let's talk about the Imjin War. The Imjin War started because Japan invaded Joseon with 70 ships and 55,000 Japaneese naval forces. Joseon's General Lee, Sun-Shin only had a few turtle ships and smaller naval forces than Japan, but the victory were ours. Thanks to the well-made, ironclad turtle ship, the Joseon army could fight without risking their lives so much, and attack safely. The turtle ship (Geo-buk-seon) was smartly planned, with needles on the top, a dragon's mouth used to blast fire, and tiny attacking windows that the soilders could use to shoot arrows or pistols. Sadly, Admiral Lee died at the final war. The quote "Keep waving the flag and don't tell anyone of my death" is now famous, since it were his last words to stop Japaneese warriors from getting stronger. It was lucky that Joseon had a great general at just the right moment, or else Japan would have won.

   I will talk about the Smoke Signal Station for last. Joson people used smoke signals (Bong-Su) to communicate with people far in the distance. Smoke is used at daytime­¡ªfire at night. I will tell you about which signal means which...

 1 smoke  : normal condition

 2 smokes: the enemy is preparing for war

 3 smokes: the enemy is near the border

 4 smokes: the enemy crossed the border

 5 smokes: it is time to fight

   I am very happy that I could visit the War Memorial of Korea and learn lots of new things  I didn't know before. The War Memorial of Korea shall be kept in my heart for a long time. I am thankful of our nation very much- that we did our best, used our brains, and tried to save the country. If it was not for greatful kings or clever generals, maybe I would have been living in China or Japan now. Thank you, general Eul-ji-moon-deok! Thank you, Admiral Lee, Sun-Shin! Thank you, Korea!