How Korean Matchlock Guns Worked and Changed Joseon Warfare

Joseon Korea’s jochong matchlock musket used a burning slowmatch to ignite its charge, and its adoption accelerated after Japanese forces invaded in 1592 with matchlocks. The weapon prompted Joseon to acquire and manufacture muskets, train gunners, and reorganize military forces—but it joined archers, close-combat troops, and artillery rather than replacing them.

What was the Joseon jochong?

The jochong was a matchlock musket used in Korea’s Joseon dynasty. Joseon already had gunpowder weapons, including chongtong firearms and artillery, before adopting the jochong at scale. The matchlock was a distinct weapon, not simply another name for those earlier guns. The National Institute of Korean History’s account of Joseon ballistic weapons describes the jochong as having iron sights and a matchlock firing method.

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How did a Korean matchlock gun work?

A matchlock used a length of slowmatch—a cord that smoldered—to ignite the priming charge at the gun’s ignition opening. Bringing the burning match to the opening fired the weapon. The National Institute of Korean History says the method “also allowed for a more timed shot.”

That basic ignition principle should not be mistaken for a complete, verified jochong loading manual. The institute gives a step-by-step loading account for a chongtong: prepare and clean the gun, insert slowmatch through its fuse hole, load gunpowder, paper wad and projectile components, ram them, then light the match. This is useful context for Joseon firearms, but the account is about a different weapon. Available source descriptions do not establish the jochong’s exact loading sequence, trigger geometry, barrel length, or caliber.

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Why did matchlocks spread during the Imjin War?

Japanese forces invaded Korea in 1592 with matchlocks and tactics built around them. A scholarly account of the jochong’s introduction says Joseon struggled against the initial offensive, then sought both a supply of muskets and the means to produce them. In an entry dated November 2, 1593, the Veritable Records of King Seonjo asks: “The enemy’s strength is only in the jochong. Is there nothing that can stop it?” The National Institute of Korean History presents this as a translated record excerpt; it does not identify a named speaker.

Joseon’s response involved more than obtaining a new gun. The scholarly account dates the establishment of the Military Training Agency to 1593 and describes musketeer training alongside expansion of close-combat troops and archers. The change was organizational as well as technological.

That response also fits a wider regional context. Jinju National Museum’s 2023–2024 exhibition, “The Age of Gunpowder in Joseon II”, situates foreign weapons, including matchlocks, within sixteenth-century maritime exchange and describes Joseon adaptation of weapons, tactics, and military systems.

What changed on the battlefield—and what did not?

A scholarly abstract comparing matchlocks with the Korean soseungja-chongtong, a firearm produced in 1587, describes matchlocks as superior in range, accuracy, and volley capacity. Those are the paper’s comparative conclusions, not standardized measurements across all guns or a claim that every jochong outperformed every earlier firearm in every situation.

Yamamoto Susumu’s tactical study says Japanese harquebuses initially overwhelmed Korean bows in 1592. It also discusses the weapon’s limitations in the wider conflict: inaccuracy, short range, and difficult reloading. These observations concern Japanese harquebus use and should not be treated as controlled test results for every Korean jochong. The sources provide no common range, accuracy, firing-rate, or casualty figures for comparing jochong muskets, chongtong, and bows.

Matchlocks could contribute to volley tactics, but their reload burden and other battlefield demands mattered. Yamamoto’s account also emphasizes cannon and logistics as factors in the war. The evidence therefore supports a consequential military adaptation, not the claim that muskets alone determined the conflict or instantly displaced bows and other arms.

How long did Joseon use matchlocks?

The scholarly account says matchlocks became a main Joseon weapon in the seventeenth century and remained in use for more than three centuries. Jinju National Museum’s exhibition traces the later development and limitations of Joseon gunpowder weapons from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries.

The same scholarly abstract reports that its authors analyzed specifications for 49 surviving matchlock muskets held by national, public, and private museums, grouping them into three categories. The accessible abstract does not establish the article’s publication year, so the figure is best understood as the scope of that study rather than a count of all surviving guns.

Further reading

Jinju National Museum lists Weapons of Joseon I: Small Firearms (Korean Hand Cannon) by Kim Myung-hoon and Park Seon-suk, a publication covering hand cannons and matchlock muskets: museum publication listing.

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