Won gyun was born in Pyungtaek, in Gyeonggi, Josun dynasty(Ancient name of Korea) on January 6, 1540. He became a warrior at the late age of 29. When he arrived Kyungsang-do province as the navy commander of western part of Jeolla-do province in 1592, he predicted the war with Japan. He disciplined the navy tightly and made the turtle ship, which had at least five different types of cannon and had a fully covered deck with iron spikes to shield from cannon fire and attempt to board the ship, for preparation of the war.