Pirate fleets operating around China, Korea, and Japan could rival state navies in size. Joseon's counterpiracy experience therefore gave its warships and crews real preparation rather than mere constabulary practice. A counterfactual Spanish expedition to Ming China illustrates the logistical problem: an Armada-sized force might exhaust its ammunition and ships against local maritime opponents before defeating a state fleet. The same counterfactual has Ming supplementing its forces with Korean cannon-armed ships. This is an illustration of the obstacles Spain would have faced, not an event that occurred.
Notable Point · 1:29:37-1:32:24
East Asian pirate fleets were naval powers in their own right
The scale of piracy around China, Korea, and Japan made Joseon counterpiracy meaningful combat preparation and complicated any imagined Spanish expedition into East Asian waters.