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`April 28th, the occasion of the 424th birthday of Gen. Lee Shun-shin, the most renowned general in our history, will be marked by dedication of a rebuilt shrine where Gen. Lee`s portrait is kept, as well as by his sacrificial rites at the site of the shrine. Gen. Lee who passed the state`s top military examination in 1576 saved this nation as a commander of the tri-provincial naval forces during the war of Imjin (1592-1598) with Japan, by defeating the Japanese forces commanded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the southern sea and having retreated military forces landing on this country. The general, reputed as a man endowed with both the pen and the sword, invented world`s first turtle-shaped armored ship and tactically employed them in his battles against the Japanese naval forces, setting a record of amazing victory in the history of the naval war. Today he is looked upon as a saviour of the nation who defended this country by waging patriotic battles at a time when the then politicians were being indulged in factional strife and the fate of the nation was critically at stake. The shrine which is situated at Onyang, South Choongchong Province, and has been left heretofore to the care by his posterity, has been rebuilt and its environmental surroundings have been beautified to consecrate it as a sanctuary and as a symbolic center of current national drive toward modernization. The Ministry of Communications issues a commemorative stamp on the occasion of the general`s birthday and the dedication of the rebuilt shrine, urging the people to inherit the lofty spirit of Gen. Lee and paying tribute to his patriotic and heroic battles.`