Kim Duk Ryang was born in 1567, in Lee Dynasty Korea. He joined the army and rose to become a commander of the royal troops.

When Japan invaded in 1592, he was promoted to the rank of general and, in 1594, he was appointed as commander-in-chief of the Honam district. He was immediately called upon to defend his district, and succeeded in repelling the Japanese invaders. He and another commander, Ja, Woo-Kwak, followed the routed Japanese troops and destroyed their camps. As a result of this his reputation grew, and the Japanese forces became afraid of him. He was nicknamed General Ho-Ik (“tiger wing”) as a result of his bravery.

He was regarded jealously by King Sonjo’s subordinates, and they engineered his arrest and imprisonment in 1595 on falsified charges relating to the killing of a slave girl, but he was later released by decree of the king. He was eventually implicated in the rebellion orchestrated by Lee, Mong-Hak in 1596 and sentenced to death by poisoning, although he was later exonerated and absolved of any dishonour.