Apsan Park ( Korean : 앞산공원 ) is a large wilderness park located in the south of Daegu , South Korea . It covers a series of valleys and peaks of Apsan mountain.
193-779: Inside the park is a museum dedicated to the Korean War , the Nakdong River Battle Museum . The museum also contains an anti- communism hall. Nearby is a small amusement park and restaurants. A gondola leads to one of the peaks, and a series of trails also lead to the various peaks. Ansil-sa and a couple of other Buddhist temples are located within the park. The area of Apsan park is 1.653 km. 35°49′12″N 128°34′44″E / 35.820°N 128.579°E / 35.820; 128.579 Korean War Korean Demilitarized Zone established Together: 1,742,000 The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953)
386-508: A Joint Security Area at Panmunjom . The conflict caused more than 1 million military deaths and an estimated 2 to 3 million civilian deaths, a larger proportion of civilian deaths than in World War II or the Vietnam War . Alleged war crimes include the mass killing of suspected communists by Seoul and the torture and starvation of prisoners of war by Pyongyang. North Korea became one of
579-511: A battalion time on target barrage of fifteen volleys using rounds tipped with variable time fuses . Afterward the observer saw just two KPA come out of the draw. The only ground gained by the 45th Division during the day was when the 32nd Infantry pulled back to ridgetop positions that allowed it to tie in with the ROK 5th Division below Inje and thus contain the KPA salient along its southwestern shoulder. As
772-454: A course taking it into the gap between the ROK 12th Regiment and the Gloster battalion on Hill 235. By noon a battalion leading the attack of the 190th Division drove a wedge more than 1 mile (1.6 km) deep between the 11th and 12th Regiments. General Kang countered by sending a tank-infantry force, two battalions of his reserve 15th ROK Regiment and Company A, 73rd Heavy Tank Battalion against
965-469: A fishhook with the Korean Marines at the eye in the north, the 5th Marines forming the shank, and the 1st Marines at the curved barb in the south. The 7th Marines, less the 3rd Battalion, was charged with rear area security and its 1st and 2d Battalions were positioned to protect river crossings along the route to Chuncheon as well as the town itself. The 1st Marines again bore the brunt of PVA probes on
1158-511: A future independent state. Due to political disagreements and influence from their backers, the zones formed their own governments in 1948. The DPRK was led by Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang , and the ROK by Syngman Rhee in Seoul ; both claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea and engaged in border clashes as internal unrest was fomented by communist groups in the south. On 25 June 1950,
1351-501: A general attack across the 38th parallel, rather than a limited operation in Ongjin. Kim was concerned that South Korean agents had learned about the plans and that South Korean forces were strengthening their defenses. Stalin agreed to this change. While these preparations were underway in the North, there were clashes along the 38th parallel, especially at Kaesong and Ongjin, many initiated by
1544-547: A large enemy force concentrated ahead of the ROK 6th Division . Anticipating an attack, General Chang halted his division's advance toward the Wyoming Line about 16:00 and ordered his forward regiments, the 19th and 2nd, to develop defensive positions tied in with each other and with the 24th Division and 1st Marine Division on their respective outside flanks. Chang moved his reserve 7th Regiment into supporting positions immediately behind
1737-498: A line 2 miles (3.2 km) above Inje. During the day, Colonel Min Ki Shik, in command of the ROK 5th Division, took charge of all forces in the Inje area, which now included the 3rd Regiment, 7th Division, and organized defenses above Inje generally in the area toward which the 5th Regiment was withdrawing. By evening of the 23rd Colonel Min set the 27th, 36th and 3rd Regiments on the line while
1930-487: A major assault. PVA action was limited to only a few weak probes and a handful of mortar rounds as the marines moved back. The 1st Marine Division reached the modified Kansas Line in good order, despite suffering more than 300 casualties in the last 48 hours. The month of April cost the Marines 933 casualties (93 killed, 830 wounded and 10 missing), most lost during the offensive. The 92nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion and
2123-579: A national political constitution on 17 July and elected Syngman Rhee as president on 20 July. The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was established on 15 August 1948. In the Soviet-Korean Zone of Occupation, the Soviets agreed to the establishment of a communist government led by Kim Il Sung. The 1948 North Korean parliamentary elections took place in August. The Soviet Union withdrew its forces in 1948 and
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#17328555574992316-444: A position 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade assembled near Kapyong town. To the east, PVA following the 2nd and 7th Regiments caught the ROK 27th Field Artillery Battalion in position. Under fire, its members abandoned guns and joined the southerly surge of infantrymen. The US support units pulled out all weapons and equipment, but came under fire as they moved east on their narrow access road to join
2509-460: A relief or reinforcement of enemy units was taking place. Aerial reconnaissance after daybreak on 22 April, reported a general forward displacement of enemy formations from rear assemblies northwest of I Corps and north of both I and IX Corps, also extensive troop movements, both north and south, on the roads above Yanggu and Inje east of the Hwacheon Reservoir. Though air strikes punished
2702-489: A result of the 1st Marine Division's withdrawal to the Kansas Line , Almond late on the 24th ordered changes in 2nd Division dispositions. On the morning of 25 April the 23rd Infantry was to drop back to positions just below the eastern tip of the Hwacheon Reservoir, a move that would place the regiment on the exact trace of the Kansas Line ; beginning on the 25th General Clark L. Ruffner was to make daily physical contact with
2895-400: A separate effort east of the Hwacheon Reservoir, KPA forces were to strike for Yanggu and Inje, where breakthroughs could open up Routes 29 and 24 leading southwestward to Chuncheon and Hongcheon . KPA III Corps, whose 1st , 15th and 45th Divisions had been holding the entire eastern front except for the coastal area, had sidestepped westward into a narrow zone abutting on the reservoir for
3088-570: A solid front. Chang faced no small task in recovering troops who had scattered east and west into adjacent sectors, reorganizing his entire division, and then moving his nervous forces north toward the PVA. But the adjustments, if achieved, would retain control of the Hwach’on Dam, eliminate the Marines’ open left flank, and join the two IX Corps divisions with a minimum of movement. At the right of US I Corps,
3281-598: A telegram. Mao accepted the decision made by Kim and Stalin to unify Korea but cautioned Kim over possible US intervention. Soviet generals with extensive combat experience from World War II were sent to North Korea as the Soviet Advisory Group. They completed plans for attack by May and called for a skirmish to be initiated in the Ongjin Peninsula on the west coast of Korea. The North Koreans would then launch an attack to capture Seoul and encircle and destroy
3474-512: Is overrun by unprovoked armed attack would start a disastrous chain of events leading most probably to world war." While there was hesitance by some in the US government to get involved, considerations about Japan fed into the decision to engage on behalf of South Korea. After the fall of China to the communists, US experts saw Japan as the region's counterweight to the Soviet Union and China. While there
3667-564: The 20th Army on the group's left would attack along the US I-IX Corps boundary through portions of the 24th Division and ROK 6th Division sectors. Peng's plan included auxiliary attacks along each flank of the main effort and another east of the Hwacheon Reservoir. In the west, KPA I Corps was to move southeast toward Seoul over Route 1 and through the ground between the road and the Han River, but its leading forces displacing forward from behind
3860-424: The 27th Infantry Regiment on the division's right, PVA forces (apparently the westernmost forces of the 27th Army) massed and began their approach at first light, but heavy defensive fire shattered the formation within half an hour, and the PVA attempted no further attack on the regiment. Near dawn General Joseph S. Bradley ordered the 24th and 27th Infantry Regiments to withdraw 2 miles (3.2 km) and instructed
4053-511: The Alabama Line east of the Hwacheon Reservoir, the X Corps/ROK III Corps boundary was to be shifted 4 miles (6.4 km) west at noon on 23 April, to give the ROK III Corps, which had been operating with only the ROK 3rd Division on line, a two-division front. The III Corps' reserve division, the ROK 7th Division , began occupying the added frontage on the 22nd, its 5th Regiment relieving
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#17328555574994246-679: The Chinese Fifth Phase Offensive ( Chinese : 第五次战役 ), was a military operation conducted by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) during the Korean War . Mobilizing three field armies totaling 700,000 men for the operation, the Chinese command conducted their largest offensive operation since their Second Phase Offensive in November and December 1950. The operation took place in the summer of 1951 and aimed at permanently driving
4439-470: The Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. Fighting ended in 1953 with an armistice but no peace treaty , leading to the ongoing Korean conflict characterized by phases of diplomacy and confrontation. After the end of World War II in 1945, Korea, which had been a Japanese colony for 35 years, was divided by the Soviet Union and the US into two occupation zones at the 38th parallel , with plans for
4632-451: The Kansas Line around daylight. The 1st and 3rd Battalions held their ground but remained under pressure throughout the night. In the eastern half of the Corps' sector, the remainder of the PVA 29th Division, the 179th Division and the 81st Division opened and steadily intensified attacks on the 25th Division between dusk and midnight. Simultaneous with frontal assaults on the 35th Infantry at
4825-408: The Kansas Line was for the time being out of the question as a result of a second failing performance by the ROK 6th Division at Kapyong. Following the withdrawal of the US 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions the PVA finally reestablished contact with small, groping attacks near midnight on the 23rd. Almost at the same hour, far harder attacks struck the ROK 1st Division and British 29th Brigade along
5018-471: The Kansas Line , received hard local attacks that drove in its outposts and pressed its main line before easing in the evening of 22 April. Thus the KPA III Corps could be shifting west toward the reservoir and the KPA V Corps returning to the line from a point above Inje eastward. On 22 April, as I and IX Corps continued their advance toward the Wyoming Line . The progress of the attack resembled that on
5211-516: The Kansas Line . As suspected, KPA I Corps was joining the offensive, although its initial move ended abruptly when its 8th Division attempted to cross the Imjin over the railroad bridge near Munsan-ni and was blown back with high losses from artillery fire and air attacks. However the PVA 190th and 192nd Divisions attacking in strength just after midnight drove the ROK 1st Division back another 1 mile (1.6 km) before giving respite, widening still more
5404-478: The Kansas Line . At the same time, Van Fleet cancelled the advance to the Alabama Line which was to have been opened on the 24th by forces east of the Hwachon Reservoir. For the forces east of the reservoir, the initial task created by Van Fleet's order was to block a KPA salient being driven into the Kansas Line . Above Yanggu, adjacent to the reservoir, the inexperienced KPA 45th Division had attacked during
5597-526: The Korean People's Army (KPA), equipped and trained by the Soviets, launched an invasion of the south. In the absence of the Soviet Union's representative, the UN Security Council denounced the attack and recommended member states to repel the invasion. UN forces comprised 21 countries, with the US providing around 90% of military personnel. Seoul was captured on 28 June, and by early August,
5790-668: The Pendleton Line at 09:35 on 23 April to avoid being surrounded. The Marines successfully withdrew under fire towards the Pukhan River and Chuncheon. The PVA attacked the new Marine positions on the night of 23-24 April but were repulsed. Considering the forward I Corps' and IX Corps' positions untenable, opened to envelopment as they were by the flight of the ROK 6th Division, Van Fleet about mid-morning on 23 April ordered General Frank W. Milburn and Hoge to withdraw and directed all Corps' commanders to develop defenses in depth along
5983-660: The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) and its allies were nearly defeated, holding onto only the Pusan Perimeter in the peninsula's southeast. On 15 September, UN forces landed at Inchon near Seoul, cutting off KPA troops and supply lines. UN forces broke out from the perimeter on 18 September, re-captured Seoul, and invaded North Korea in October, capturing Pyongyang and advancing towards the Yalu River —the border with China. On 19 October,
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6176-590: The Ryesong River would not reach the Imjin in time to participate in the opening attack on the ROK 1st Division. In the area adjacent to the Hwacheon Dam , the somewhat worn 39th and 40th Armies of the XIII Army Group were to assist with holding attacks on either side of Route 17 in the eastern portion of the ROK 6th Division's sector and the sector of the US 1st Marine Division. In what would be essentially
6369-575: The United Nations Command (UN) forces off the Korean peninsula. The offensive's first thrust fell upon the units of US I Corps and US IX Corps on 22 April but was halted at the No-Name Line north of Seoul by 30 April. On 15 May 1951, the PVA and Korean People's Army (KPA) commenced the second impulse of the spring offensive and attacked the Republic of Korea Army (ROK) and US X Corps in
6562-654: The atomic bombing of Hiroshima . By 10 August, the Red Army had begun to occupy the north of Korea. On 10 August in Washington , US Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles H. Bonesteel III were assigned to divide Korea into Soviet and US occupation zones and proposed the 38th parallel as the dividing line. This was incorporated into the US General Order No. 1 , which responded to the Japanese surrender on 15 August. Explaining
6755-459: The "enemy attitude remains defensive." On 21 April, the Eighth Army G-2 (intelligence officer) reported that his information still was not firm enough to "indicate the nearness" of the impending enemy offensive with any degree of certainty. A worrisome fact, as he earlier had pointed out to Van Fleet, was that a lack of offensive signs did not necessarily mean that the opening of the offensive
6948-507: The 'Glosters', was nearly destroyed and those surviving were captured. In the course of the battle, the brigade suffered 1,091 casualties, including 622 of the Glosters. This was considered by the PVA as one of their spectacular feats of arms during the war, although their casualties were nearly ten times that of their adversaries. The loss of the regiment caused much controversy in Britain and within
7141-518: The 11th Marines. Company C, 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion, out of action for lack of weapons and equipment, left the division sector for refurbishing. Since the ROK 6th Division had lost its artillery support during the debacle of the previous night, Hoge directed the British 27th Brigade to recommit the New Zealand artillery and transferred the 213th Field Artillery Battalion from a reinforcing mission in
7334-460: The 12th Regiment at the right of the ROK line to give ground. The pressure on the ROK increased around dawn, after the 190th Division crossed the Imjin at several points southwest of Korangp’o-ri town and sent units down the boundary between the ROK 11th and 12th Regiments. Also crossing the Imjin during the night in the Korangp’o-ri bend area, the 189th Division of the 63rd Army advanced southeast on
7527-458: The 1st Battalion of the 15th to clear Route 2X, a lateral secondary road connecting Route 1 to Route 3 at Uijeongbu , after receiving a report that 250 infiltrating PVA had set up a roadblock about 7 miles (11 km) west of Uijeongbu. The 1st Battalion located the PVA force at 18:00, killing 20 before the remaining PVA broke away into nearby hills. With darkness approaching, the battalion commander elected to await morning before attempting to clear
7720-473: The 1st Battalion struggled west against a current of retreating South Koreans and scarcely managed to establish a position before dawn. Operating in a zone coinciding with the eastern third of the ROK 6th Division sector and the western edge of the Marine sector, the 40th Army of the XIII Army Group was well situated to exploit the exposed Marine flank. The 120th Division at the army's left, in particular, had virtually
7913-508: The 1st Korean Marine Corps Regiment above the Hwacheon Dam and slashed southwestward to occupy heights commanding the town of Hwacheon in the 5th Marines’ central sector; American and ROK counterattacks eliminated this penetration near dawn, and the 115th made no further attempt to take the dam or town. Eager to close ranks as the IX Corps' front quieted after daylight on the 23rd, Hoge ordered
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8106-423: The 1st Marine Division to withdraw to the Kansas Line the following morning. This move would shorten the front enough for the bulk of one regiment to be taken off the line and sent south to defend Chuncheon. Along the eastern portion of the I Corps' line, the 25th Division, whose front had quieted after daylight on the 23rd, was on the Kansas Line by midafternoon. The 35th and 24th Infantry Regiments reoccupied
8299-409: The 1st Marine Division zone during the afternoon told interrogators that an attack would open before the day was out. In mid-afternoon the ROK 6th Division captured several members of the PVA 60th Division and, immediately west, the US 24th Infantry Division took captives from the PVA 59th Division . These two divisions belonged to the fresh 20th Army . The full IX Army Group had reached the front. In
8492-516: The 1st Marines' zone PVA gunners found the 3rd Battalion command post, wounding the regiment and battalion commanders. Major Trompeter took over the battalion. Colonel McAlister refused evacuation and remained in command of the regiment. It was obvious the PVA were biding their time until they could gather enough strength for another try at the Marine lines. There was continual pressure, but the 11th Marines artillery harassment and interdiction fires, direct fire by Marine tanks, and an air umbrella prevented
8685-452: The 21st Infantry in blocking positions along the endangered flank. The Eighth Army Ranger Company, attached to the 21st, patrolled east in search of PVA approaching the flank but made no contact. In the Pogae-san ridges below Cheorwon, the PVA 2nd Motorized Artillery Division prepared the way for infantry attacks on the 25th Division with a three-hour bombardment, dropping most of its fire on
8878-469: The 23rd could be held against the next surge of PVA attacks. Earlier in the day a number of officers had recommended long withdrawals to Van Fleet to gain time to organize stronger defenses. One division commander in I Corps had proposed falling back to the Golden Line just above Seoul. But Van Fleet had refused to give ground voluntarily in deep withdrawals. While by no means assuming a stand-or-die position,
9071-488: The 2nd Battalion and then both units fought their way back to the high ground covering the river crossing. The regiment was under continuous fire during the entire movement and suffered numerous casualties en route. At the same time, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, set up farther south on Hill 696 to defend the Chuncheon-Kapyong road as well as the southern ferry sites. This key position, the southernmost high ground, dominated
9264-479: The 2nd Regiment, ahead of which more enemy forces had been observed than ahead of the 19th Regiment. Placing reserves so close to the front went against the recommendation of his Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG) adviser, but Chang intended that this show of support would counter uneasiness that had begun to spread among his line forces at word of a probable PVA attack. IX Corps' commander General William M. Hoge moved three Corps' artillery units forward during
9457-408: The 35th Regiment continued to reorganize behind it and the 5th Regiment continued to withdraw toward it. As the initial IX Corps step to the rear Hoge let stand his plan to pull the 1st Marine Division onto a line curving from the Hwacheon Dam southwestward along the Pukhan River and to push the ROK 6th Division north onto the Kansas Line . This would not be an easy maneuver because it would require
9650-454: The 35th and the 5th Regiment of the ROK 7th Division to the east. By first light the 35th Regiment abandoned its position and fell back in disorder almost to the Soyang River below Inje. Taken under frontal attack and threatened with encirclement by the KPA working through the gap, the 5th Regiment followed suit but withdrew in better order, falling back gradually while still in contact toward
9843-639: The 38th parallel and establishing English as the official language during military control. On 8 September, US Lieutenant General John R. Hodge arrived in Incheon to accept the Japanese surrender south of the 38th parallel. Appointed as military governor, Hodge directly controlled South Korea as head of the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK 1945–48). In December 1945, Korea
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#173285555749910036-515: The 38th parallel. Armistice negotiations began in July 1951, but dragged on as the fighting became a war of attrition and the north suffered heavy damage from U.S. bombing . Combat ended on 27 July 1953 with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement , which allowed the exchange of prisoners and created a 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) wide Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the frontline, with
10229-462: The 3rd Battalion, 65th Infantry, 64th Tank Battalion and 3rd Reconnaissance Company left their Hantan blocking position, the 3rd Battalion joining the 7th Infantry on the Kansas Line , the tankers and reconnaissance troops assembling close to 3rd Division headquarters near the Routes 33-11 junction. With considerable difficulty the 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry, meanwhile disengaged at Hill 257 and returned to
10422-446: The 3rd Battalion, 65th Infantry, at the center of the regimental front in mid-afternoon to allow the latter to join its regiment near the 29th British Brigade command post in preparation for the scheduled attack to relieve the Gloster battalion. But after unproductive opening attacks on the 65th Infantry and Philippine 10th Battalion Combat Team and a slow approach to the Kansas Line , the PVA 29th Division opened more effective assaults on
10615-510: The 3rd Division south like a gate hinged on the west at the position of the Gloster battalion, which, after consolidating forces in the Solma-ri area, had remained quiet throughout the day except for meeting engagements between patrols in Company B's sector at the far right. Both the 64th and 63rd Armies, however, had built up forces below the Imjin to the front and flanks of the battalion. To the left of
10808-514: The 64th Army against the bulk of the ROK 1st Division and the 63rd Army against the British 29th Brigade occupying the left half of the US 3rd Infantry Division ’s sector. Out of the ground between the Imjin and Chorwon, the III Army Group was to advance south on the Route 33 axis, its three armies attacking abreast in columns of divisions. Nearest the Imjin, the 15th Army had a narrow zone between
11001-460: The 7th Infantry between 20:00 and midnight of the 24th. Two regiments of the division attacking across the Hantan River hit all three battalions of the regiment. Hardest hit was the 2nd Battalion on the right flank, which by 02:30 on the 25th was surrounded. On orders of the regimental commander, the battalion gradually infiltrated south in small groups and reassembled some 4 miles (6.4 km) below
11194-539: The 7th's sector of the Kansas Line , where it went into reserve. Ahead of all these movements, the Philippine 10th Battalion Combat Team, en route to occupy the gap in the 29th Brigade's lines, reached the brigade headquarters area along Route 11 about 20:00, too late in the day for it to attempt to take position between the Fusilier and Gloster battalions. The withdrawal to the Kansas Line and other force adjustments swung
11387-446: The 92nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion. Hampered further by ROK troops, trucks and equipment cluttering and finally blocking the poor road, Company C, 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion, and the 2nd Rocket Field Artillery Battery reached the 92nd with none of their principal weapons, the 987th Armored Field Artillery Battalion with about half its equipment. Having lost radio and wire communications with his regimental commanders soon after
11580-512: The Belgian battalion out of the Imjin angle, Brigadier Brodie early in the afternoon proposed to Soule that the Belgians destroy their vehicles and withdraw east across the Imjin off the back side of Hill 194. But Soule believed that the bridge area could be opened for the vehicles by attacking Hill 257 from the south. About 14:00 he ordered the 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry, to make the attack and instructed
11773-470: The Belgian infantry by 18:30 were out of contact and en route east to Route 33 and then south to an assembly area to await the battalion's vehicles. In column, drivers raced the vehicles over the Imjin bridge while the 7th Infantry tankers sent to the Belgians during the morning fired on the slopes of Hill 257 to the south and the 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry, moved into the hill mass from the opposite direction. Incoming fire from Hill 257 destroyed four trucks but
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#173285555749911966-527: The Belgians would then get out of the Imjin angle was yet to be determined. The battalions of the 65th Infantry began bounding off the Utah Line about noon, moving easily as the PVA opposite made no attempt to follow. Except for the tanks supporting the Belgian battalion, the division reserves stationed earlier above the Hantan dropped below the river during the 65th's leapfrog action. No interference materialized out of
12159-567: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) crossed the Yalu and entered the war on the side of the north. UN forces retreated from North Korea in December, following the PVA's first and second offensive . Communist forces captured Seoul again in January 1951 before losing it to a UN counter-offensive two months later. After an abortive Chinese spring offensive , UN forces retook territory roughly up to
12352-687: The Chinese Civil War, while US forces remained stationed in South Korea. By spring 1950, he believed that the strategic situation had changed: PLA forces under Mao Zedong had secured final victory, US forces had withdrawn from Korea, and the Soviets had detonated their first nuclear bomb , breaking the US monopoly. As the US had not directly intervened to stop the communists in China, Stalin calculated they would be even less willing to fight in Korea, which had less strategic significance. The Soviets had cracked
12545-687: The Chinese PLA during the war. North Korea also provided the Chinese Communists in Manchuria with a safe refuge for non-combatants and communications with the rest of China. The North Korean contributions to the Chinese Communist victory were not forgotten after the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. As a token of gratitude, between 50,000 and 70,000 Korean veterans who served in
12738-412: The Chuncheon Corridor and the Pukhan River and would be one of the last positions vacated. On the right, the 5th Marines and the Korean Marine battalion pulled back harassed by only scattered resistance. The resultant shortening of the division front allowed Smith to pull the 7th Marines out of the lines and use it as the division reserve. By the evening of 24 April, the 1st Marine Division's lines resembled
12931-401: The Corps was in Komisong. III Corps' commander General Yu elected a different course, committing only the 45th Division in what would be its first offensive of the war, perhaps because it had a strength of 8600 men, more than twice the strength of either of Yu's other divisions. The deployment of the 45th Division set it against the US 23rd Infantry Regiment , 2nd Infantry Division at the edge of
13124-466: The Fusiliers, turned its three rifle companies west on a wide front, and begun sweeping the slopes rising to Hill 675, the peak of Kamak Mountain, in the gap area. It was 1800 before the commander, Lt. Col. Frederick C. Weyand , could reassemble the battalion and open the attack on Hill 257 to the north. Once above the Fusilier-Ulster lines, the battalion came under heavy fire from the flanks and front and had to fight off PVA groups who attempted to knock out
13317-410: The Glosters, the 192nd Division , 64th Army, had begun to ford the Imjim at three points on the Korangp’o-ri bend by daybreak. Sighted by air observers, the crossing operation was shut off by 11:00 by air strikes and artillery fire, and most of the PVA who had crossed by that time hesitated in areas not far below the river. A few company-size groups moved south and tested positions of the 12th Regiment at
13510-443: The Imjin angle as the Belgians, though heavily engaged, held their ground with the assistance of air strikes and artillery and tank fire. Bringing up the regimental rear, the 3rd Battalion, 65th Infantry, reinforced by the 3rd Reconnaissance Company and 64th Tank Battalion , occupied a position blocking Route 33 just above the Hantan, which was to be held until the Belgian battalion had withdrawn from Hill 194. In considering ways to get
13703-439: The Imjin, particularly their neighboring interior units, the 12th ROK Regiment and the British brigade's isolated Gloster battalion at Solma-ri. The midnight exploratory probes in the eastern half of the Corps' sector developed into strong but not overpowering daytime assaults by three divisions against the 24th Infantry on the right of the 25th Division and on the entire front of the 24th Division. The 179th Division seized Hill 664,
13896-502: The Marine Division's right flank located near the village of Yuch’on-ni at the western tip of the reservoir. The latter step was a hedge against the possibility that enemy forces might penetrate the right of the Marine line and make a flanking or enveloping move against X Corps through the otherwise unoccupied ground below the reservoir. To screen this ground and maintain contact with the Marines, Ruffner organized Task Force Zebra under
14089-565: The Marine sector to support the ROK. During the afternoon the New Zealand unit, accompanied by the Middlesex battalion for protection, moved up the valley of the Kapyong River while the 213th circled out of the Marine sector and moved up the valley of a Kapyong tributary in the eastern portion of the ROK sector. Meanwhile, as the day wore on, the move of the ROK 6th Division north to the Kansas Line appeared less and less probable. Still reorganizing
14282-552: The Marines disengaging under fire and making several river crossings. To do this, Smith had to restore tactical unity prior to movement. The 1st Marines was reunited on the morning of the 24th when 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, which had been hotly engaged while attached to the 7th Marines for the past few days, rejoined the regiment. Concurrently, the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, conducted a fighting withdrawal protected by Marine, Navy and Air Force air strikes and artillery fire by Marine and Army units. The battered 3rd Battalion passed through
14475-410: The North. On 28 June, Rhee ordered the massacre of suspected political opponents in his own country. In five days, the ROK, which had 95,000 troops on 25 June, was down to less than 22,000 troops. In early July, when US forces arrived, what was left of the ROK was placed under US operational command of the United Nations Command . The Truman administration was unprepared for the invasion. Korea
14668-622: The PLA were sent back along with their weapons, and they later played a significant role in the initial invasion of South Korea. China promised to support the North Koreans in the event of a war against South Korea. By 1948, a North Korea-backed insurgency had broken out in the southern half of the peninsula. This was exacerbated by the undeclared border war between the Koreas, which saw division-level engagements and thousands of deaths on both sides. The ROK
14861-472: The PVA 59th Division , 20th Army, though kept under artillery fire while massing in the Kwandok-san ridges below Kumhwa , struck hard at the center of the US 24th Infantry Division. Leading forces opened a gap between the 19th and 5th Infantry Regiments ; reinforcements widened the attack, but concentrated on moving through the gap and down a ridge behind the inside battalion of the 19th Infantry. Pressure on
15054-668: The PVA/KPA on 16 March and brought the fighting to the hills situated along the 38th Parallel. PVA commanders launched a counterattack in mid-February, with their Fourth Phase Campaign, but after gaining ground, this too was halted by UN troops in the Battle of Hoengsong and the Battle of Chipyong-ni . The PVA by this time had been badly mauled, and were worn out from incessant combat and exhaustion and their supply lines had been constantly bombed, further weakening their fighting capabilities due to lack of food and supplies. In mid-April 1951 UN forces in
15247-401: The Philippine 10th Battalion Combat Team, then leading the 65th Infantry off the Utah Line , to join the 29th Brigade and take over the 1st Battalion's previously assigned mission of occupying a position in the gap between the Fusilier and Gloster battalions. In carrying out its original mission, the 1st Battalion, with a platoon of regimental tanks attached, by 14:00 had moved up Route 11 behind
15440-484: The Pogae-san heights, the 25th Division attacked toward Ch'orwon, but made no substantial progress after receiving increasing artillery fire during the day and becoming involved in hard fights right at the Utah Line , especially in the zone of the Turkish Brigade along Route 33. Neither Corps developed evidence of enemy offensive preparations during the day. The absence of opposition in the IX Corps' zone only confirmed
15633-529: The Pusan Perimeter in early September. Outflanked by the landing at Incheon on 15 September, Eighth Army broke out of the Pusan Perimeter starting on 16 September and pursued the KPA north ; in October they crossed the 38th Parallel , the dividing line between North and South Korea and invaded North Korea in turn. The Chinese government warned that to safeguard their national sovereignty , they would militarily intervene in Korea if American forces crossed
15826-551: The ROK 12th Regiment. They had come either from the Korangp’o-ri bend or out of the Gloster Crossing area, where, despite British mortar and artillery fire, the 187th Division , and apparently the 189th Division , pushed additional forces over the Imjin. To the northeast, units of the 187th and 188th Divisions continued to enter the gap between the Glosters and Fusiliers, directing their movement mainly toward Hill 675. Some forces worked through each gap and reached Route 5Y early in
16019-422: The ROK 36th Regiment, 5th Division and the X Corps' right early in the evening. On 23 April, the incoming division's 3rd Regiment was to move into a 2 miles (3.2 km) gap directly above Inje between the 5th Regiment and the 35th Regiment, now the right flank unit of the 5th Division. The latter's 36th Regiment meanwhile assembled 3 miles (4.8 km) below its former position in preparation for moving west into
16212-491: The ROK 6th Division to occupy positions on the Kansas Line , 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the area in which Chang was reassembling his forces. The 1st Marine Division was to pull back against the Pukhan River to a line anchored near the Hwacheon Dam and curving southwest to a juncture with the ROK. Manning the long curve would require the commitment of the entire 1st Marine Division, and even then he would not be able to set up
16405-501: The ROK had 98,000 soldiers (65,000 combat, 33,000 support), no tanks (they had been requested from the U.S. military, but requests were denied), and a 22-plane air force comprising 12 liaison-type and 10 AT-6 advanced-trainer airplanes. Large U.S. garrisons and air forces were in Japan, but only 200–300 U.S. troops were in Korea. At dawn on 25 June 1950, the KPA crossed the 38th parallel behind artillery fire. It justified its assault with
16598-524: The ROK. The final stage would involve destroying South Korean government remnants and capturing the rest of South Korea, including the ports. On 7 June 1950, Kim called for a Korea-wide election on 5–8 August 1950 and a consultative conference in Haeju on 15–17 June. On 11 June, the North sent three diplomats to the South as a peace overture, which Rhee rejected outright. On 21 June, Kim revised his war plan to involve
16791-519: The ROKA launched a three-pronged assault on the insurgents in South Cholla and Taegu . By March 1950, the ROKA claimed 5,621 guerrillas killed or captured and 1,066 small arms seized. This operation crippled the insurgency. Soon after, North Korea made final attempts to keep the uprising active, sending battalion-sized units of infiltrators under the commands of Kim Sang-ho and Kim Moo-hyon. The first battalion
16984-680: The Republic of Korea. On 27 June President Truman ordered U.S. air and sea forces to help. On 4 July the Soviet deputy foreign minister accused the U.S. of starting armed intervention on behalf of South Korea. Chinese spring offensive United Nations victory [REDACTED] United Nations ( UNC ) [REDACTED] People's Volunteer Army 418,500 700,000 UN sources : 15,769 total casualties Chinese sources : 85-90,000 casualties (Chinese only) The Chinese spring offensive ( Chinese : 中国春季攻势 ), also known as
17177-481: The South Korean interior intensified; persistent operations, paired with worsening weather, denied the guerrillas sanctuary and wore away their fighting strength. North Korea responded by sending more troops to link up with insurgents and build more partisan cadres; North Korean infiltrators had reached 3,000 soldiers in 12 units by the start of 1950, but all were destroyed or scattered by the ROKA. On 1 October 1949,
17370-470: The South from 5,000 to 1,000. However, Kim Il Sung believed widespread uprisings had weakened the South Korean military and that a North Korean invasion would be welcomed by much of the South Korean population. Kim began seeking Stalin's support for an invasion in March 1949, traveling to Moscow to persuade him. Stalin initially did not think the time was right for a war in Korea. PLA forces were still embroiled in
17563-435: The South, armed by the U.S. military with mostly small arms, but no heavy weaponry. Several generals, such as Lee Kwon-mu , were PLA veterans born to ethnic Koreans in China. While older histories of the conflict often referred to these ethnic Korean PLA veterans as being sent from northern Korea to fight in the Chinese Civil War before being sent back, recent Chinese archival sources studied by Kim Donggill indicate that this
17756-693: The South. The ROK was being trained by the US Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG). On the eve of the war, KMAG commander General William Lynn Roberts voiced utmost confidence in the ROK and boasted that any North Korean invasion would merely provide "target practice". For his part, Syngman Rhee repeatedly expressed his desire to conquer the North, including when US diplomat John Foster Dulles visited Korea on 18 June. Though some South Korean and US intelligence officers predicted an attack, similar predictions had been made before and nothing had happened. The Central Intelligence Agency noted
17949-720: The Soviet Union would not move against US forces in Korea. The Truman administration believed it could intervene in Korea without undermining its commitments elsewhere. On 25 June 1950, the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the North Korean invasion of South Korea with Resolution 82 . The Soviet Union, a veto-wielding power , had boycotted Council meetings since January 1950, protesting Taiwan 's occupation of China's permanent seat . The Security Council, on 27 June 1950, published Resolution 83 recommending member states provide military assistance to
18142-541: The T-34-85, marking the first time the Chinese had deployed such weapons in the war. The immediate objective of the ground attack was Seoul, whose capture Peng reportedly promised to Mao as a May Day gift. Peng planned to converge on the city, employing principally his fresh III, IX and XIX Army Groups. From above the Imjin on the west wing of the main effort, the XIX Army Group was to attack southeast toward Seoul, crossing
18335-594: The Turkish Brigade along Route 33. On the east wing of the III Army Group, the 179th Division , 60th Army, attacked behind the fire about midnight, its bulk hitting the Turks, some forces spilling over against the 24th Infantry at division center. The latter bent back the left of the 24th's line while the forces attacking the Turkish position penetrated at several points and so intermingled themselves that artillery units supporting
18528-420: The Turkish Brigade to leave the line and reorganize south of the Hantan River. The 35th Infantry Regiment came out of reserve to take over the Turkish sector. The Turks fought their way off the front during the morning and, except for one company that had been virtually wiped out, assembled below the Hantan in better condition than Bradley had expected. The PVA followed neither the Turks nor the two regiments, and
18721-790: The UK, and the US decided that "in due course, Korea shall become free and independent". At the Tehran Conference in 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union promised to join its allies in the Pacific War within three months of the victory in Europe . Germany officially surrendered on 8 May 1945, and the USSR declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria on 8 August 1945, two days after
18914-494: The UN Command. With the collapse of the ROK 6th Division a 10 miles (16 km) penetration was created and the US 1st Marine Division was in serious jeopardy. At 21:30 the duty officer at the 1st Marine Division command post was informed that the PVA had penetrated ROK defenses and were headed toward Marine lines. Not long after the message arrived the vanguard of a long line of demoralized ROK soldiers began filing in. By 22:24
19107-775: The UN forces to retreat from North Korea in December 1950, carrying the war back south of the 38th Parallel, with Seoul being abandoned to the PVA/KPA on 4 January 1951. Reeling from these defeats, the UN Command sought to commence ceasefire negotiations with the Chinese government in January 1951, but Mao Zedong and his colleagues ardently refused; as a result, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 498 on 1 February, condemning China as an aggressor, and demanded that its forces withdraw from Korea. The UN Command, under new commander Matthew Ridgway , began counterattacks in late January 1951 that retook Seoul from
19300-608: The US 1st Marine Division . In their sector the Wyoming Line curved southeast from the Kumhwa area to the Hwacheon Reservoir . On 21 April the two divisions moved 2–5 miles (3.2–8.0 km) above the Kansas Line against almost no opposition. Immediately west, the 24th Division did not test the opposition below Kumhwa, but deliberately stood fast in the Kwangdok-san ridges to allow the neighboring ROK 6th Division to come abreast. In
19493-420: The US 25th Infantry Division's zone on the west flank of the advance, six PVA who blundered into the hands of the Turkish Brigade along Route 33 during the afternoon were members of a survey party from the PVA 2nd Motorized Artillery Division. The division's guns, according to the officer in charge, were being positioned to support an attack scheduled to start after dark. PVA Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai and
19686-433: The US 32nd Infantry, 7th Division at the immediate left of the ROK 5th Division and against the 23rd Infantry, 2nd Division anchoring the X Corps’ west flank above the eastern tip of the Hwacheon Reservoir. Opposite the 23rd Infantry, some 400 troops of the 45th made the mistake of assembling in a steep-sided draw near the village of Tokko-ri in full view of an artillery forward observer with Company C. The observer brought down
19879-657: The US in 1949. With the end of the war with Japan , the Chinese Civil War resumed in earnest between the Communists and the Nationalist -led government. While the Communists were struggling for supremacy in Manchuria, they were supported by the North Korean government with matériel and manpower. According to Chinese sources, the North Koreans donated 2,000 railway cars worth of supplies while thousands of Koreans served in
20072-615: The USAMGIK declared martial law . Citing the inability of the Joint Commission to make progress, the US government decided to hold an election under UN auspices to create an independent Korea. The Soviet authorities and Korean communists refused to cooperate on the grounds it would not be fair, and many South Korean politicians boycotted it. The 1948 South Korean general election was held in May. The resultant South Korean government promulgated
20265-414: The adjacent battalion of the 5th Infantry forced it to withdraw almost 1 mile (1.6 km). Quick to follow, the PVA reengaged the battalion within an hour. Regimental reserves took up blocking positions on the flanks of the PVA penetration and helped to confine it, but General Blackshear M. Bryan ’s attempt to move part of his reserve 21st Infantry Regiment from the Kansas Line north onto high ground at
20458-504: The afternoon to help the 1st Marine Division and, in particular, to reinforce the support being given the ROK 6th Division by the New Zealand artillery ; Company C, 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion ; and the division's own 27th Field Artillery Battalion . The Corps' latest ground gains had opened Route 17 in the 1st Marine Division's sector far enough north to allow use of a twisting, narrowly confined valley road branching west off Route 17 near
20651-453: The afternoon. An attack by these forces on the Gloster supply point along the road made clear that the battalion at Solma-ri had been surrounded. Given this penetration and the buildup of PVA below the Imjin in the west and given, in particular, the frail central position of the ROK 6th Division and open ground on either side of it, which invited envelopments both west and east, it was doubtful that I and IX Corps lines as they stood at dark on
20844-420: The area to that end. The Truman administration still refrained from committing troops on the ground, because advisers believed the North Koreans could be stopped by air and naval power alone. The Truman administration was uncertain whether the attack was a ploy by the Soviet Union, or just a test of US resolve. The decision to commit ground troops became viable when a communiqué was received on 27 June indicating
21037-479: The area". As Rusk's comments indicate, the US doubted whether the Soviets would agree. Joseph Stalin , however, maintained his wartime policy of cooperation, and on 16 August, the Red Army halted at the 38th parallel for three weeks to await the arrival of US forces. On 7 September 1945, General Douglas MacArthur issued Proclamation No. 1 to the people of Korea, announcing US military control over Korea south of
21230-566: The attached Philippine 10th Battalion Combat Team occupied the right half of the line, with the Filipinos on the outside flank along Route 33 and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions facing northwest and west along the Imjin. In regimental reserve, the 1st Battalion was located along Route 33 just above the Hant’an River. The British 29th Brigade with the Belgian Battalion attached held the remainder of
21423-462: The attack in the Yanggu area. Moving south through the upper Soyang River valley from its assembly at Komisong , KPA V Corps had deployed in the vacated ground for the attack toward Inje. V Corps' commander, General Pang, chose to attack with his seasoned, if understrength, 6th and 12th Divisions , keeping in reserve the 32nd , a nearly full strength but green division that had replaced the 7th while
21616-470: The border, starting in May 1949. Border clashes between South and North continued on 4 August 1949, when thousands of North Korean troops attacked South Korean troops occupying territory north of the 38th parallel. The 2nd and 18th ROK Infantry Regiments repulsed attacks in Kuksa-bong, and KPA troops were "completely routed". Border incidents decreased by the start of 1950. Meanwhile, counterinsurgencies in
21809-674: The border, these guerrillas launched an offensive in September aimed at undermining the South Korean government and preparing the country for the KPA's arrival in force. This offensive failed. However, the guerrillas were now entrenched in the Taebaek-san region of the North Gyeongsang Province and the border areas of the Gangwon Province . While the insurgency was ongoing, the ROKA and KPA engaged in battalion-sized battles along
22002-408: The brigade were forced to stop firing lest they hit Turks as well as Chinese. Further fragmented by persistent attacks through the night, the Turkish position by morning consisted mainly of surrounded or partially surrounded company perimeters, and PVA penetrating between the Turks and the curled-back left flank of the 24th Infantry moved almost 2 miles (3.2 km) behind the division's front. Ahead of
22195-556: The central front in Korea were engaged in Operation Dauntless to advance UN positions from the Kansas Line 2–6 miles (3.2–9.7 km) north of the 38th Parallel to positions 10–20 miles (16–32 km) north of the 38th Parallel designated the Wyoming Line which would threaten the PVA/KPA logistics hub marked out by the towns of Pyonggang , Ch'orwon and Kumhwa named the Iron Triangle . The advance by US I and IX Corps
22388-487: The choice of the 38th parallel, Rusk observed, "Even though it was further north than could be realistically reached by U. S. [ sic ] forces in the event of Soviet disagreement ... we felt it important to include the capital of Korea in the area of responsibility of American troops". He noted that he was "faced with the scarcity of U.S. forces immediately available and time and space factors which would make it difficult to reach very far north before Soviet troops could enter
22581-542: The claim ROK troops attacked first and that the KPA were aiming to arrest and execute the "bandit traitor Syngman Rhee". Fighting began on the strategic Ongjin Peninsula in the west. There were initial South Korean claims that the 17th Regiment had counterattacked at Haeju; some scholars argue the claimed counterattack was instead the instigating attack, and therefore that the South Koreans may have fired first. However,
22774-622: The codes used by the US to communicate with their embassy in Moscow , and reading dispatches convinced Stalin that Korea did not have the importance to the US that would warrant a nuclear confrontation. Stalin began a more aggressive strategy in Asia based on these developments, including promising economic and military aid to China through the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance . In April 1950, Stalin permitted Kim to attack
22967-421: The commander of the division's 72nd Tank Battalion, Lt. Col. Elbridge L. Brubaker. Included in the task force were a platoon of tanks from the 72nd, the 2nd Reconnaissance Company, the division's attached Netherlands and French Battalions , and, later, the 1st Ranger Company . Almond on the morning of the 25th ordered an afternoon attack by the ROK 5th Division to retake Inje and the high ground immediately above
23160-412: The communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, ethnic Korean units in the PLA were sent to North Korea. In the fall of 1949, two PLA divisions composed mainly of Korean-Chinese troops (the 164th and 166th ) entered North Korea, followed by smaller units throughout the rest of 1949. The reinforcement of the KPA with PLA veterans continued into 1950, with the 156th Division and several other units of
23353-465: The country. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was founded in 1919 in Nationalist China . It failed to achieve international recognition, failed to unite the nationalist groups, and had a fractious relationship with its US-based founding president, Syngman Rhee . From 1919 to 1925 and beyond, Korean communists led internal and external warfare against the Japanese. In China,
23546-408: The covering artillery fire. The division occupied the Kansas Line about 18:00, the 19th and 21st Infantry Regiments on left and right, the 5th Infantry in reserve about 5 miles (8.0 km) behind the line. Later, on receiving word that the ROK 6th Division would not move north onto the Kansas Line , the 21st Infantry covered its right as far as possible with its reserve battalion, and Bryan deepened
23739-518: The defense of Italy and Greece, and the country was first on the list of the National Security Council 's post-North Korea invasion list of "chief danger spots". Truman believed if aggression went unchecked, a chain reaction would start that would marginalize the UN and encourage communist aggression elsewhere. The UN Security Council approved the use of force to help the South Koreans, and the US immediately began using air and naval forces in
23932-457: The division at midday, Chang informed IX Corps' headquarters that he would have his forces on the line by 17:00. But as that hour approached, no part of the division had yet moved forward. Wary of another failing performance by Chang's division, Hoge in midafternoon ordered the British 27th Brigade to block the Kapyong River valley behind the ROK to prevent enemy forces from coursing down the valley and cutting Route 17 at Kapyong town. Brigadier Burke
24125-524: The division sector quieted as Bradley developed his new line. General Robert H. Soule , the 3rd Infantry Division commander considered the Division's front along the Imjin between Korangp’o-ri and Route 33 to be particularly vulnerable to attack, not only because the line was long and thin with gaps between defensive positions but also because it lay generally alongside and at no great distance from Route 33, his main axis of communications. The 65th Infantry and
24318-454: The division's former positions on the ridges between the Hantan and Yongp’yong rivers while the 27th Infantry and Turkish Brigade assembled immediately behind the Yongp’yong. At the far Corps' right, the PVA maintained pressure against the center of the 24th Division, mainly against the 19th Infantry, and attempted to follow the division's withdrawal but gave up after suffering heavy casualties to
24511-473: The division's line. The 29th Infantry Brigade consisted of three British and the Belgian Battalion supported by tanks and artillery. Despite facing a numerically superior enemy, the brigade held its positions for three days, repelling several human wave attacks and inflicting more than 10,000 casualties in the process. After being encircled, however, the 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, nicknamed
24704-461: The east. Although initially successful, they were halted by 22 May. On 20 May, perceiving that the enemy were overextended the US Eighth Army counterattacked the exhausted PVA/KPA forces, inflicting heavy losses. North Korea invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. But after having conquered much of southern Korea, the KPA suffered crushing defeats after losing much of their army at the Battle of
24897-509: The economic and military aid promised by the Soviets. Kathryn Weathersby cites Soviet documents which said Kim secured Mao's support. Along with Mark O'Neill, she says this accelerated Kim's war preparations. Chen Jian argues Mao never seriously challenged Kim's plans and Kim had every reason to inform Stalin that he had obtained Mao's support. Citing more recent scholarship, Zhao Suisheng contends Mao did not approve of Kim's war proposal and requested verification from Stalin, who did so via
25090-420: The enemy, he insisted, would have to "take all he gets." In the X Corps' sector to the east of the Marines, an attack opened near dawn on the 24th by the KPA 12th Division thoroughly disorganized the ROK 5th Division and carried the KPA through Inje by mid-morning. The KPA 6th Division at the same time continued to push the left and center units of ROK III Corps away from Route 24. The two KPA divisions reduced
25283-411: The entire night to move deep into the vacated ROK sector and sweep behind the Marine front. But, either unaware of the opportunity to envelop the Marines or, more likely, unable to change course rapidly, the 120th attempted only local frontal assaults on the 7th Marines west of Hwacheon town, none of which penetrated or forced a withdrawal. Farther east, forces of the 115th Division , 39th Army, penetrated
25476-450: The flanks of the 24th Division to the west and 1st Marine Division to the east. At the first indication of the ROK retreat, the 1st Marine Division commander, General Smith, had begun to shore up his left flank, drawing a battalion from the 1st Marines in reserve near Chuncheon and sending it out the valley road from Chich’on-ni to establish defenses tied in with the 92nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion. En route aboard trucks before midnight,
25669-459: The former Fourth Field Army arriving in February; the PLA 156th Division was reorganized as the KPA 7th Division. By mid-1950, between 50,000 and 70,000 former PLA troops had entered North Korea, forming a significant part of the KPA's strength on the eve of the war's beginning. The combat veterans and equipment from China, the tanks, artillery, and aircraft supplied by the Soviets, and rigorous training increased North Korea's military superiority over
25862-481: The forward units. Forces of the PVA 60th Division , 20th Army, hit Chang's lines about 20:00. Without artillery support and with little other supporting fire, units of the 179th Regiment, 60th Division, struck the inside battalion of the 2nd Regiment. Forces following punched through a central gap, some veering west and east behind the 19th and 2nd Regiments, others continuing south toward the 7th Regiment. Within minutes both line regiments were in full flight. Caught up in
26055-400: The gap between the ROK and Glosters. The 189th Division continued, if slowly, to pass through the gap. Before midnight the entire front of the 3rd Division was under assault. By dark on the 24th there had been no enemy action against the 7th Infantry deployed along Route 33 at the right of the 3rd Division. With the sector quiet, the 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry, had no difficulty in replacing
26248-472: The government and between 2,976 and 3,392 deaths. By May 1949, both uprisings had been crushed. Insurgency reignited in the spring of 1949 when attacks by guerrillas in the mountainous regions (buttressed by army defectors and North Korean agents) increased. Insurgent activity peaked in late 1949 as the ROKA engaged so-called People's Guerrilla Units. Organized and armed by the North Korean government, and backed by 2,400 KPA commandos who had infiltrated through
26441-576: The government in the South, under the condition that Mao would agree to send reinforcements if needed. For Kim, this was the fulfillment of his goal to unite Korea. Stalin made it clear Soviet forces would not openly engage in combat, to avoid a direct war with the US Kim met with Mao in May 1950 and differing historical interpretations of the meeting have been put forward. According to Barbara Barnouin and Yu Changgeng, Mao agreed to support Kim despite concerns of American intervention, as China desperately needed
26634-618: The government. At 02:00 on 28 June the ROK blew up the Hangang Bridge across the Han River in an attempt to stop the KPA. The bridge was detonated while 4,000 refugees were crossing it, and hundreds were killed. Destroying the bridge trapped many ROK units north of the river. In spite of such desperate measures, Seoul fell that same day. Some South Korean National Assemblymen remained in Seoul when it fell, and 48 subsequently pledged allegiance to
26827-479: The highest ground in the 24th Infantry sector, but failed in daylong attacks to dislodge the regiment and two reinforcing battalions of the 27th Infantry from a new line established in the foothills of the high feature. Forces of the 80th and 59th Divisions kept the 24th Division's front under pressure all day, but only the 80th attacking the 19th Infantry made any penetrations, all shallow. Counterattacks by regimental reserve forces eliminated all of them. Of more concern
27020-472: The impact of the disaster on the left was apparent, so all plans to resume the Operation Dauntless attack the next day were abruptly canceled. The 1st Marine Division and attached 1st Korean Marine Corps Regiment came under attack from the PVA 120th Division at 02:00 on 23 April and with help from supporting arms successfully defended their positions until the morning when they were ordered to retreat to
27213-749: The influence of China over Korea in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), ushering in the short-lived Korean Empire . A decade later, after defeating Imperial Russia in the Russo-Japanese War , Japan made the Korean Empire its protectorate with the Eulsa Treaty in 1905, then annexed it with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 . The Korean Empire fell, and Korea was directly ruled by Japan between 1910–45. Many Korean nationalists fled
27406-799: The insurgent war and border clashes. The first socialist uprising occurred without direct North Korean participation, though the guerrillas still professed support for the northern government. Beginning in April 1948 on Jeju Island , the campaign saw arrests and repression by the South Korean government in the fight against the South Korean Labor Party, resulting in 30,000 violent deaths, among them 14,373 civilians, of whom ~2,000 were killed by rebels and ~12,000 by ROK security forces. The Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion overlapped with it, as several thousand army defectors waving red flags massacred right-leaning families. This resulted in another brutal suppression by
27599-493: The invasion force, the North had 114 fighters, 78 bombers, 105 T-34-85 tanks, and some 30,000 soldiers stationed in reserve in North Korea. Although each navy consisted of only several small warships, the North and South Korean navies fought in the war as seaborne artillery for their armies. In contrast, the South Korean population was estimated at 20 million, but its army was unprepared and ill-equipped. As of 25 June 1950,
27792-415: The left, forces of the 29th Division apparently coming out of the adjacent sector of the 7th Infantry to the west drew close enough to place fire on the regimental command post and supporting artillery units. On the right, PVA penetrated and scattered the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry. Unable to restore the position, Bradley pulled the 24th Infantry and 27th Infantry onto a new line about 1 mile (1.6 km) to
27985-429: The most heavily bombed countries in history, and virtually all of Korea's major cities were destroyed. No peace treaty has been signed, making the war a frozen conflict . In South Korea, the war is usually referred to as the "625 War" ( 6·25 전쟁 ; 六二五戰爭 ), the "625 Upheaval" ( 6·25 동란 ; 六二五動亂 ; yugio dongnan ), or simply "625", reflecting the date of its commencement on 25 June. In North Korea,
28178-408: The moving troops bodies, air observers reported the southward march of enemy groups with increasing frequency during the day. On the basis of the sightings west of the Hwacheon Reservoir, it appeared that the enemy forces approaching I Corps would mass evenly across the Corps' front while those moving toward IX Corps would concentrate on the front of the ROK 6th Division. For the scheduled advance to
28371-541: The nationalist National Revolutionary Army and the communist People's Liberation Army (PLA) helped organize Korean refugees against the Japanese military, which had also occupied parts of China. The Nationalist-backed Koreans, led by Yi Pom-Sok , fought in the Burma campaign (1941-45). The communists, led by, among others, Kim Il Sung , fought the Japanese in Korea and Manchuria . At the Cairo Conference in 1943, China,
28564-428: The night behind mortar and artillery barrages, but had made only a few local gains against the 32nd Infantry on the right flank of the 7th Division. On the east flank of the enemy attack, the KPA 6th Division was more successful in assaults on the ROK 3rd Division. Forcing its left and center units to the southwest, by mid-morning on the 23rd the KPA had pushed the ROK 3rd Division well back from Route 24, partially opening
28757-405: The night of 24–25 April, but accurate close-in fires by 105 mm and 155 mm howitzers kept potential attackers at a distance. The 2nd Battalion repelled a PVA company in the only major action of the evening. But the PVA were still lurking in the west as became evident when patrols departing friendly lines in that area quickly struck an enemy hornet's nest the following morning. One such patrol
28950-464: The operation was conducted under the auspices of the UN. It has been sometimes referred to in the English-speaking world as "The Forgotten War" or "The Unknown War" because of the lack of public attention it received during and afterward, relative to the global scale of World War II, which preceded it, and the subsequent angst of the Vietnam War , which succeeded it. Imperial Japan diminished
29143-405: The panic began, Chang was hard pressed to regain control of his forces, even when they outdistanced the PVA pursuit after midnight. Traveling rear areas throughout the night, Chang and his staff established a degree of order near dawn, collecting about 2,500 members of his three regiments some 10 miles (16 km) south of the division's original front. To the same depth, the ROK rout had peeled open
29336-499: The parallel. However, US president Harry Truman dismissed the warning. As the UN forces raced to the Yalu River after capturing Pyongyang on 19 October, the Chinese launched their first offensive of the war on 25 October. Undeterred, UN Commander Douglas MacArthur initiated the Home-by-Christmas offensive aimed at unifying Korea. In response, the Chinese launched their Second Phase Offensive on 25 November that forced
29529-443: The penetration. By evening the task force drove out the PVA and established defensive positions in the gap that had been opened between the 11th and 12th Regiments. By that time the 192nd Division had pressed back the 12th Regiment roughly 3 miles (4.8 km) to the southwest of its original positions, widening by the same distance the gap between the ROK division and the Gloster battalion on Hill 235. The 189th Division, after brushing
29722-400: The point of penetration failed when PVA occupied the ground first. By daylight the PVA drove almost 3 miles (4.8 km) through the center of the division. Bryan withdrew his line regiments down the sides of the PVA wedge into positions below it, where, though kept under pressure at center, they were able to stand. Meanwhile, on learning of the ROK 6th Division's retreat on his right, Bryan set
29915-402: The pressure of their attacks only after their point units had driven 2–5 miles (3.2–8.0 km) below Inje. Given some respite, the ROK forces were able to organize defenses strong enough to hold off the two KPA divisions' continuing but weaker attempts to deepen and widen their salient. To the northeast, the KPA 45th Division again displayed its inexperience on the 24th in unsuccessful attacks on
30108-400: The previous day, IX Corps' forces making easy moves of 2–3 miles (3.2–4.8 km), the two I Corps divisions being limited to shorter gains by heavier resistance. On the east flank of the advance, the Hwacheon Dam , defended so stoutly by PVA 39th Army forces only a few days earlier, fell to the 1st Korean Marine Corps Regiment (1st KMC) without a fight. But a PVA captive taken elsewhere in
30301-503: The protection by moving a battalion of the 5th Infantry into blocking positions along the east flank. Under Soule's plan for pulling back the 3rd Division's rightmost forces, the 7th Infantry was to occupy the division's eastern sector of the Kansas Line . Protected on the west by the Belgian battalion, the 65th Infantry Regiment was to leapfrog off the Utah Line , pass through the 7th Infantry via Route 33, and assemble in division reserve near Route 33's junction with Route 11. Exactly how
30494-537: The recent patrol reports of PVA/KPA withdrawal. Below the Iron Triangle, the resistance that began to stiffen on 19 April had been expected to grow progressively heavier as I Corps' forces moved above the Utah Line . On the Imjin River front, daylight patrols working above the river again found only a scattering of PVA. I Corps' commander General Frank W. Milburn concluded in an evening wrap-up report to Van Fleet that
30687-432: The redrawn 5th Division zone the following day as the remainder of the ROK 7th Division came into its new area. A similar shifting of KPA forces above the X and ROK III Corps was indicated when the ROK 5th Division, previously in contact with the KPA 45th Division , III Corps above Inje, captured a member of the KPA 12th Division , V Corps . Farther east, the ROK 3rd Division, which had had almost no contact since reaching
30880-490: The report that contained the Haeju claim contained errors and outright falsehoods. KPA forces attacked all along the 38th parallel within an hour. The KPA had a combined arms force including tanks supported by heavy artillery. The ROK had no tanks, anti-tank weapons, or heavy artillery. The South Koreans committed their forces in a piecemeal fashion, and these were routed in a few days. On 27 June, Rhee evacuated Seoul with some of
31073-482: The reservoir above Yanggu and the 17th and 32nd Infantry Regiments of the 7th Infantry Division in the adjacent ground to the east. On the opposite wing of the KPA effort, the KPA 6th Division faced the ROK 3rd Division . At center, the 12th Division was poised for an attack in a zone straddling the US X Corps-ROK III Corps boundary and leading directly to Inje. During the afternoon of 22 April, IX Corps' airborne artillery observers located and brought down fire on
31266-806: The rest of his command, determined to evict the UN forces from Korea permanently, reformed his frontline forces and amassed a strike force of three field armies and three KPA corps, totaling 700,000 men. Of these, he ordered 270,000 from the III, IX and XIX Army Groups to be directed for an assault towards Seoul, while the rest were deployed elsewhere on the battlefront with 214,000 men serving as their strategic reserve to be committed for support purposes. The PVA III and XIX Armies, under orders from Chairman Mao Zedong, began to enter Korea in February 1951, alongside four field artillery divisions, two long range artillery divisions, four anti-aircraft divisions, one multiple rocket launcher division, and four tank regiments equipped with
31459-489: The right flank of the 12th Regiment, meanwhile began passing through the widening gap between the ROK and Glosters. As the 12th Regiment gave ground during the afternoon, Milburn ordered his lone reserve, the US 15th Infantry, 3rd Division, out of its assembly on the northwest outskirts of Seoul into positions 6 miles (9.7 km) behind the ROK to block a secondary road, Route 1B, which if the PVA reached would afford them an easy path to Route 1 and Seoul. Milburn shortly diverted
31652-404: The right of the ROK 1st Division but were turned back by noon. Sorties by two task forces of ROK infantry and tanks of the 73rd Tank Battalion, which was attached to the 1st Division, punished PVA forces ahead of ROK lines until dusk. One task force estimated that it killed 3,000 PVA. Gloster forces on Hill 235 meanwhile caught sight of PVA on the near high ground in the gap between the battalion and
31845-416: The river and Route 33 projecting through the area occupied by the US 65th Infantry Regiment . Along Route 33 and east of it, the 12th Army and 60th Army at group center and left were to attack through ground held by the Philippine 10th Battalion Combat Team on the right flank of the US 3rd Infantry Division and through the Pogae-san ridges occupied by the Turkish Brigade and US 24th Infantry Regiment in
32038-407: The river on a 12 miles (19 km) front centered on the Korangp’o-ri bend and advancing on the capital through a narrowing zone between Routes 1 and 33. The group commander, Yang Teh-chih, planned to cross the Imjin with two armies, the 64th between Route 1 and the town of Korangp’o-ri, the 63rd between Korangp’o-ri and the confluence of the Imjin and Hantan Rivers . Yang's deployment would pit
32231-476: The rush of troops from the 2nd Regiment, the 7th Regiment joined the wild retreat. Abandoned weapons, vehicles, and equipment littered vacated positions and lines of drift as the South Koreans streamed south, east, and west, rapidly uncovering the fire support units. The New Zealand artillery supporting the 19th Regiment in the west managed to withdraw with guns and equipment intact down the Kapyong River valley to
32424-457: The sector of the US 25th Infantry Division. On the left of the main effort, the IX Army Group was to advance southwest out of the Kumhwa area, guiding on Route 3. Sung Shih-lun, the group commander, set the 27th Army on his right for an attack astride Route 3. The 27th thus initially would be advancing in a zone centered on the boundary between the US 25th and 24th Infantry Divisions. Similarly,
32617-444: The southward movement by the KPA but assessed this as a "defensive measure" and concluded an invasion was "unlikely". On 23 June UN observers inspected the border and did not detect that war was imminent. Chinese involvement was extensive from the beginning, building on previous collaboration between the Chinese and Korean communists during the Chinese Civil War. Throughout 1949 and 1950, the Soviets continued arming North Korea. After
32810-399: The supporting tanks with grenades and shaped charges. By 20:00 the battalion had gained no more than a foothold in the 257 hill mass. In the Belgian withdrawal, begun as the attack on Hill 257 opened, the bulk of the battalion moved off the back side of Hill 194 and waded the Imjin under the cover of artillery fire and air strikes. Harassed by mortar fire until they ascended the steep east bank,
33003-402: The surrounding area. Meanwhile, as Milburn committed his only reserve unit, air observers and agents working in the area along Route 1 above the Imjin reported enemy forces moving south toward the river. KPA I Corps appeared ready to open its supporting attack along the west flank of the main PVA drive. Well before daylight on the 25th Milburn became convinced that I Corps would have to give up
33196-479: The term " Chosŏn War" ( Chinese : 朝鮮戰爭 ; pinyin : Cháoxiǎn Zhànzhēng ) is sometimes used unofficially. The term " Hán (Korean) War" ( Chinese : 韓戰 ; pinyin : Hán Zhàn ) is most used in Taiwan (Republic of China), Hong Kong and Macau . In the US, the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a " police action " as the US never formally declared war on its opponents, and
33389-443: The town as a first step in regaining the Kansas Line . As worked out by Almond with General Yu, the leftmost units of ROK III Corps were to join the advance. Yu's attack-for reasons not clear-did not materialize, and although the ROK 5th Division recaptured Inje, enemy pressure forced the unit to return to its original positions below the town. Almond planned to attack again on the 26th, but, as he would soon learn, any attempt to retake
33582-400: The units that had joined it after scrambling out of the ROK 6th Division's sector withdrew to the vicinity of Chich’on-ni, where the bulk of the Marine division's artillery, the 11th Marine Regiment, was clustered. Hoge directed the 92nd, which absorbed the members of the weaponless 2nd Rocket Field Artillery Battery, and the half-equipped 987th Field Artillery Battalion to reinforce the fires of
33775-416: The village of Chich’on-ni into the ROK 6th Division's rear area. The 92nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion moved up Route 17 and out the minor road to the west edge of the Marine sector from where its 155 mm self-propelled howitzers could support both the Marines and the ROK. The 987th Armored Field Artillery Battalion and 2nd Rocket Field Artillery Battery, both equipped with 105 mm howitzers, used
33968-557: The war is officially referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War ( Choguk haebang chŏnjaeng ) or the " Chosŏn [Korean] War" ( 조선전쟁 ; Chosŏn chŏnjaeng ). In mainland China, the segment of the war after the intervention of the People's Volunteer Army is commonly and officially known as the "Resisting America and Assisting Korea War" ( Chinese : 抗美援朝战争 ; pinyin : Kàngměi Yuáncháo Zhànzhēng ), although
34161-408: The way to Inje. A bigger threat to Inje materialized at the right flank of US X Corps, where the KPA 12th Division caught X Corps and ROK III Corps part way through the shift of divisions required for the now canceled advance to the Alabama Line . The 12th Division struck the ROK 35th Regiment, 5th Division at midnight on the 22nd and began sliding forces into the 2 miles (3.2 km) gap between
34354-455: The winding valley road to reach the right half of the ROK sector, where they took position behind the 7th Regiment near the ROK artillery and US 4.2-inch mortars. For reasons that never became clear, the ROK 2nd and 19th Regiments failed to develop the defensive positions ordered by Chang. With numerous gaps and open outside flanks, the division front was vulnerable to infiltration, and the nearby reserves were almost as subject to attack as were
34547-419: The zones of the US 25th and 24th Infantry Divisions stretching north of the Utah Line (which arched 11 miles (18 km) above Kansas between the Imjin River and the eastern slopes of Kungmang Mountain, its trace resting on the prominent Kumhak , Kwangdok and Paegun mountain masses) to Ch'orwon and Kumhwa at the base of the Iron Triangle. Leading the IX Corps' advance were the ROK 6th Division and
34740-431: Was a visible enemy buildup in front of the division, particularly ahead of the 21st Infantry on the right flank. To the left of the Glosters, the 64th Army had shown little of the clumsiness with which its 192nd Division opened operations against the ROK 1st Division. Driving out of its shallow bridgehead inside the Imjin River's Korangp’o-ri bend at midnight on the 23rd, the 192nd Division slowly, but persistently, forced
34933-417: Was administered by a US–Soviet Union Joint Commission , as agreed at the Moscow Conference , to grant independence after a five-year trusteeship. Waiting five years for independence was unpopular among Koreans, and riots broke out. To contain them, the USAMGIK banned strikes on 8 December and outlawed the PRK Revolutionary Government and People's Committees on 12 December. Following further civilian unrest,
35126-414: Was almost entirely trained and focused on counterinsurgency, rather than conventional warfare. They were equipped and advised by a force of a few hundred American officers, who were successful in helping the ROKA to subdue guerrillas and hold its own against North Korean military (Korean People's Army, KPA) forces along the 38th parallel. Approximately 8,000 South Korean soldiers and police officers died in
35319-420: Was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union , while South Korea was supported by the United Nations Command (UNC) led by the United States . The conflict was thus the first major proxy war of
35512-499: Was distant. In preparing past attacks, PVA forces had successfully concealed their locations until they moved into forward assembly areas immediately before they attacked. In the US X Corps ' zone north and northeast of Yanggu , US 2nd and 7th Infantry Division patrols, after several days of nearly fruitless searches, located several groups of 600-1000 KPA immediately above the Corps' front. These groups suggested, as X Corps' commander General Edward Almond reported to Van Fleet, that
35705-400: Was generally weak. Although it had not cleared 257, Colonel Weyand's battalion apparently had distracted most of the PVA holding the hill. Once the last vehicle had crossed the bridge about 20:00, the motor column followed the track along the Hantan to reach Route 33. Troops and vehicles reunited, the Belgian battalion moved south and assembled near the Routes 33-11 junction. Behind the Belgians,
35898-442: Was no US policy dealing with South Korea directly as a national interest, its proximity to Japan increased its importance. Said Kim: "The recognition that the security of Japan required a non-hostile Korea led directly to President Truman's decision to intervene ... The essential point ... is that the American response to the North Korean attack stemmed from considerations of U.S. policy toward Japan." Another consideration
36091-401: Was not included in the strategic Asian Defense Perimeter outlined by United States Secretary of State Dean Acheson . Military strategists were more concerned with the security of Europe against the Soviet Union than that of East Asia . The administration was worried a war in Korea could quickly escalate without American intervention. Diplomat John Foster Dulles stated: "To sit by while Korea
36284-770: Was not the case. Rather, the soldiers were indigenous to China, as part of China's longstanding ethnic Korean community, and were recruited to the PLA in the same way as any other Chinese citizen. According to the first official census in 1949, the population of North Korea numbered 9,620,000, and by mid-1950, North Korean forces numbered between 150,000 and 200,000 troops, organized into 10 infantry divisions, one tank division, and one air force division, with 210 fighter planes and 280 tanks, who captured scheduled objectives and territory, among them Kaesong, Chuncheon , Uijeongbu , and Ongjin. Their forces included 274 T-34-85 tanks, 200 artillery pieces, 110 attack bombers, 150 Yak fighter planes, and 35 reconnaissance aircraft. In addition to
36477-407: Was pinned down less than 200 yards (180 m) from friendly lines. Another platoon suffered 18 casualties and had to be extricated from an ambush by tanks. On the other hand, 5th Marines and Korean Marine scouts ventured 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north without contact. Air and artillery plastered the western flank, but PVA machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire continued to hit Marine positions. In
36670-498: Was reduced to a single man over the course of engagements by the ROKA 8th Division . The second was annihilated by a two-battalion hammer-and-anvil maneuver by units of the ROKA 6th Division , resulting in a toll of 584 KPA guerrillas (480 killed, 104 captured) and 69 ROKA troops killed, plus 184 wounded. By the spring of 1950, guerrilla activity had mostly subsided; the border, too, was calm. By 1949, South Korean and US military actions had reduced indigenous communist guerrillas in
36863-429: Was the Soviet reaction if the US intervened. The Truman administration was fearful a Korean war was a diversionary assault that would escalate to a general war in Europe once the US committed in Korea. At the same time, "[t]here was no suggestion from anyone that the United Nations or the United States could back away from [the conflict]". Yugoslavia —a possible Soviet target because of the Tito-Stalin split —was vital to
37056-441: Was to establish the blocking position along the trace of line Delta 4 miles (6.4 km) north of town where the Kapyong River flowing from the northwest was joined by the tributary from the northeast just above a large bend turning the Kapyong southwest toward the Pukhan. From hill masses rising on either side of the junction of the Kapyong and its tributary the commonwealth forces could cover both valley approaches. Hoge directed
37249-433: Was to menace the Triangle, not invest it and if struck by strong enemy attacks during or after the advance, the two Corps were to return to the Kansas Line . US Eighth Army intelligence on 18 April warned that a PVA/KPA attack was likely any time between 20 April and 1 May but on 21 April Eighth Army commander General James Van Fleet decided to continue the Dauntless advance. I Corps' final Dauntless objectives lay in
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