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Significant Battles of the Korean War: Impact on War Duration and Outcome

1. The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter

This fight started on August 1, 1950, when both the Republic of Korea and the United States

armies defended an area 50 miles wide and 80 miles long, following North Korea's invasion in

South Korea in June 1950 (Thomas Abbott, and Chappell 4; Cobbs and Blum 317). The Pusan

Perimeter fight was long-reaching military combat between North Korea's communist army and

the United Nations forces. It started it August 1950 to September 1950 in South Korea, Pusan,

and adjacent regions (American Military History 225; Thomas et al. 4). The War marked the end

of the North Korean attack on the Republic of Korea, whereby the Pusan Perimeter was the

communist invasion's furthest reach. This battle was strategic, specifically since it marked the

lapse of the tide of hostility by South Korean Allies. More specifically, Northern Korea's almost-

one-week pause to advance its invasion further into the South offered the American and Korean

forces ample time to form a defensive line, which successfully barred the North from further

attack (Cumings 71). Tucker indicates the United Nations forces protecting the Pusan Perimeter

comprised of three divisions: the 25th Infantry Division, the 24th Infantry Division, and the 1st

Cavalry Division (426; American Military History 225). Alongside these were tens of thousands

of South Korean troops, the 27th Commonwealth Brigade, and other British and U.S. units which

reinforced the defense.

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While North Korea had estimated a speedy victory in its attack plans of South Korea, the

projected operation timeline of 22 to 27 days was frustrated by South Korea's Allies'

interventions (American Military History 219). Cumings reveals that Kim II Sung had

anticipated the War to end within a month and viewed American ground soldiers as the only

enemy (79). However, support by U.S. air and naval forces and U.N. support affected the War's

duration. The Pusan Perimeter war was especially crucial to the overall outcome of the War,

without which North Korea would have attained its goal of unifying the two states.

2. The Inchon Battle

The Battle of Inchon began on September 15, 1950, following Mac Arthur's attack on North

Korea's supply for the ongoing Korean War (Lecture notes VII, b). This fight was an ambitious

invasion during the Korean War whose consequence was a pivotal triumph and strategic reversal

of the continuous Northern advancement into the South. The victory favored the United Nations,

a battle that involved about 300 naval vessels and 75,000 troops (Lecture Notes VII, b). Inchon's

UNC invasion encountered limited opposition, which enabled them to move to recapture South

Korea's capital, Seoul, two weeks later (The Korean War, para. 16). The U.N. forces' bombing of

Inchon's city played a crucial role in the Korean War whereby it cut out supply lines for North

Korea, forcing the northern troops to retreat northwards (The Korean War para.16). Furthermore,

although Inchon was far from the Pusan Perimeter, the city's attack enabled the Eighth U.S.

Army to break out of the Perimeter and match north, uniting with the X Corps and liberating

South Korea's capital within a fortnight (Matray 26). The Inchon Battle also helped the United

Nations troops drive North Korean invaders past the 38th parallel, resulting in the successful

attainment of the South Korean goal of saving the country and retuning power to President

Syngman Rhee.
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The burst out of the Republic of Korea and U.S. troops from the Pusan Perimeter into

various directions resulted in the entrapment of significant numbers of North Korean armies in

the South. By September 30, North Korea's resistance in the South was over (Thomas et al. 4).

North Korean troops' inability to access war supplies following the Inchon attack impacted the

War's duration and outcome. The North was no longer able to progress its war goals, and

resistance could not last long due to supply cuts and entrapment by U.N. and ROK troops.

3. The Yalu River Battle

After the successful repossession of Seoul by South Koreans with allies and the U.N. troops'

entrapment of North Korean armies, their retreat towards the North, the U.S., and the U.N.

assumed the North's retreat was a sign of accepting defeat. Nonetheless, this assumption proved

to be far from the truth during the Battle of Yalu River. More specifically, Cumings alleges that

North Korean armies' withdrawal to the Pusan Perimeter and further to the Yalu River was not a

sign of complete defeat (78). Instead, the retreat was a strategic move against South Korea and

its allies to weaken United Nations and U.S. armies to advance South (Cumings 78). A KPA

official quote reveals that North Korea had been withdrawing from South Korea until late

November, after which the rest of the withdrawal activities were planned (Cumings 78). The

official claimed reasons for a further retreat from the South because they knew the United

Nations forces would pursue them there and be forced to divide its troops thinly across the entire

region (Cumings 78). Accordingly, the spread out of the army would offer North Korean forces a

fighting advantage over the U.N. and encompass the enemy and eradicate them.

A "deep envelopment" facilitated a strong North Korean-Chinese attack on American

soldiers on November 7, 1950, a strategy that cut allied armies to pieces (Cumings 97). Cumings

indicate that the 1st Marine Division was entrapped at Changiin Reservoir and the Republic of
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Korea II Corps 96/655 collapsed again (97). Within 48 hours, South Korean soldiers and allies

started a general withdrawal from North Korea (Cumings 98). From that point, MacArthur

prioritized the preservation of his forces, which were now wholly overexposed, surrounded, and

battered. Cumings notes that two days after the attack, North Korea and its Chinese allies now

occupied Pyongyang, and by the next day, they were mere "twenty miles north of the 38 parallel

at its northernmost point" (98). Within slightly more than a fortnight from the time of the

invasion, the allied Sino-Korean offensive rid North Korea of enemy forces (Cumings 98).

The Battle at Yalu River weakened U.N., U.S., and South Korean forces, forcing them to

retreat and enabling Northern Korea and its Chinese aide to advance again into South Korea and

repossess Seoul on January 4, 1951 (Lecture Notes VIII, i. ii). Although the city had been

reclaimed back to U.N. and U.S. possession by March 14, 1951, the short-lived repossession of

Seoul by North Korea demonstrates U.N. and U.S. army's decision to advance to North Korea

was miscalculated. Fights between the two forces ensued for the next two years within the 38th

parallel, finally ending in a stalemate (U.S. History para.16). Withdrawal by the U.S., South

Korean, and U.N. contributed to the War's result of a separated Korea. Both countries' intentions

to become a unified state failed and instead continued as independent nations.

4. The Battle of the Outposts

The "Battles of the Outposts" denotes the battles across a tactical terrain of hills along the

U.N. line (Thomas et al. 5). These fights occurred in the last two years of the Korean War. After

the U.N. recommenced the offensive at the start of 1951 and halted proceeding counter-attacks

by Communists, the front managed to stabilize North of Seoul. The beginning of ceasefire

mediation in July 1951 was the battle on the ground settle into a static stage, where most action

involved restricted battalion or regimental assaults to recover or seize important strategic terrain
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(Tucker 430). The phase also included heavier weaponry barrages by both sides and hostile

patrolling. This state characterized the fight until July 27, 1953, when the armistice was signed

and save for the flare-up in the fall of 1951 (Tucker 431). Although the grand maneuvers

stopped, the battle between the two sides ensued, causing the United States military significant

casualties. Notably, both the South and the North had agreed at the beginning of armistice

negotiations that the fight would continue until the talks' conclusion (The Korean War 241). The

truce line would be the line of contact when the armistice became effective. Both sides wished to

form a demilitarized region by forcing opponents back two kilometers from the contact line.

Accordingly, their respective tactics aimed at appropriation and sustenance of good strong

outposts to guarantee friendly forces controlled invulnerable terrain when truce became effective.

From the position of engaged persons, the reasonably small scale fights that surrounded these

outposts as the conflicting troops participated in bloody attempts to maintain or repossess the

hills that subjugated the core line of resistance were in every way as demanding and intense as

any in history. Most operations happened at the company, battalion, and platoon level, although

the duration and strength of mortar bombardment and armaments from either side eclipsed those

of World War I (Tucker 243). Some of the Battle of Outposts' common points include Bloody

Ridge, Punchbowl, Heartbreak Ridge, and the Hook, among others (Tucker 241), where America

had requested its young men to withstand some of the most violent battles in its history. The

ongoing ceasefire awareness made it harder for the troops to handle the unrelenting challenges

and danger the static was presented. More specifically, soldiers were aware truce would be

signed any time soon. Therefore, none wanted to be among casualties added at the end of the

fatality list, which inevitably affected leadership at each level. They aimed to minimize fatalities

while attaining the mission.

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The Battles of the Outposts lasted for two years before reaching a truce by both sides. These

fights were the longest of the entire Korean War and involved various battles fought at different

points to ensure each side maintained strategic terrain by the time truce became effective. The

stalemate or static state of the War meant that each side was strong enough to keep its position,

explaining the peace, which involved a two-kilometer retreat by both the South and the North

from the contact line to form a no man's land. The persistence of each group not to back down

explains their respective retention of their countries and the absolute inability by either

government to unify Korea.

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Works Cited

Cobbs, Elizabeth, and Blum, Edward. Major Problems in American History. Cengage Learning,

2017.

Cumings, Bruce. The Korean War: A History. Modern Library, n.d.

Lecture Notes. “The Korean War (1950-1953).” N.d

Matray, James. “The Korean War 101: Causes, Course, and Conclusion of the Conflict.” Asian

Studies, 2012. Retrieved on March 15, 2021, from https://www.asianstudies.org/wp-

content/uploads/the-korean-war-101-causes-course-and-conclusion-of-the-conflict.pdf

The Korean War. “Chapter 8: The Korean War.” Retrieved on March 15, 2021, from

https://www.ushistory.org/us/52e.asp

Thomas, Nigel, Abbott, Peter, and Chappell, Mike. The Korean War: 1950-53. Reed

International Books Limited, 1986.

Tucker, Spencer. “The Korean War, 1950–53: from maneuver to stalemate.” Korean Journal of

Defense Analysis, 2016. Retrieved on March 15, 2021, from

https://pdf.zlibcdn.com/dtoken/92ca2cb19e3331dd8f49d0290e3d9386/10163271.2010.51

9926.pdf

U.S. History. 52e: The Korean War. N.d. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from

https://www.ushistory.org/us/52e.asp