The III Corps was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

of the

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...

that was formed on October 16, 1950. It was Command by Major General Yu Jae Hung.

Korean War

When the Corps was formed it initially consisted of the 5th and 11th Infantry Division. Its responsibility was to mop up any enemy stragglers bypass after the break out of The

Pusan Perimeter The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter ( ko, 부산 교두보 전투) was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of the ...

Battle for Wonju

Before General Walker's death in an automobile accident, he had attempted to strengthen the UN defense of the 38th parallel. The ROK III Corps defended the 38th parallel north of Gapyeong (Kapyong) and Chuncheon, the II Corps was placed in the center, and the I Corps was deployed on the east coast. By January 1, 1951, they had been broken down by constant guerrilla attacks and all out infantry assaults. They were sent into full retreat. Their sector was handed over to US X Corps.

Second Spring Offensive

During The Second Spring Offensive they took heavy casualties at Namjon on May 16, 1951. The People's Volunteer Army of China with three field armies and over 700,000 men heavily outnumbered the defending III Corps. The attack was initially successful but was halted by May 20, 1951. At the time of the offensive the Corp consisted of the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and 9th Infantry Division which withdrew leaving behind their heavy equipment, they scatter and fled south on foot through the Pangdae Mountain. On May 25, 1951, III Corps was disbanded by order of General Van Fleet and reassigned

and 9th Infantry Division to The ROK I Corp and the US X Corp respectively.

Armistice

In May 1953 III Corps was reformed under Major General

Kang Mun Bong Kang Mun-bong (October 26, 1923 – February 26, 1988) was a South Korean military officer. He knew a great deal about Korean history, specifically as it pertains to the military. Kang takes credit for lessening the North Korean army's defenses b ...

and deployed to Kwandae to be trained under US X Corps. In October 1953 when X Corps withdrew, III Corps assumed the responsibility of defending along the east and central front from

Pukhan River The Bukhan River () is a tributary of the Han River that flows through both North and South Korea. It traverses Kangwon province in North Korea and Gangwon and Gyeonggi provinces in South Korea. The Bukhan River's headwaters lie in North Kore ...

to the Punchbowl.

References

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South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

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