The II Corps is 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

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...

. It was created on June 12, 1950 with Lt. General Kim Kwang-hyop in command. During the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

the unit was composed of the 2nd Infantry Division, the 5th Infantry Division, and the 12th Infantry Division.II Corps

Globalsecurity.org GlobalSecurity.org is an American nonpartisan, independent, nonprofit organization that serves as a think tank, and research and consultancy group. Focus The site is focused on national and international security issues; military analysis, syste ...

, accessed May 2011. The 27th Infantry Division was part of the II Corps. It defended the

Kumchon Kŭmch'ŏn County is a county in the North Hwanghae province of North Korea. It has a population of 68,216. Geography Kŭmch'ŏn is bordered to the west by Kaesong, Kaesŏng, to the south by Kaepung, Kaep'ung, to the northwest by Tosan County, T'o ...

area north of

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

with the 19th Division. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division began attacking on October 9, 1950, along the main highway from Kaesong to Kumchon. The US 8th Cavalry had to stop repeatedly and wait for engineer troops to clear mines from the road. Halfway to Kumchon on the twelfth the 8th Cavalry was halted by a North Korea strongpoint, defended by tanks, self-propelled guns, and antiaircraft weapons. In spite of a sixteen-plane air strike and a 155-mm. howitzer barrage, the strongpoint held. 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry encountered the 19th and 27th Division's defenses on October 11 as they were holding a long ridge with several knobs— Hills 179, 175, and 174—that dominated a pass fifteen miles northeast of Kaesong. The 5th Cavalry finally drove the defenders from the ridge during the afternoon of the twelfth, after much fierce fighting. Probably consisted of at least 3 divisions on January 7, 1951, when one division attacked the adjacent ROK 8th Infantry Division. They were assisted by one of the divisions of the NKPA

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

. The II Corps also attacked the ROK III Corps to the east with its remaining divisions. The II Corps managed to penetrate the ROK III Corps defenses and cause concerns about the stability of the UN lines.

has reported that the corps is part of the First Echelon of the KPA and now consists 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 ...

, 6th, and 8th Infantry Divisions.

References

Corps0002 Corps0002NK Military units and formations established in 1950 {{NorthKorea-mil-stub

See also

References