The Second Battle of Seoul was a battle that resulted in
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
forces recapturing
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
from the
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
ns in late September 1950.
Approaching Seoul
Before the battle, North Korea had just one understrength division in the city, with the majority of its forces south of the capital. MacArthur personally oversaw the
1st Marine Regiment as it fought through North Korean positions on the road to Seoul. Control of Operation Chromite was then given to Major General
Edward Almond
Lieutenant General Edward Mallory Almond (December 12, 1892 – June 11, 1979) was a senior United States Army officer who fought in World War I, World War II, where he commanded the 92nd Infantry Division, and the Korean War, where he commanded ...
, the
X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to:
France
* 10th Army Corps (France)
* X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
Germany
* X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army
* ...
commander. General Almond was in an enormous hurry to capture Seoul by September 25, exactly three months after the
North Korean assault across the 38th parallel.
![M26 Pershing Seoul 1950](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/M26_Pershing_Seoul_1950.jpg)
The advance on Seoul was slow and bloody after the
landings at Inchon. The reason was the appearance in the Seoul area of two first-class fighting units 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 ...
(KPA), the
78th Independent Infantry Regiment and
25th Infantry Brigade, about 7,000 troops in all.
The KPA launched a
T-34
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...
attack, which was trapped and destroyed, and a
Yak
The domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox or hairy cattle, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tibetan Plateau, Kachin Sta ...
bombing run in Incheon harbor, which did little damage. The KPA attempted to stall the UN offensive to allow time to reinforce Seoul and withdraw troops from the south. Though warned that the process of taking Seoul would allow remaining KPA forces in the south to escape, MacArthur felt that he was bound to honor promises given to the South Korean government to retake the capital as soon as possible.
On the second day, vessels carrying the U.S. Army's
7th Infantry Division arrived in Incheon Harbor. General Almond was eager to get the division into position to block a possible enemy movement from the south of Seoul. On the morning of September 18, the division's 2nd Battalion,
32nd Infantry Regiment landed at Incheon and the remainder of the regiment went ashore later in the day.
The next morning, the 2nd Battalion moved up to relieve a U.S. Marine battalion occupying positions on the right flank south of Seoul. Meanwhile, the 7th Division's
31st Infantry Regiment came ashore at Incheon. Responsibility for the zone south of Seoul highway passed to the 7th Division at 18:00 on September 19. The 7th Infantry Division then engaged in heavy fighting with KPA forces on the outskirts of Seoul.
The battle
The
X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to:
France
* 10th Army Corps (France)
* X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
Germany
* X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army
* ...
entered Seoul the morning of September 25th. By mid-afternoon, elements of the 7th Infantry Division crossed the
Han River and captured
Namsan peak. The
1st Marine Division began its assault on the city at 7 a.m. The North Koreans had heavily fortified the city. Buildings were heavily defended by
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s and snipers, and on Ma Po Boulevard, the main road through the city, the North Koreans had established a series of 8-foot-high barricades of burlap bags, typically filled with sand, dirt, or rice. Located about 200-300 yards apart, each major intersection of the city featured such a barricade, the approaches to which were laced with mines, and which were usually defended by a 45mm anti-tank gun and machine guns. Each had to be eliminated one at a time, and it took the Marines, on average, 45–60 minutes to clear each position.
[Joseph H. Alexander]
Battle of the Barricades: U.S. Marines in the Recapture of Seoul
''Marines in the Korean War Commemorative Series''(2000).
Casualties mounted as the Americans engaged in heated
house-to-house fighting
Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and city, cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban war ...
.
Edwin H. Simmons, a Major in
3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, likened the experience of his company's advance up the boulevard to "attacking up
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4) ...
towards the
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
in Washington, D.C."
[ He described the street as "once a busy, pleasant avenue lined with sycamores, groceries, wine, and tea shops."][ Anxious to pronounce the conquest of Seoul on MacArthur's insistence by the third-month anniversary of the war, Almond declared the city liberated at 2 p.m., September 25, although Marines were still engaged in house-to-house combat (gunfire and artillery could still be heard in the northern suburbs) and the city would not be fully captured for two more days.][ The ]Government House
Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries.
Gover ...
and Changdeok Palace
Changdeokgung (Hangul: 창덕궁, Hanja: 昌德宮; literally, "The Palace of Prospering Virtue"), also known as Changdeokgung Palace or Changdeok Palace, is set within a large park in Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the " Five ...
were captured on September 26.[ Sporadic resistance would continue up until September 29.][
After the battle, South Korean police executed citizens and their families who were suspected as communist sympathizers in what is known as the Goyang Geumjeong Cave and Namyangju massacres.]
See also
*Eugene A. Obregon
Eugene Arnold Obregon (November 12, 1930 – September 26, 1950) was a United States Marine who was posthumously awarded the United States' highest military decoration for valor — the Medal of Honor — for sacrificing his life to sa ...
, US Marine posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for shielding a fellow Marine during the battle
*First Battle of Seoul
The First Battle of Seoul, known in North Korean historiography as the Liberation of Seoul, was the North Korean capture of the South Korean capital, Seoul, at the start of the Korean War.
Background
On 25 June 1950, Korean People's Army (KPA) ...
*Third Battle of Seoul
The Third Battle of Seoul, also known as the Chinese New Year's Offensive, the January–Fourth Retreat ( ko, 1•4 후퇴) or the Third Phase Campaign Western SectorThe Eastern Sector is the First and Second Battles of Wonju. (), was a battle ...
* Operation Ripper (Fourth Battle of Seoul)
Notes
References
*
* Hoyt, Edwin P., ''On To The Yalu'', (1984),
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seoul, Second Battle Of
Battles and operations of the Korean War in 1950
Battles of the Korean War involving North Korea
Battles of the Korean War involving South Korea
Battles of the Korean War
Battles of the Korean War involving the United States
Urban warfare
1950s in Seoul
September 1950 events in Asia
United States Marine Corps in the Korean War