Topic summary
Operation Pokpung
North Korea (DPRK)Supported by:
Soviet Union
South Korea (ROK)Choe Yong-gon
Kang Kon
Shin Song-mo
Chae Byong-duk
Chung Il-kwon
Sohn Won-yil
Operation Pokpung (Korean: 폭풍 작전, lit.''Operation Storm'') was the invasion of South Korea (Republic of Korea, ROK) by North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK) that triggered the Korean War. On Sunday, 25 June 1950, North Korean forces launched the blitzkrieg by crossing the 38th parallel north and swarming South Korea at 04:00 PYT/KST. The DPRK did not declare war before the invasion and rushed to encircle and eventually capture Seoul, the capital of South Korea, from the ROK within a week.
North Korea had mobilized for an invasion of South Korea for over a year prior with clandestine support from the Soviet Union, which trained and supplied the DPRK's Korean People's Army (KPA) with weapons, munitions, armored fighting vehicles, tanks, and aircraft. The vastly superiorly armed and trained KPA overwhelmed and overran the ill-prepared and underarmed Republic of Korea Army (ROKA); thus the DPRK captured Seoul within three days on 28 June.
The goal of Operation Pokpung was to take control of the entire Korean Peninsula by 15 August 1950—50 days, with an average advance of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) each day—in commemoration of the fifth anniversary of Gwangbokjeol. However, heavy losses were inflicted on the DPRK's II Corps by the ROK's 6th Infantry Division, stalling the DPRK's advance in the east, ceasing the blitzkrieg at the Pusan Perimeter. This delay allowed sufficient time for the United States to deploy from Japan to South Korea on 27 June to prevent the impending capitulation of the ROK.
The United Nations immediately reprimanded North Korea for the invasion as a solution to the Korean conflict. As a response, on 7 July, the United Nations Command (UNC) was established to direct a multinational military response against the DPRK's invasion of South Korea.