Military history

Chronology

1950

June 25	North Korean forces attack South Korean positions south of the 38th Parallel. The United Nations Security Council, in the absence of the U.S.S.R., adopts a resolution calling for the withdrawal of North Korean forces to the Parallel.
June 27	President Truman orders U.S. air and sea services to give support to South Korean forces. UN Security Council calls on member nations to give aid in repelling aggression in Korea.
June 29	North Korean Army seizes Seoul. Britain orders Far Eastern Fleet to give aid.
June 30	Truman orders U.S. ground troops to Korea and naval blockade of Korean coast. Authorizes U.S. Air Force to bomb North Korea.
July 1	First U.S. combat troops arrive on Korea. Major General William F. Dean placed in command of U.S. forces in Korea.
July 4	U.S. troops first meet enemy just north of Osan and are forced to retreat.
July 7	General Douglas MacArthur named Supreme UN Commander.
July 13	Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker, commander of the Eighth Army, assumes command of ground forces in Korea.
July 15	North Koreans cross Kum River.
July 18	U.S. First Cavalry and 25th Infantry Divisions reach Korea.
July 21	24th Division troops fight out of burning Taejon. General Dean missing in action.
August 1	Second U.S. Infantry Division reaches Korea. Yakov Malik, the Soviet delegate to the UN, ends Moscow’s boycott of the organization and takes over the presidency of the Security Council.
August 2	First U.S. Marine Brigade reaches Korea.
August 8	North Koreans breach Naktong River perimeter line.
August 15	UN troops repel two attacks along Naktong.
August 29	British 27 Brigade arrives from Hong Kong.
September 3	Communist offensive threatens Taeju.
September 7	General Walker declares, “Our lines will hold.”
September 15	U.S. X Corps makes successful amphibious assault on Inchon, enabling UN forces to break out of Pusan and push toward the 38th Parallel.
September 19	X Corps starts to encircle Seoul; Eighth Army sweeps north and west with Communists in flight. Filipino troops reach Korea.
September 26	Seoul falls.
September 29	General MacArthur enters Seoul with President Syngman Rhee.
October 1	South Korean troops cross 38th Parallel.
October 7	UN adopts resolution that “all appropriate steps be taken to ensure conditions of stability throughout Korea.” U.S. troops cross the Parallel.
October 8	Mao Tse Tung secretly orders Chinese “Volunteers” to “resist the attacks of U.S. imperialism.”
October 15	Truman and MacArthur meet on Wake Island.
October 18	ROK troops occupy Hamnung and Hungnam.
October 19	Eighth Army takes Pyongyang, capital of North Korea.
October 25	Chinese forces fight with ROK troops less than forty miles south of the Yalu River.
October 27	Eighth Army halted by Chinese.
October 29	X Corps halted by Chinese in northeast.
October 30	Eighth Army’s 6th ROK Division overwhelmed by Chinese at Yongdu.
November 1	First Chinese MIGs appear along the Yalu.
November 3	U.S. 25th Division driven back from Yalu area.
November 6	MacArthur charges Chinese with unlawful aggression. Chongchon River line held.
November 8	Air battle over Sinuiji.
November 11	Eighth Army again attacked.
November 12	U.S. Army 3rd Division arrives in Korea.
November 16	Truman reassures China and other nations that he has never had any intention of carrying the hostilities into China. Lull in fighting.
November 24	Chinese special delegation arrives at UN Security Council. MacArthur launches offensive and troops approach Chinese border.
November 25	Chinese release fifty-seven U.S. prisoners in propaganda move.
November 26	Chinese counterattack.
November 27	Eighth Army halted by huge Chinese forces.
November 28	General Walker announces offensive at an end.
December 1	Eighth Army and X Corps begin withdrawing in face of Chinese offensive.
December 5	U.S./UN troops withdraw from Pyongyang. Chinese occupy the capital of North Korea.
December 9	X Corps forced to withdraw from Wonsan by sea.
December 11	X Corps evacuates Hungnam.
December 17	Truman declares state of national emergency.
December 22	Chinese reject cease-fire: it makes no reference to China’s demands for removal of foreign troops from Korea and for a seat in the UN.
December 23	General Walker killed in jeep accident.
December 25	Chinese cross 38th Parallel.
December 27	Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway takes over command of ground forces in Korea.

1951

January 1	Communist offensive begins.
January 4	U.S./UN forces evacuate Seoul.
January 7	Communists enter Wonju.
January 8–15	U.S. 2nd Division, with others, stops Chinese south of Wonju.
January 13	U.S. delegation votes for UN cease-fire resolution.
January 17	China rejects cease-fire proposal. Eighth Army reenters Suwon.
February 1	UN resolution declares China to be engaged in aggression.
February 10	Eighth Army retakes Inchon and Kimpo airfield.
February 13	Major Chinese offensive against X Corps in Central Korea.
February 15	Communists defeated at Chipyong-ni.
February 21	Eighth Army launches “Operation Killer.”
March 7	“Operation Ripper” launched. Eighth Army crosses Han River east of Seoul.
March 13	Communists start to withdraw across all fronts.
March 15	Eighth Army retakes Seoul.
March 21	Eighth Army retakes Chunchon.
March 22	Eighth Army reaches 38th Parallel.
April 3	Eighth Army Divisions cross Parallel.
April 5	MacArthur’s letter criticizing Truman’s strategy and the concept of limited war made public.
April 11	Truman relieves MacArthur as UN commander and appoints Ridgway to succeed him.
April 15	Lieutenant General James Van Fleet takes command of the Eighth Army.
April 19	MacArthur denounces the Truman Administration before Congress for refusing to lift restrictions on the scope of the war.
April 22	Chinese begin their spring offensive. Start of battle of Imjin River.
April 25	Eighth Army pushed back eighteen to twenty miles.
May 1	First phase of Chinese offensive halted north of Seoul.
May 16	Chinese launch second phase of spring offensive.
May 17	2nd Division again stops Communists.
May 23	Eighth Army begins offensive.
May 28	Eighth Army takes Hwachon and Inje.
June 3	Eighth Army moves toward “Iron Triangle” in central Korea.
June 12	Eighth Army controls “Iron Triangle.”
Early June	At the MacArthur congressional hearing, Secretary Acheson expresses willingness to negotiate a cease-fire near the 38th Parallel.
June 23	Yakov Malik, the Soviet Ambassador to the UN, calls for a cease-fire.
June 25	Chinese radio voices desire for cease-fire.
June 29	Ridgway offers to meet the Communist commanders to discuss cease-fire and armistice.
July 1	Kim 11 Sung, commander of the North Korean forces, and Peng Teh-huai, commander of the Chinese “Volunteers,” agree to begin armistice discussions.
July 10	Armistice negotiations begin at Kaesong.
July 26	Agreement on the agenda for the armistice talks reached.
August 23	Communists suspend negotiations after alleged UN violation of the neutral zone at Kaesong.
October 25	Cease-fire discussions resume at Panmunjom.
November 13	U.S. Administration proposes acceptance of current line of contact, provided other issues outstanding at the truce talks are settled within thirty days. U.S./UN ground action permitted to continue.
December 27	Thirty-day limit reached after establishing demarcation line on November 27. No progress on other issues made, so line invalidated.

1952

January–April 7	Disorder in prison camps as screening of prisoners begins.
April 19	UN delegation informs the Communists that only 70,000 of 132,000 prisoners of war are willing to return home.
May 2	Communists reject UN proposals over question of voluntary repatriation.
May 7	Prisoners at Koje-do hold General Dodd hostage until May 11. Both sides announce stalemate over prisoner-of-war issue.
May 12	General Mark Clark succeeds Ridgway.
June 23	U.S. Air Force bombs Yalu River power installations to induce a more cooperative attitude at the truce talks.
August 29	Heaviest air raid of the war launched against Pyongyang.
October 8	The final offer on the prisoner-of-war question is rejected by the Communists and an indefinite recess is announced.
October 24	Eisenhower announces that if he is elected President, he will go to Korea.
November 4	Eisenhower elected President with 55 percent of the vote. He visits units in Korea for three days beginning December 5.
November 10	Van Fleet announces the mobilization of two new South Korean divisions and six regiments.

1953

February 10	General Van Fleet retires. General Maxwell D. Taylor assumes command of the Eighth Army.
February 22	Clark proposes an exchange of sick and wounded prisoners.
March 30	The Chinese agree and propose that prisoners unwilling to be repatriated be transferred to a neutral state.
April 20	Exchange of sick and wounded prisoners begins at Panmunjom.
April 26	Armistice negotiations resume.
May 13	Clark authorized to mobilize four more South Korean divisions.
May 20	The National Security Council decides that if “conditions arise,” air and ground operations will be extended to China and ground operations in Korea will be intensified.
May 28	The U.S./UN negotiating team presents its final terms and threatens to break off the talks if these are rejected. Chinese attack outposts of U.S. 25th Division.
June 8	Prisoner-of-war question resolved and principle of voluntary repatriation accepted.
June 10	Chinese open assault on ROK II Corps near Kumsong. By June 16, ROK II Corps pushed back to new main line of resistance.
June 15–30	Chinese attack U.S. I Corps.
June 17	Revised demarcation line settled.
	President Rhee orders South Korean guards to release North Korean prisoners who do not wish to be repatriated.
July 20	New main line of resistance established on south bank of Kumsong River.
July 27	Armistice signed at Panmunjom.

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