Battles for the Seoul of Korea Quiz

Answer: Pusan

The North Korean invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950, began the Korean War. The attack was a surprise and the North Korean forces quickly overwhelmed the South Korean forces. The UN voted to condemn the invasion on June 25 and to support South Korea with military assistance on June 27. The US and Britain started pouring troops into South Korea, but were only able to hold a small portion of the country called the Pusan Perimeter. From August through September, the North continued to try to break the perimeter but failed as more assistance poured in.

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Answer: Incheon

On September 15, 1950, United Nations Command and the South Korean Army launched an amphibious assault on Incheon, the port outlet of Seoul. It proved a decisive victory that forced the North Korean invaders to retreat in disarray, and for the other side secured a strategic advantage critical to the recapture of Seoul. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur spearheaded the offensive, dubbed "Operation Chromite". Lauded by scholars and commentators as one of the most successful operations in modern military history, it is a brilliant example of military strategy and command and a credit to MacArthur's genius.

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Answer: Chosin

The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, or the Battle of Lake Changjin, was fought from November 27 to December 13, 1950. It pitted mainly the US 1st Marine Division against a numerically superior force from the Chinese 9th Army - 30,000 UN forces against 120,000 Chinese soldiers. The UN forces were cut off and surrounded by the Chinese army. They had to break out and fight their way to safety under terrible winter weather conditions. The UN forces were able to successfully withdraw from the trap with the 1st Marine Division and the Army's Regimental Combat Team 31 both receiving the Presidential Unit Citation for their actions during the battle.

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Answer: Unsan

The Battle of Unsan was waged between October 25 and November 4, 1950, in Unsan County about 60 km (37 mi) away from the present North Korean capital of Pyongyang. This battle marked the entry of China under their First Phase Campaign into the Korean War and saw the first engagement of Chinese and U.S. armies in the war. The People's Volunteer Army (PVA) of China crossed the Yalu River into Korea on October 19 to support the retreating North Korean People's Army (NKPA). Beginning October 25, the PVA launched repeated assaults on the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army. On November 1, the PVA took an unprepared U.S. regiment by surprise and delivered a devastating defeat to the U.S. forces. Buoyed by their success, the PVA tried to force the enemy into further retreat but were hampered by a lack of food and ammunition. The PVA broke off their assault on November 5, thereby concluding the Chinese First Phase Campaign.

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Answer: Pork Chop Hill

The Battle of Pork Chop Hill was actually a pair of battles that took place in April and July 1953 between UN (mainly US) and Chinese forces. The hill was 300 metres high and shaped somewhat like a pork chop, but was also an exposed defensive outpost that had already changed hands several times during the war.

The first battle was a successful 3-day campaign by UN forces to regain control of the hill after it had been seized by the Chinese a couple of weeks earlier. The second battle lasted for 5 days from the 6th to the 11th July following a further Chinese attack, but on this occasion the UN eventually abandoned attempts to hold the position and withdrew their troops. The battles resulted in a relatively high number of casualties for both sides for very little strategic military benefit. The added fact that peace talks were underway to end the conflict and the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed less than 2 weeks later makes the loss of life at Pork Chop Hill even more tragic.

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Answer: Heartbreak Ridge

This was an extremely bloody offensive that was initiated by the UN forces. The battle lasted for a month, September 13 to October 15, 1951. The battle was conducted on a seven-mile ridge line, characterized by numerous steep peaks, just north of where the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) sits today. This was seen as an important staging area, which was the reason the UN forces were desperate to take it away from the Communists.

The steepness of the hills made it a difficult assault which meant a significant loss of life. For the first two weeks it was mainly a stalemate as one side would gain territory only to lose it again when their supplies and ammunition became exhausted. The Americans decided to cut the Communists off from their supply base which gave the UN forces the advantage to take the ridge.

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Answer: Seoul

The First Battle of Seoul happened at the outset of the war with the North Korean Army able to secure the Southern capital within three days of the outset of hostilities. South Korean troops tried to slow the North's advance by blowing the bridge over the Han River killing hundreds if not thousands of refugees but even this desperate move could not stop the momentum of the North.

The Second Battle of Seoul took place as a result of the amphibious landings at Incheon. Seven days after the landings on September 22, US Marines entered Seoul. They were ordered to clear the city by September 25 and three days of heavy urban fighting ensued, but they accomplished their goal. The city was liberated exactly three months after the beginning of hostilities.

The Third Battle of Seoul began on December 31, 1950 when Chinese forces attacked. By January 7 they had again recaptured the city. Mao Zedong thought this victory would force the UN forces to leave Korea but he underestimated the UN resolve. The Chinese position was overextended and they paid a heavy price for taking Seoul. By April 1951 the UN had regained the capital in Operation Ripper, also known as the Fourth Battle of Seoul.

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Answer: Bloody Ridge

The hills of the Taebaek Mountains were generally just known by numbers that related to their height, but during the Korean War some of these gained new names derived from the brutal and ferocious battles that took place to gain control of them.

The 1951 Battle of Bloody Ridge was an offensive by UN forces looking to get control of hills 740, 940 and 983, which provided Chinese and North Korean troops with posts from which to direct artillery fire at UN positions. The battle took place over a 3 week period in August to September 1951, and involved close hand-to-hand fighting in the tunnels and bunkers that had been built to turn the hills into a defensive fortress. UN forces eventually gained control, but at the cost of thousands of casualties on both sides.

Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81 took a careful look at the topic and then fired this question into the quiz.

Answer: Samichon River

The Battle of Samichon River took place at the strategic location of Height 146 in Samichon Valley known as "The Hook". It was one of the defensive positions occupied by the United Nations forces along what was called the Jamestown Line. The Hook offered a 360-degree view of the valley and the nearby Imjin River. As such, it was a fiercely contested site in the Korean War. The Chinese People's Volunteer Army attempted to seize control of this important site from the United Nations troops right before the armistice that would end the war was signed. The Chinese army suffered heavy casualties in this conflict and the battle was won by the United Nations forces.

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Answer: Kapyong

The Communist forces instigated an attack on South Korea and their soldiers commenced the march toward Seoul. The UN forces, made up of Canada's 2nd Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and Australia's 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, were stretched across the Kapyong Valley in an effort to halt the progress of the Communists. They were separated into small segments, with each segment forced to fight their own smaller battles. Fortunately, they received artillery support from the New Zealand Royal Regiment and, after two days of intense fighting, managed to hold their lines. It was estimated that the, mainly, Chinese forces suffered the loss of 2,000 lives while 38 of the Australians and 10 Canadians lost their lives.

This was a significant episode of the Korean War. The success of the Canadian and Australian soldiers enabled the UN to unite their troops and be better prepared for future offensives. Significantly, as a direct result of this, they were able to prevent a much wider Communist offensive a week later which, essentially, turned the war into sets of harassments rather than full scale offensives.

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