INCHON - SEOUL
September 15th - 27th, 1950

"Mr President: By the grace of a merciful providence our forces fighting under the standard of that greatest hope and inspiration of mankind, the United Nations, have liberated this ancient capital city of Korea." Douglas MacArthur to President Syngman Rhee, September 29th, 1950. With the addition of large numbers of UN (mostly American) troops, the situation around Pusan had finally stabilised. The NKPA, in its last offensive gasp, had taken the key town of Taegu, but outnumbered and battered, could go no further. General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the UN forces in Korea, had decided to stage an amphibious landing behind the NKPA lines to retake Seoul and cut the supply and communications lines that ran through there. Inchon was chosen because it was the closest large port to Seoul. Despite five days of air and two days of sea bombardment, the landing on September 15th took the NKPA by surprise. The harbour islands of Wolmi-do and Sowolmi-do were captured, after a severe pounding, with light casualties. By the end of the first day the Marines controlled most of Inchon and the surrounding hills.
On the next day, the two Marine regiments attacked out of Inchon along the highway towards Seoul, leaving the KMC to secure the town. After a short, sharp fight to take Ascom City, the 5th Marine regiment and the KMC turned north towards Kimpo, site of a large airfield, while the 1st Marine Regiment headed east towards Yongdungp'o, an industrial suburb of Seoul just across the Han river from Seoul proper.
After beating back some determined but hopeless counter-attacks, the 5th Regiment took the airfield and some hills to the south east that overlooked it. By the morning of the 18th, the airfield at Kimpo was secure. The next day it was being used as a base for Marine air squadrons. The 1st Marines were having a harder time of it. Halfway between Ascom City and Sosa, a group of NKPA ambushed the lead platoon, but were repelled with a loss of over three hundred by tank and aircraft fire. It had been the Marines' hardest fight so far.
The 5th Regiment were now ordered to cross the Han and take Haengju, preparatory to moving on Seoul itself. The recon team that preceded the crossing forces had failed to check the crest of nearby Hill 125, and gave the all-clear signal.
As the crossing started, NKPA bullets and mortar bombs hit the water and shore around the Marines. The unprepared LVTs
and am-tracks beat a hasty and unauthorised retreat. Embarrassed by this repulse, the Marine commanders ordered the battalion concerned (3/5th) to cross in force at 6.30 am that same day. A single company was sent across in LVTs and am-tracks, and made it over almost unhurt. The three platoons then assaulted and took the hill. The rest of the regiment crossed over during the day.
The 1st Regiment now concentrated on Yongdungp'o. They took the hills overlooking the town, then had to retake them, due to an administrative blunder. Having captured the last hills outside Yongdungp'o, the regiment plunged into the city at dawn on the 21st. Fierce resistance cost the Marines many casualties, and the twin drives, from the northwest and southwest, were stopped. One company, however, had penetrated into the very centre of the city. Between 9 pm and midnight, the company fought off five strong attacks by NKPA infantry. The 5th Marine Regiment was in position in front of the hills that run along the northern side of Seoul on September 22nd. These hills were defended by the 25th Brigade, veterans of the Chinese Civil War. There was hard fighting ahead for the men of the 5th Marines.
The next three days saw combat as fierce as any the Marines had ever seen. The NKPA small-unit leadership and tactics in the hills were impeccable, and they put in several locally successful counter-attacks. The Marines were told that the capital was to be taken by the 25th, so that General MacArthur could announce its liberation exactly three months after its capture. By the 24th much of the hill line had been cleared, but there was no slackening of enemy resistance.
Major-General Almond, commanding the X Corps, changed the attack plan. The 32nd Infantry and the 17th ROK Regiment were ordered to cross the Han south of Seoul and take the city's defenders in the rear. For the first time in the campaign, the 1st Marine Division was fighting as a division.
At 7 am on September 25th, the UN forces entered Seoul from three directions; the 5th Marines finally swept the hills clear and entered from the northwest, the 1st Marines had crossed the Han and entered from the southwest, and the Army troops had taken South Mountain and entered from the southeast. The announcement of Seoul's capture went out on time.
The announcement was, however, somewhat premature. The NKPA still held the bulk of the city, and none of the captured
areas were secure. Units had to constantly about-face and retake a building or city block to clear out infiltrators. The initial caution against use of supporting fire, to preserve the city, evaporated with the need to take the city swiftly.
Two more days of close-in street fighting were required to clear the city centre and take Government House. The NKPA proved skilled in city combat; everywhere were barricades, ambushes, mines and booby-traps. Finally, as the evening of September 28th drew in, the North Koreans gave up the fight and started withdrawing to the north. The next day, to the sound of distant cannon, with an honour guard composed chiefly of Marines, General MacArthur handed the remains of the city over to President Rhee. The lightning strike at Seoul, together with the conventional attack at the Pusan perimeter, had shattered the NKPA. Of the 130,000 men that had poured across the border three months ago, less than 30,000 got back.