Wars are often filled with lots of “what ifs” and the Korean War was no different. One of these “what ifs” was a little known battle in the opening days of the war outside of the city of Uijongbu. Uijongbu is located about 20 kilometers north of the South Korean capitol of Seoul and is the primary transit point to reach the city from the north. The battle for this city would decide if the nation’s capitol would fall to the North Korean invaders 57 years ago.
Uijongbu 57 Years Ago. Highway 3 is the road running north and Highway 43 runs northeast
On June 25, 1950, the North Korean (NK) 3rd Division crossed the DMZ and battled the ROK Army 2nd Division in the Pocheon area which lies 25 kilometers Northeast of Uijongbu up highway 43.
The NK 4th Division moved south of the DMZ and fought the ROK 7th Division just North of Dongducheon in the vicinity of Soyosan mountain which is the mountain that lies to the north of today’s American Army base Camp Casey. The ROK 7th Division was able to cause heavy casualties on the NK 4th Div. as they withdrew South from Soyosan to Dongducheon, and then to Deokjong. The ROK Army at the time did not have the man power, tanks, or equipment the North Koreans had. Never the less the ROK 7th Div. continued to put up a stingy defense as they withdrawed South towards Uijongbu along Highway 3.
In the above map you can see Highway 3 and Highway 43 running south where the ROK Army has defensive positions lining each side of both highways all the way to Uijongbu.
Meanwhile the ROK 2nd Div. withdrew from Pocheon after they were actually able to get the NK 3rd Div. to momentarily withdraw from Pocheon. The surviving elements of the ROK 2nd Div. took up positions in hilly terrain overlooking the highway 43 approach to Uijongbu. The hills were defended by two battalions of ROK 2nd Div. infantry soldiers and were facing an entire advancing NK 3rd Div. reinforced with T-34 tanks.
The plan was to have the ROK 7th and 2nd Divisions counterattack and stop the North Korean advance before it reached Uijongbu. The ROK 2nd Div. was to counterattack from their high ground overlooking Highway 43 and the ROK 7th Div. was to counterattack from their high ground just North of Uijongbu over looking Highway 3. However, the ROK 2nd Div. never counterattacked and stayed in positions as the North Koreans brought their armored column at them. The ROK soldiers fired artillery at the T-34s but it had no effect. The tanks were actually so unconcerned about the ROK defense that they just simply drove right by them into Uijongbu. The North Korean infantry following behind the tanks eventually began to engage the 2nd Div. soldiers. Once engaged the soldiers began to retreat further into the country side and melt away. The NK 3rd Div. now had an easy path into Uijongbu and shed very little blood to gain it.
The Ruins of Uijongbu. You can see Mt. Dobong in the background.
The NK 4th Div. on the other hand had shed much blood in their fight with the stingy ROK 7th Div. as they fought down the Highway 3 corridor. However, with North Korean tanks now in their rear due to the collapse of the ROK 2nd Div. the 7th never got a chance to launch a counterattack to destroy the NK 4th Div. Instead they had to withdraw to the Southern end of Uijongbu where they began to engage both the NK 4th and 3rd Divisions. The 7th Div. could not hold up against such an onslaught and withdrew from Uijongbu. The North Koreans now had Uijongbu and a clear path to Seoul. The North Koreans eventually captured Seoul two days later and had destroyed 60% of the ROK Army in the process.
In the above graphic you can see where the memorial along Highway 43 stands today just northeast of Uijongbu. You can also see how the North Korean tanks just simply drove right through the ROK Army defenders on the hill and into Uijongbu.
Uijongbu During the Korean War
Uijongbu seen today.
I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the ROK 2nd Div. hadn’t collapsed and counterattacked from their positions instead of retreating? General Lee who commanded the Division is on record as saying that he did not execute the counterattack plan because his reinforcements had not arrived and he would of taken great losses during any counterattack. So rather then see himself and his men die in battle they felt they could not win, they retreated. If the 2nd could of held its line, the ROK 7th would of surely held its line against the NK 4th Div. who they had inflicted heavy casualties on. By holding the line one more day reinforcements would of come from further South to shore up the front line.
The collapse of the ROK 2nd Division ended up being the last straw that broke the camels back because over in the Munsan corridor to the West of Uijongbu the legendary Korean General Paik Sun Yup was holding his line in the vicinity of the Imjim River and Pukhan mountain. General Paik is regularly an honored guest at USFK functions and a person I have had the pleasure to meet. The man is literally the living history of Korea’s modern history.
During the early days of the Korean War the then Colonel Paik was was the commander of the ROK 1st Div. The 1st Div. was the only division to stop the North Korean advance. However, with the collapse of the 2nd Div. Seoul would fall on the 4th day of the invasion and the ROK 1st Div. was now surrounded on three sides and forced to withdraw across the Han River leaving behind all their heavy equipment and only bringing what they could carry with them across the river.
If the ROK 2nd would of held the entire western front line could of possibly held. Additionally the hasty capture of Seoul caused the Han River bridges to be prematurely destroyed trapping much of the withdrawing ROK Army units such as the 7th Div. North of the Han River. Much of the equipment and soldiers of these units ended up captured and killed by the North Koreans. This rapid destruction of the ROK Army would eventually lead to the withdrawal to the Pusan Perimeter where the UN backed American military eventually intervened with enough combat power to stabilize the front lines. The stablized lines allowed General Douglas MacArthur to execute his famous Incheon Landing Operation and with it the destruction of the North Korean military. But what if the front lines were stabilized in the vicinity of Seoul when the American and UN forces intervened? Could have the American and UN forces crushed the North Koreans quick enough before China had a chance to prepare their forces to intervene in Korea? Who knows but it is interesting to think about the possibilities.
Today the site where the ROK 2nd Div. had their defensive positions is now commemorated with a very large memorial recognizing the war dead from the 2nd Div. during the early days of the war. The memorial is actually quite beautiful and well maintained. It is definitely a worthy tribute to remember the division’s war dead. However, every time I think about the ROK 2nd Div. even at the memorial, I can’t help but think of, what if.
Memorial located on the hill commemorating the Battle of Uijongbu
Popularity: 7%
My StumbleUpon Page
10:09 am on December 24th, 2006 1
That was very interesting. Thanks for posting that bit of history. I have always thought it would be interesting to take a tour of Korea by visiting famous Korean War battle sites. I haven’t seen any companies that do such tours, so I appreciate your writings.
10:09 am on December 24th, 2006 2
This is just a hobby of mine where ever I go in the military, I like to visit battle field sites. Even in Iraq it was amazing to see where Alexander the Great march through, the Assyrian remains of the acient city of Nineveh, where the Mongol Golden Hordes sacked Baghdad, and the site of Babylon. Though the history in Korea may not be well known there is a lot of interesting history to be seen here and most of the areas worth checking out are also really beautiful parts of the country. There is actually a company I know of that specializes in Korean War battle site tours if your interested. It is California Pacific Tours. There are an outfit from San Francisco. There webpage is http://www.cptours.com . There webpage has the lists of Korean War tours they have available. I’m not a big packaged tour fan. I prefer just to strike out on my own and bring whatever book I’m reading that covers the particular site I’m checking out. It makes the journey more fun trying to get there myself. Thanks for checking out my page. I’ll do my best to keep making quality posts.
2:26 pm on January 6th, 2007 3
I’d still have to take the side of 2nd Div. commander Lee Hyong-kun.
According to the ROK official history, the units participating in the counterattack — two battalions of the 5th Regiment — left Taejon by train for Uijongbu with only a fraction of their basic load of ammo. After scrounging up what ammo they could, one battalion advanced along the P’och’on road, expecting to pass through the 3rd Regiment lines at Ch’uksokryong.
At Ch’uksokryong, a critical defensive position northeast of Uijongbu, they found no sign of the 3rd. They did, however, sight an NKPA combined arms task force heading in their direction, and hurriedly dug in along the high ground perpendicular to the road.
According to all accounts, final protective fires from 60mm and 81mm mortars failed to stop the tanks, which headed down the road toward Uijongbu without stopping. The survivors then engaged the accompanying infantry until their limited supplies of ammunition ran out.
Could a single battalion have bested the NKPA 3rd Division and attached armor regiment in a meeting engagement along the P’och’on road? I doubt it.
What accounted for the performance of the 7th Division? The 7th was deployed in the Uijongbu area at the start of the war, knew the terrain and still had a relatively intact command structure. The 2nd was still in the process of a confusing nighttime move from widely scattered garrisons (Taejon, Ch’ongju and Onyang).
A more interesting “what if”: What if the government had heeded the advice of Gen. Kim Hong-il and prepared for a defense south of the Han, perhaps with a Seoul bridgehead along the Miari line?
2:26 pm on January 6th, 2007 4
History could of been very different for Korea if the ROK Army held the south side of the Han River before the UN forces intervened. Just interesting to think about.
10:34 am on June 25th, 2007 5
5:39 pm on June 25th, 2007 6
Can you imagined being a 29 year old Division commander with only two years of actual ROK military experience under your belt? (Some of those ROKA officers did served in Japanese Army as Junior Officers during WW II.) Whenever I read GEN Paik’s book, it just amazed me on his performance during entire war for someone that young and inexperienced.
Also, what type of Anti-armor capability that ROKA had? There weren’t even any tanks in the ROKA MTOE at that time. There was no mentioned of the Bazooka or anti-tank mines on ROKA side during the early days of war.
Also ROKA soldier’s mentality. Can you imagined what was it like to see a tank for first time in your life? Those T-34 steel beasts would have frightened anyone who never saw them especially if you grew up in rural farming community in southern Korea provinces at that time.
My 2 won
6:41 am on June 26th, 2007 7
57th Anniversary of the Korean War, 6.25…
Update: Don’t miss, “The Battle of Uijongbu” at ROK Drop.
Original post: Today, 25 June, is the 57th anniversary of the Korean War, which ended in a cease fire on 27 July 1953.
South Korea had 58,127 combat deaths and at least 80,00…
12:12 pm on June 26th, 2007 8
Allan Kim, do you know if the official ROK Army history or any of the ROK Army division’s unit histories are available in English, and if they are, where I can purchase them? I’ve been trying to find more information on the South Korean Army’s experience during the war, but my Korean is not good enough to try to slog through unit histories and I’ve found very little available in English, other than GEN Paik’s book and “The Three Day Promise” by Dr. Chung.
8:17 am on June 27th, 2007 9
Haksaeng,
What about another GEN Paik’s book “From Pusan to Pyungyang”? It is in English and it is published by AUSA.
11:20 am on June 27th, 2007 10
Haksaeng,
If you live in Korea this may be a good question to bring up with folks over at the War Memorial in Yongsan.
10:57 pm on July 3rd, 2007 11
CPT Kim, sorry for the late reply. Thanks for the reference to GEN Paik’s book. I have that and believe that it is a must read book for anyone interested in the Korean War. It is truly a classic.
GI Korea, thanks for the advice. I don’t currently live in Korea, but get out there at least once or twice a year. I hadn’t thought of querying the staff at the War Memorial, though. Very good idea. The good news, at least for me, is that I’ll be PCSing to Korea next year, which will make it easier for me to follow up on these issues.
8:40 am on July 4th, 2007 12
The War Memorial is a good resource I have used before. General Paik is actually one of the advisors to the War Memorial and I once participated in an professional development course there with General Paik. Nothing like having a living Korean legend teach you in person about what happened during the Korean War.
12:53 pm on July 5th, 2007 13
[...] Infantry Division. Some of you may remember the NK 4ID from when they battled the ROK 7ID in the Battle of Uijongbu. The Americans would be equally frustrated by the superior T-34’s armor as their ROK Army [...]
6:20 am on August 12th, 2007 14
7:23 pm on December 11th, 2007 15
4:09 am on March 6th, 2008 16
7:08 am on May 24th, 2008 17
I just returned from a trip to Korea where I visited several battlegrounds. I visited Camp Casey where I had served in early ‘54. It was great to see how it has changed. went on up to Chorwon area and then over east to Chunchon and Yanggu to Punch Bowl. I was with 45th Div. in Mundung ni valley until they left Korea. could not get up inot valley as ROK soldiers have it blocked.
7:29 am on May 24th, 2008 18
James, thanks for your service and I hope you enjoyed your return visit to Korea. I’m sure you were no doubt amazed by the incredible development of Korea since 1954.
4:57 am on July 7th, 2008 19
9:05 am on August 6th, 2008 20
Very interesting. I do not know how I missed this before. Having served 4 tours in Korea, I have always been interested in Korean History, and the history of the War.
I was stationed at Camp Stanley just east of Uijongbu in 1969, on my 2nd tour, and remember being told that before it became a US Camp in 1953, that a unit from Turkey or Thailand were there during the War. I was wonder if you had any information on this?
I think our days at Stanley are numbered, and have been working on updating my web page about it while it is still a US Camp.
http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/stanley3.htm
I am also looking for pictures from on Camp Red Cloud prior to 1980 for my Red Cloud page.
http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/crc.htm
Also looking for any recent pictures of the old Cp St Barbara.
http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/stbarbara.htm
3:43 am on August 10th, 2008 21
I was with 123rd Sig Co., I Corps Special Troops, located in a special compound ~1 mile outside of Uijongbu in the 50s still looking for survivors of my old company. Our Btn HQ was 51st Sig Btn in Uijongbu, but we seldom saw them as we were tasked with supporting ROK divisions.
9:52 pm on August 11th, 2008 22
Bruce, great pictures on your site. As far as Turkish or Thai soldiers being stationed at Camp Stanley, I have never heard of that before, but it is quite possible.