DAY 17 - SUWON VIA INCHEON TO GIMPO - FRIDAY 13 MAY

N Korean Communist forces (supported by the Soviet Union) invaded S Korea on 25 June 1950 and captured Seoul 3 days later.  Gen. Douglas MacArthur, designated UN Supreme Commander of the UN forces, set out to recover the lost territory. On 15 September 1950, US Marines made a surprise amphibious landing at the strategic port on Incheon about 100 miles south of the 38th parallel (the location had been criticized as too risky, but MacArthur's bold plan succeeded).  

Afterwards of course, the American-led UN force was able to break N Korean supply lines and push inland to recapture Seoul on 26 September. US and S Korean troops then advanced across the 38th parallel and sent the N Koreans into retreat.  Pyongyang was captured on 19 October but in late November the movement of US troops north toward the border between N Korea and China, caused a massive force of Chinese troops to enter the fray, halting the Allies' progress and reversing all of the gains; in early Jan 1951, the Communists recaptured Seoul.  The Allies reoccupied in March and, by May, the communists were pushed back to the 38th parallel.  The battle-line remained there for the another 2 years and, after 2 years' negotiation, military leaders from China, N Korea and the UN signed an armistice on 27 July 1953 to end the fighting and formalise a new boundary near the 38th parallel (giving S Korea some additional territory and establishing the 2.5 mile/4km-wide demilitarised zone between the two Koreas).  In the intervening period, more than 500k US, S Korean and other UN troops had been killed, captured or reported missing, with N Korean and Chinese military casualties estimated at c1.6m; by some estimates, civilian deaths were at least equal to the combined number of military casualties.

In the museum is a copy of the Armistice

Back out in the sun, we looked out over Incheon port
 

and finally Jagu ("Freedom") Park where stands a statue of McArthur