Ongjin Peninsula

Geography

The Ongjin Peninsula is a protrusion at the westernmost point of the 38th parallel. Surrounded by the sea on three sides, it could be reached overland only through the territory of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Pupo, at its southern end, was the only major supply line for the Republic of Korea Army. Pupo lies 90 km by sea from Incheon, a nine-hour ferry trip at the time.

The limited operation of 1949

In 1949 Kim Il-sung sought Stalin's backing for an invasion of the South. On 12 August 1949, Soviet ambassador Terentii Shtykov replied that an outright invasion was out of the question unless the South attacked first, and that he was willing to consider only a limited operation targeting the Ongjin Peninsula. After reviewing Grigory Tunkin's report that September, Stalin rejected an invasion and also banned the limited strike on the peninsula, but Kim kept pressing. On 17 January 1950 he told Soviet diplomats that South Korea needed to be liberated. Kim thought the Ongjin Peninsula would serve as a springboard for further advance.

The plan changed, the war began

By May 1950 the plan completed by the Soviet Advisory Group called for a skirmish to be initiated on the Ongjin Peninsula on the west coast. On 21 June, however, Kim revised his war plan to a general attack across the 38th parallel instead of a limited operation in Ongjin, arguing that South Korean agents had learned of the plans and that southern defences were being strengthened; Stalin agreed to the change.

At 04:40 on 25 June 1950 the Korean People's Army crossed the 38th parallel behind artillery fire, and fighting on the Ongjin Peninsula opened the war. The KPA 3rd 38-Guard Brigade, reinforced with the 1st Infantry Regiment of the 6th Infantry Division, made a surprise attack on the ROKA 17th Infantry Regiment; the battle ended on 26 June in a KPA victory, though many ROKA troops escaped the peninsula.

Sources and points of dispute

North Korea justified its assault with the claim that ROK troops attacked first, while the South announced that the 17th Regiment had counterattacked towards Haeju. Some scholars read that claimed counterattack as the instigating attack and therefore hold that the South Koreans may have fired first, but the report carrying the Haeju claim contained errors and outright falsehoods. While the invasion was being prepared, clashes along the parallel, especially at Kaesong and Ongjin, were in many cases initiated by the South. The South, for its part, had partial knowledge of KPA plans: about a month before the war, KPA artillery staff operations officer Major Kang Chang-nam defected to the 17th Regiment with his liaison from the 3rd 38-Guard Brigade and provided KPA battle orders, locations and training status.

The outbreak and responsibility

The peninsula was one axis of a general offensive. The plan for the invasion was drawn up by the DPRK leadership and finally approved by Stalin, and the KPA opened the attack across the 38th parallel. On 25 June 1950 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 83, treating it as a breach of the peace; the Soviet representative had been boycotting the Council since January in protest at Taiwan's occupation of China's permanent seat. Before the war the South Korean government repeatedly expressed its desire to conquer the North.

Conditions of the battle

Between 10 and 23 June the KPA completed its deployment for full-scale war in the western region under the guise of military training. In the Ongjin sector its strength was 11,000, 8,000 of them from the 3rd 38-Guard Brigade, armed with howitzers, self-propelled guns, anti-tank guns and armoured vehicles. The ROKA 17th Infantry Regiment was tasked to defend a 45 km border, far beyond a normal divisional sector, with 3,600 troops, and most of the high ground in its sector lay north of the 38th parallel.

Occupation and control

The UN advance northward in the autumn of 1950 carried the western front back through the Ongjin area, and the armistice drew the Military Demarcation Line rather than the 38th parallel. During the war Ongjin and the islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong became part of the western islands the South retained, and the 1953 armistice placed the five West Sea islands under the control of the UN Command.