Ongjin Peninsula
옹진반도
The Ongjin Peninsula is a protrusion at the westernmost point of the 38th parallel that Kim Il-sung proposed to Stalin in 1949 as the target of a limited operation, a fallback when full-scale invasion was rejected. Stalin, while repeatedly refusing a general attack, briefly entertained a strike confined to the peninsula but ultimately banned it on political grounds. When the Korean War began on 25 June 1950, the Korean People's Army attacked the peninsula as one axis of a general offensive across the parallel and captured it within two days.
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- Wikipedia (EN) "Stalin agreed to and also banned the limited strike on the Ongjin peninsula" after Tunkin advised against invasion; Kim continued pressing for full-scale war.
- accesson.kr Shin Bok-ryong, The Origins of the Korean War: "Kim thought that the Ongjin Peninsula would serve as a springboard for further advance (Bajanov: 18). The USSR regarded this as a well-planned strategy, but a poorly-devised scheme in a political sense."
- Wikipedia (EN) The battle for Ongjin Peninsula on 25–26 June 1950 as part of Operation Pokpung, with KPA 3rd 38-Guard Brigade and attached 1st Infantry Regiment attacking ROK 17th Infantry Regiment.
- digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org Stalin–Kim Il-sung meeting, 5 March 1949, showing Kim's early push for military action and Stalin's cautious response focused on economic and military aid rather than approval of war.