Pusan Perimeter

Pusan perimeter (1950). The outbreak of the Korean war saw the North Korean army drive the US and South Korean armies to the south-eastern corner of the peninsula. Hard fighting, chiefly by American troops under Lt Gen Walton H. ‘Bulldog’ Walker, supported by absolute US air superiority, held a perimeter around the port of Pusan while reinforcements were rushed to the theatre. The build-up proceeded until US forces were able to mount a devastating counter-attack against the overextended North Koreans to coincide with the amphibious landing at Inchon that severed their supply lines. Caught between the two pincers, they dissolved.

Bibliography

• Halliday, John, and Cumings, Bruce, Korea: The Unknown War (New York, 1988)

— Stephen Badsey

A defensive line established by Gen. Walton Walker on July 31, 1950, during the Korean War. At the beginning of the Korean War, United Nations troops retreated to the southeastern Pusan perimeter. It was an area in the southeast corner of South Korea bordered by the Naktong River on the west, the Sea of Japan on the east, treacherous mountains on the north, and the Korea Strait on the south. The cities of Pusan and Taegu, where Gen. Walker placed his Eighth Army Headquarters, were enclosed within this perimeter. During August 1950, battles continued at the Pusan Perimeter, and North Koreans attacked on all four fronts. U.N. forces built up strength, equipment, arms, and supplies. U.S. forces attacked August 7-13, 1950. Fighting continued from August 31 to September 7, when North Korean forces retreated. A successful invasion of Inchon created enough diversion September 16-30 so that Walker's troops recrossed the Naktong River and pushed the North Koreans north.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.