Battle of the Pusan Perimeter

Battle of the Pusan Perimeter
Part of the Korean War
UN soldiers from the 27th US Infantry await North Korean attacks across the Naktong River from positions on the Busan Perimeter, September 1950.
Date 4 August – 18 September 1950 (1 month and 2 weeks) Location Busan, South Korea Result United Nations victory
Belligerents
United Nations  South Korea  United States  United Kingdom	North Korea
Commanders and leaders
Douglas MacArthur Walton Walker Chung Il-Kwon Shin Sung-Mo George Stratemeyer Arthur Dewey Struble	Choi Yong-kun Kim Chaek Kim Ung Kim Mu-chong
Units involved
Eighth Army Fifth Air Force Seventh Fleet South Korean Army British Army Royal Navy Australian Air Force Australian Navy Netherlands Navy Canadian Navy French Navy New Zealand Navy (Main article)	Korean People's Army Korean People's Navy Korean People's Air Force (Main article)
Strength
141,808 total (92,000 combat)[1]	98,000 (70,000 combat)[2]
Casualties and losses
est. 40,000+[3] 4,599 killed 12,058 wounded 2,701 missing 401 captured[4] 60 tanks 5 killed 17 wounded Total: 60,504 casualties	63,590 total casualties, including 3,380 captured[5] 239 T-34 tanks 74 SU-76 guns

The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter (Korean: 부산 교두보 전투), known in Korean as the Battle of the Naktong River Defense Line (Korean: 낙동강 방어선 전투), was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of the Korean War. An army of 140,000 UN troops, having been pushed south to the brink of defeat, were rallied to make a final stand against the invading Korean People's Army (KPA), 98,000 men strong.

UN forces, having been repeatedly defeated by the advancing KPA, were forced back to the "Pusan Perimeter", a 140-mile (230 km) defense line around an area on the southeastern tip of South Korea that included the port of Busan (then spelt Pusan). The UN troops, consisting mostly of forces from the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA), United States, and United Kingdom, mounted a last stand around the perimeter, fighting off repeated KPA attacks for six weeks as they were engaged around the cities of Taegu, Masan, and Pohang and the Naktong River. The massive KPA assaults were unsuccessful in forcing the UN troops back farther from the perimeter, despite two major pushes in August and September.

North Korean troops, hampered by supply shortages and massive losses, continually staged attacks on UN forces in an attempt to penetrate the perimeter and collapse the line. The UN forces, however, used the port to amass an overwhelming advantage in troops, equipment, and logistics, and its navy and air forces remained unchallenged by the KPA during the fight. After six weeks, the KPA force collapsed and retreated in defeat after the UN force launched a counterattack at Inchon on September 15, and the UN forces in the perimeter broke out the following day. The battle was the farthest the KPA would advance in the war, as subsequent fighting ground the war into a stalemate.