Third Battle of Seoul

37°34′08″N 126°58′36″E / 37.56889°N 126.97667°E / 37.56889; 126.97667 (Seoul)

Third Battle of Seoul
Part of the Korean War
Chinese troops celebrate the capture of Seoul.
Date 31 December 1950 – 7 January 1951 (1 week) Location Seoul, South Korea Result Chinese/DPRK victory (see Aftermath)
Belligerents
United Nations  United States  United Kingdom  Australia Thailand  South Korea	China  North Korea
Commanders and leaders
Douglas MacArthur Matthew B. Ridgway Lee Hyung-koon[1] Paik Sun-yup Chang Do-yong[2] Basil Aubrey Coad[3] Thomas Brodie Kriengkrai Attanand[4]	Mao Zedong Peng Dehuai Han Xianchu Lee Kwon-mu[5]
Units involved
Eighth Army I Corps 1st Infantry Division 25th Infantry Division 27th Infantry Brigade IX Corps 6th Infantry Division 24th Infantry Division 29th Infantry Brigade Royal Australian Regiment 21st Infantry Regiment[6] III Corps 2nd Infantry Division 5th Infantry Division	13th Army[nb 1] 38th Corps 112th Division 113th Division 114th Division 39th Corps 115th Division 116th Division 117th Division 40th Corps 118th Division 119th Division 120th Division 42nd Corps 124th Division 125th Division 126th Division 50th Corps 148th Division 149th Division 150th Division 66th Corps 196th Division 197th Division 198th Division North Korean Army I Corps
Strength
136,525[nb 2] 12,269 Unknown[7]	~170,000[8]
Casualties and losses
481 casualties[9][nb 3] 300 casualties[10] 9 casualties[11] Unknown	China: ~5,800 North Korea: ~2,700[12]

The Third Battle of Seoul was a battle of the Korean War, which took place from December 31, 1950, to January 7, 1951, around the South Korean capital of Seoul. It is also known as the Chinese New Year's Offensive, the January–Fourth Retreat (Korean: 1•4 후퇴) or the Third Phase Campaign Western Sector^{[nb 4]} (Chinese: 第三次战役西线; pinyin: Dì Sān Cì Zhàn Yì Xī Xiàn).

In the aftermath of the major Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) victory at the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, the United Nations Command (UN) started to contemplate the possibility of evacuation from the Korean Peninsula. Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong ordered the Chinese People's Volunteer Army to cross the 38th Parallel in an effort to pressure the UN forces to withdraw from South Korea.

On December 31, 1950, the Chinese 13th Army attacked the Republic of Korea Army (ROK)'s 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th Infantry Divisions along the 38th Parallel, breaching UN defenses at the Imjin River, Hantan River, Gapyeong and Chuncheon in the process. To prevent the PVA forces from overwhelming the defenders, the US Eighth Army now under the command of Lieutenant General Matthew B. Ridgway evacuated Seoul on January 3, 1951.

Although PVA forces captured Seoul by the end of the battle, the Chinese invasion of South Korea galvanized the UN support for South Korea, while the idea of evacuation was soon abandoned by the UN Command. At the same time, the PVA were exhausted after months of nonstop fighting since the start of the Chinese intervention, thereby allowing the UN forces to regain the initiative in Korea. The city would change hands one more time in Operation Ripper.

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