On January 4th, 1951 during the Third Battle of Seoul: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (they had lost Seoul in the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
he Third Battle of Seoul, also known as the Chinese New Year's Offensive, the January–Fourth Retreat or the Third Phase Campaign Western Sector, 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. 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. China's 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 Third Battle of Seoul was one of the most important engagements of the Korean War. The battle started on December 31st, 1950, and ended on January 7th, 1951, with the Chinese capture of the capital of South Korea. The battle was part of the Chinese New Year's Offensive, a coordinated attack on the western defenses of the United Nations that intended to capture Seoul. Mao Zedong, Chairman of the People's Republic of China, believed that the United Nations (UN) could not resist another Chinese attack, and therefore planned to capture Seoul in order to place overwhelming pressure on the UN lines and force them to retreat from Korea.
The battle was fought proximate to the Korean Dividing Line at the 38th Parallel, amidst the harshness of the cold Korean winter. Winter made it easy for the Chinese to cross the frozen Han River, and McArthur anticipated that he wouldn't be able to keep Seoul. Therefore, he planned to be ready to slowly retreat to the Pusan Perimeter, in the event that the Chinese attack couldn't be contained. Meanwhile, after having been convinced that the Chinese Army was in no state to push the UN out of the Korean Peninsula, Mao settled for a more limited attack. Therein, Mao and his generals planned to concentrate their efforts against the weak South Korean units on the 38th Parallel.
