June 25, 1950- North Korean People’s Army invades across the 38th Parallel with 135,000 men. The outnumbered Republic of Korea Army, which does not have effective anti-tank weapons, field artillery, or combat aircraft, suffers heavy casualties. North Korean forces enter Seoul on June 28.
July 5, 1950-First battle between the U.S. Army and the NKPA. The 24th Infantry Division’s Task Force Smith, a battalion combat team deployed from Japan, attempted to delay the advance of a NKPA division near Osan. Outnumbered and poorly equipped, Task Force Smith delays the North Koreans for only a short period before retreating with heavy casualties.
Aug. 6 - Sept. 12, 1950Defense of Pusan Perimeter. After a series of costly delaying actions during July, the U.S. Eighth Army withdrew on Aug. 1 into a final defensive line around the key port city of Pusan. After deploying from Japan the previous month, Eighth Army had assumed command of all U.S., ROKA, and other nations’ ground combat units fighting to defeat the North Korean invasion. As reinforcements from the United States and several other nations arrive at the port, Eighth Army directed the successful defense of the perimeter against major NKPA attacks in August and September.
Sept. 15, 1950-X Corps amphibious assault at Inchon, Seoul’s port city. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, commander-in-chief of Far East Command and commander-in-chief of United Nations Command, plans to liberate Seoul and crush the NKPA between X Corps and Eighth Army begins its breakout from the Pusan Perimeter on Sept. 16.
Sept. 28, 1950-X Corps completes liberation of Seoul. Eighth Army has linked up with X Corps, and while many North Korean soldiers escape, most NKPA units are destroyed.
Oct. 19, 1950-Eighth Army seizes Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, after UN forces shift from the defense of South Korea to the destruction of the North Korean regime. The NKPA can mount only very limited and generally ineffective opposition. Meanwhile, X Corps has been withdrawn from Seoul to land in northeastern Korea.
November 26 - 30, 1950-Two army groups of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) attack and defeat outnumbered UN forces in North Korea, inflicting heavy casualties. The People's Republic of China (PRC), after warning the UN, intervenes to prevent the destruction of the North Korean regime and the establishment of an American-allied Korea on its border. After the attack, the Eighth Army breaks contact with the Chinese and retreats into South Korea; X Corps is withdrawn by sea to South Korea where it joins Eighth Army. Two significant battles during this period include the 2nd Infantry Division's harrowing withdrawal through the Kunu-ri gauntlet and the 1st Marine Division's heroic efforts in the Chosin Reservoir battle.
Jan. 4, 1951-U.N. forces evacuate Seoul after the Chinese and NKPA launch another major offensive. Eighth Army breaks contact with the enemy and withdraws to a new defensive line south of the Han River.
Jan. 24, 1951-Eighth Army begins a counter-offensive with an emphasis on using its superior firepower to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy. After defeating another major enemy attack in February, the counter-offensive continues.
March 14, 1951-Eighth Army retakes Seoul against light enemy resistance.
March 27, 1951-Eighth Army reaches 38th Parallel. Enemy resistance continues to be light, but intelligence indicates that the Chinese are massing their forces for another major offensive.
April 11, 1951-President Truman relieves Gen. MacArthur after MacArthur had publicly and repeatedly questioned President Truman’s strategy for the war.
April 22, 1951 Chinese drive U.N. forces south of 38th parallel.
July 10, 1951- Negotiations between U.N. forces and Communists begin at Kaesong.
August18, 1951- Battle of Bloody Ridge (Hill 983). The 15th Field Artillery Battalion sets a record by firing 14,425 rounds in 24 hours.
Summer of 1952- Eisenhower pledges to go to Korea to end the war. VP candidate Nixon contends Democrats had caved in to communists in Korea and that Democrat presidential candidate Stevenson should be called "Adlai the Appeaser"
March 1953-Formal peace treaty never signed. Over 1,000,000 Koreans and 54,000 Americans killed in conflict plus thousands who die as prisoners of war.
April 26, 1953-Armistice negotiations resume. While both South and North Koreans still desire to defeat each other and unify the peninsula, the UN and the PRC wish to end what has become a bloody and expensive war whose objective, the status quo ante bellum, is for them not worth the cost of continuing.
May 28-29, 1953-25th Infantry Division battle for Nevada outpost complex. The Chinese repeatedly attack to take these outposts, suffering very heavy casualties, until Eighth Army decides to abandon the outposts. With an armistice agreement in sight, senior UN commanders conclude that holding an outpost, after the Chinese have demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice whatever number of soldiers required to take it, is not worth the cost in UN soldiers’ lives. The Chinese take several other outposts with this tactic, which is designed to distract from their concessions at the armistice negotiations and to keep pressuring the UN during the final stage of the negotiations.
June 8, 1953-Agreement reached at armistice negotiations on repatriation of POWs. All POWs will choose whether they will be repatriated, and both sides will be allowed an attempt to persuade its POWs to choose to be repatriated.
July 13-19, 1953-Chinese offensive against ROKA units in Kumsong Salient. A major attack breaks through ROKA lines and inflicts heavy losses, but the Chinese do not attempt to exploit the breach even though they also have suffered heavy casualties. The purpose of the attack is to punish the South Koreans for unilaterally releasing 27,000 POWs who had refused repatriation and to distract world attention from the concessions made at the armistice negotiations.
July 27, 1953-Armistice signed at Panmunjom. Both sides then withdraw slightly to create a demilitarized zone between the two Korean regimes.
July 5, 1950-First battle between the U.S. Army and the NKPA. The 24th Infantry Division’s Task Force Smith, a battalion combat team deployed from Japan, attempted to delay the advance of a NKPA division near Osan. Outnumbered and poorly equipped, Task Force Smith delays the North Koreans for only a short period before retreating with heavy casualties.
Aug. 6 - Sept. 12, 1950Defense of Pusan Perimeter. After a series of costly delaying actions during July, the U.S. Eighth Army withdrew on Aug. 1 into a final defensive line around the key port city of Pusan. After deploying from Japan the previous month, Eighth Army had assumed command of all U.S., ROKA, and other nations’ ground combat units fighting to defeat the North Korean invasion. As reinforcements from the United States and several other nations arrive at the port, Eighth Army directed the successful defense of the perimeter against major NKPA attacks in August and September.
Sept. 15, 1950-X Corps amphibious assault at Inchon, Seoul’s port city. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, commander-in-chief of Far East Command and commander-in-chief of United Nations Command, plans to liberate Seoul and crush the NKPA between X Corps and Eighth Army begins its breakout from the Pusan Perimeter on Sept. 16.
Sept. 28, 1950-X Corps completes liberation of Seoul. Eighth Army has linked up with X Corps, and while many North Korean soldiers escape, most NKPA units are destroyed.
Oct. 19, 1950-Eighth Army seizes Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, after UN forces shift from the defense of South Korea to the destruction of the North Korean regime. The NKPA can mount only very limited and generally ineffective opposition. Meanwhile, X Corps has been withdrawn from Seoul to land in northeastern Korea.
November 26 - 30, 1950-Two army groups of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) attack and defeat outnumbered UN forces in North Korea, inflicting heavy casualties. The People's Republic of China (PRC), after warning the UN, intervenes to prevent the destruction of the North Korean regime and the establishment of an American-allied Korea on its border. After the attack, the Eighth Army breaks contact with the Chinese and retreats into South Korea; X Corps is withdrawn by sea to South Korea where it joins Eighth Army. Two significant battles during this period include the 2nd Infantry Division's harrowing withdrawal through the Kunu-ri gauntlet and the 1st Marine Division's heroic efforts in the Chosin Reservoir battle.
Jan. 4, 1951-U.N. forces evacuate Seoul after the Chinese and NKPA launch another major offensive. Eighth Army breaks contact with the enemy and withdraws to a new defensive line south of the Han River.
Jan. 24, 1951-Eighth Army begins a counter-offensive with an emphasis on using its superior firepower to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy. After defeating another major enemy attack in February, the counter-offensive continues.
March 14, 1951-Eighth Army retakes Seoul against light enemy resistance.
March 27, 1951-Eighth Army reaches 38th Parallel. Enemy resistance continues to be light, but intelligence indicates that the Chinese are massing their forces for another major offensive.
April 11, 1951-President Truman relieves Gen. MacArthur after MacArthur had publicly and repeatedly questioned President Truman’s strategy for the war.
April 22, 1951 Chinese drive U.N. forces south of 38th parallel.
July 10, 1951- Negotiations between U.N. forces and Communists begin at Kaesong.
August18, 1951- Battle of Bloody Ridge (Hill 983). The 15th Field Artillery Battalion sets a record by firing 14,425 rounds in 24 hours.
Summer of 1952- Eisenhower pledges to go to Korea to end the war. VP candidate Nixon contends Democrats had caved in to communists in Korea and that Democrat presidential candidate Stevenson should be called "Adlai the Appeaser"
March 1953-Formal peace treaty never signed. Over 1,000,000 Koreans and 54,000 Americans killed in conflict plus thousands who die as prisoners of war.
April 26, 1953-Armistice negotiations resume. While both South and North Koreans still desire to defeat each other and unify the peninsula, the UN and the PRC wish to end what has become a bloody and expensive war whose objective, the status quo ante bellum, is for them not worth the cost of continuing.
May 28-29, 1953-25th Infantry Division battle for Nevada outpost complex. The Chinese repeatedly attack to take these outposts, suffering very heavy casualties, until Eighth Army decides to abandon the outposts. With an armistice agreement in sight, senior UN commanders conclude that holding an outpost, after the Chinese have demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice whatever number of soldiers required to take it, is not worth the cost in UN soldiers’ lives. The Chinese take several other outposts with this tactic, which is designed to distract from their concessions at the armistice negotiations and to keep pressuring the UN during the final stage of the negotiations.
June 8, 1953-Agreement reached at armistice negotiations on repatriation of POWs. All POWs will choose whether they will be repatriated, and both sides will be allowed an attempt to persuade its POWs to choose to be repatriated.
July 13-19, 1953-Chinese offensive against ROKA units in Kumsong Salient. A major attack breaks through ROKA lines and inflicts heavy losses, but the Chinese do not attempt to exploit the breach even though they also have suffered heavy casualties. The purpose of the attack is to punish the South Koreans for unilaterally releasing 27,000 POWs who had refused repatriation and to distract world attention from the concessions made at the armistice negotiations.
July 27, 1953-Armistice signed at Panmunjom. Both sides then withdraw slightly to create a demilitarized zone between the two Korean regimes.
For More information on the Korean war visit http://www.history.com/topics/korean-war