page_title: Battle of Inchon
section_title: Inchon infiltration
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Inchon / Prelude / Inchon infiltration
caption_attribution_description: English: Area map of Incheon
context_page_description: The Battle of Inchon was an amphibious invasion and battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command. The operation involved some 75,000 troops and 261 naval vessels, and led to the recapture of the South Korean capital of Seoul two weeks later. The code name for the operation was Operation Chromite.
  The battle began on 15 September 1950 and ended on 19 September. Through a surprise amphibious assault far from the Pusan Perimeter that UN and Republic of Korea Army forces were desperately defending, the largely undefended city of Inchon was secured after being bombed by UN forces. The battle ended a string of victories by the North Korean Korean People's Army. The subsequent UN recapture of Seoul partially severed the KPA's supply lines in South Korea.
  The UN and ROK forces were commanded by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of the United States Army. MacArthur was the driving force behind the operation, overcoming the strong misgivings of more cautious generals to a risky assault over extremely unfavorable terrain.
context_section_description: Fourteen days before the landing at Inchon, a UN reconnaissance team landed in Inchon Harbor to obtain information on the conditions there. The team, led by US Navy Lieutenant Eugene F. Clark, landed at Yonghung-do, an island in the mouth of the harbor. From there, the team relayed intelligence back to the UN Command. With the help of locals, Clark, gathered information about tides, beach composition, mudflats, and seawalls. A separate reconnaissance mission codenamed Trudy Jackson, which dispatched Lieutenant Youn Joung of the Republic of Korea Navy and ROK Colonel Ke In-Ju to Inchon to collect further intelligence on the area, was mounted by the US military.
  The tides at Inchon have an average range of 29 feet (8.8 m) and a maximum observed range of 36 feet (11 m), making the tidal range there one of the largest in the world and the littoral maximum in all of Asia. Clark observed the tides at Inchon for two weeks and discovered that American tidal charts were inaccurate, but that Japanese charts were quite good. Clark's team provided detailed reports on KPA artillery positions and fortifications on the island of Wolmido, at Inchon and on nearby islands. During the extensive periods of low tide, Clark's team located and removed some North Korean naval mines, but, critically to the future success of the invasion, Clark reported that the North Koreans had not in fact systematically mined the channels.
  When the KPA discovered that the agents had landed on the islands near Inchon, they made multiple attacks, including an attempted raid on Yonghung-do with six junks. Clark mounted a machine gun on a sampan and sank the attacking junks. In response, the KPA killed perhaps as many as 50 civilians for helping Clark.
caption: Inchon, South Korea, in pink coloring.
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