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Battle The Way The Amphibious Attack At Inchon Affected The Korean War

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Few battles have affected the course of battle the way the amphibious attack at Inchon affected the Korean War. The United Nations were on the cusp of losing the war to the North Koreans. General MacArthur knew that in order to turn the tides of war, he had to take the initiative from the enemy using an unpredictable maneuver. High reward, however, also meant high risk. Many senior leaders worried that the battle was too risky. The terrain was near impossible to overcome and the United Nations forces couldn’t afford to move large amounts of troops from the Pusan perimeter. North Korea felt the same way; the United Nations would be foolish to attempt an attack at Inchon. General MacArthur was counting on this. General MacArthur knew North …show more content…

The loss would have been a catastrophic demoralizing failure for the United Nations.
Following World War II, the Korean Peninsula was dived into two parts, North Korea and South Korea. With permission from Russia and verbal support from China, North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950 (Appleman, 1961). With more numbers and better equipment, North Korea quickly took the South Korean capital, Seoul, and pushed the South Korean forces down to Pusan, the last major city on the south coast. The situation was desperate for the United Nations forces that had been sent to support the South Koreans. General MacArthur, commander of the United Nations forces, recognized that a surprising and decisive amphibious assault would be crucial to retaking the capital city and turning the war around. He did not initially receive much support for his plans due to the risk involved. The concern was that the forces would be spread too thin, the amphibious attack would fail, and there would not be enough forces left at Pusan to maintain the perimeter. MacArthur initially had to postpone his plans because he realized the validity of this assessment. However, he was readying an additional force in Japan and asked his staff to begin planning for an amphibious assault. MacArthur’s staff drew up plans with three possible locations: Inchon, Kunsan, and Chumunjin. MacArthur favored Inchon over the other locations due to its proximity to

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