Refugees boarding a ship at Hungnam Harbor, North Korea, 21 December 1950. (Erin Thompson, U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence)
On 9 December 1950, mass evacuations of military personnel, supplies, and refugees out of North Korea began. Continuing through 24 December, the Hungnam Evacuation remains one of the largest mass evacuations in American military history.
The U.S. X Corps, under the command of Maj. Gen. Edward Almond, landed at Wonsan, North Korea, in late October 1950 and quickly began sending units north to the Yalu River as part of General Douglas MacArthur’s “home by Christmas” campaign. The X Corps’ rapid advance weakened available personnel and supplies, a situation worsened by the arrival of Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) in North Korea in November. The CCF quickly overran American units, pushing the Eighth U.S. Army to the Chongchon River and surrounding the X Corps’ 1st Marine Division and Army elements at the Chosin Reservoir [see This Week in MI History #117 26 November 1950 and #164 7 December 1950].
The X Corps retreated to the ports of Hungnam and Wonsan and began working to extract its forces from the Chosin Reservoir and organize a complete withdrawal from North Korea. The evacuation, sometimes called the “Korean Dunkirk,” differed significantly from the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk, France, in World War II. The operation was thoroughly organized by X Corps staff to comply with General Almond’s orders that all “personnel, equipment and supplies ashore not needed in defense of Hungnam” should be evacuated “to the maximum degree possible.” A combined air-land-sea evacuation was initially planned, with much of the equipment expected to be withdrawn over land. However, the CCF soon cut off southern land routes, making it impossible to move large equipment this way.
Historian Richard Stewart wrote in a history of the X Corps for the Combat Studies Institute: “The corps planners quickly recognized that the most important means for evacuating the X Corps and its equipment was by sealift. There were over 100,000 troops converging on the Hungnam area and around 350,000 tons of military supplies…. The number of personnel to be evacuated was increased as well by Almond’s courageous decision to evacuate all civil government officials and their families ‘together with as many other loyal and non-communist citizens as shipping space would allow.’”
On 9 December 1950, the first evacuations began, with artillery, naval, and close air support securing a large perimeter around the port of Hungnam. U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) agents attached to the 1st Marine Division and the U.S. 7th and 3d Infantry Divisions performed reconnaissance and intelligence support for rear area operations during the withdrawal, including providing targets for air and naval assaults to hold the perimeter. Between 9–24 December, the 1st Marine Division, Republic of Korea (ROK) I Corps, and 7th and 3d Divisions boarded ships and departed for South Korea. Between 10–15 December, airlifts safely evacuated thousands more troops and supplies, as well as vehicles and refugees.
Thousands of North Korean civilians fled south and east with retreating American forces when the CCF invaded. Their presence brought with it increased fears of enemy infiltration. Corps intelligence agents reported enemy agents were feeding rumors “that the X Corps would provide transportation for all civilians who wished to leave North Korea” in hopes the refugees would overwhelm the corps and allow opportunities for saboteurs to enter Hungnam. Controlling these refugees during the evacuation became the responsibility of the provost marshal, assisted by military police and the CIC. Civilians were moved to a nearby village where they could be interviewed, and when enemy agents were identified, they were removed for interrogation by the CIC. Approximately 98,100 refugees were evacuated from Hungnam, Wonsan, and nearby Songjin, though an equal number were left behind due to space constraints. On Christmas Eve 1950, the remaining battalions of the 3d Division and X Corps supplies were withdrawn from North Korea, and the Hungnam port was destroyed.
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