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Battle of Masan 1950

Battle of Masan: M26-Pershing-west-of-masan-summer-1950
Image: US Marine Corps, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date5 August 1950 – 19 September 1950Wikidata
Year1950Wikidata P580 (start time)
EraPost-1945 (1946 onwards)derived from year
LocationSouth KoreaNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentAsiaNatural Earth
War / conflictKorean WarWikidata P361
ParticipantsUnited StatesWikidata P710
Coordinates35.1833, 128.5500Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of Masan was an engagement between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces, which took place early in the Korean War between August 5 and September 19, 1950, in the vicinity of Masan and the Naktong River in southeastern South Korea. It was part of the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, and was one of several large engagements fought simultaneously. The battle ended in a victory for the UN after large numbers of United States Army (US) troops were able to repel the repeated attacks of two Korean People's Army (KPA) divisions.

Operating as the extreme southern flank of the Pusan Perimeter, the US 25th Infantry Division placed its regiments around Masan, with the 24th Infantry Regiment and 5th Regimental Combat Team based in Haman and nearby Sobuk-san, and the 35th Infantry Regiment based along the Nam River to the west of the city. Throughout the six-week battle, the KPA 6th and 7th Divisions attacked the 25th Division's regiments in an attempt to break through the UN forces and attack Pusan.

An initial UN counteroffensive out of Masan proved ineffective in stopping the KPA from advancing. In the subsequent fight, the 35th Infantry was able to repel the KPA at the Battle of Nam River and were highly regarded for these actions.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Masan (revision 1376287810), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

35.1833, 128.5500 · South Korea

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Nearby battles

Other battles of the Korean War

All 64 battles of the Korean War →

Browse more: battles in South Korea · Asia · Post-1945 battles

Further reading