Second Korean War
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The Second Korean War, also known as the Second Korean Conflict or the DMZ War, was a series of low-level armed clashes between North Korean forces and the South Korea-United States alliance, occurring between 1966 and 1976. The most famous episode of the conflict was the USS Pueblo incident.
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[edit] Background
While there was no official declaration of war by North Korea, the start of the hostilities can be traced to a speech given by Kim Il Sung on October 5, 1966 at the Korean Workers Party (KWP) Conference where the status quo of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement was challenged. It came at a time of increased US involvement in the expanding Vietnam conflict. At that time the U.S. Army was stretched thin. The major ground combat units in Korea were the 2nd and 7th Infantry Divisions, I Corps, and 8th Army. All were seriously understrength in commissioned officers, junior NCOs and soldiers. The 2nd stood with the 3rd brigade manning 18 miles of the DMZ essentially due north of Seoul on either side of Panmunjon. As hostile incidents increased during the summer of 1967 the 7th Division sent one infantry battalion at a time to augment the 3rd brigade, as well as continuing to provide artillery forward observers both to its own battalion and the 3rd brigade. In addition an actual fence, with guard posts began to stretch along the entire border, just south of the DMZ boundary, or "South Tape." Every night observation/ambush positions were manned by American and KATUSA (Korean Augmentation to the United States Army) In addition ambush patrols left the guard posts which looked into North Korea. In the fall the 2nd Division combat units rotated SCOSI (Security Control Operations South of the Imjim) duty nightly in positions overlooking the Imjim River, which divided the 3rd brigade A.O (area of operations) from the rest of the division. Each line company level unit of infantry, armor, cavalry, and artillery had the duty for a week at a time.
[edit] Major incidents
- November 2, 1966: KPA ambush on UN patrol, 6 US casualties, 1 South Korea casualties
- August 29, 1967: KPA raid on Camp Bonifas
- January 21, 1968: Assassination attempt on South Korean President Park Chung Hee, The Blue House Raid
- January 23, 1968: Seizure of USS Pueblo off the east coast of the DPRK
- October 30, 1968: Ulchin-Samchok landings by 120 men of the KPA 124th Army Unit
- April 15, 1969: KPAF fighters shoots down a US Navy EC-121M aircraft over the Sea of Japan.
- 1971 Silmido Incident: Elite ROK troops trained to kill Kim Il Sung mutinied and went to Seoul.
- August 18, 1976: Axe Murder Incident on the DMZ by KPA soldiers
[edit] Scale of conflict
During this period, KPA conducted large scale infiltration activities which resulted in a series of firefights and artillery duels across the length of the DMZ. The intensity of the hostilities were such that on April 1, 1968, the Department of Defense on the recommendation of General Charles H. Bonesteel III declared the DMZ-Imjin area as a hostile fire zone. The activities extended to infiltration along the coast of the Korean peninsula such as the Ulchin-Samchok landings.
