4:00 AM, June 25, 1950
The outbreak of the Korean War  

   A light drizzle was showering the Land of Morning Calm at 4:00 AM Sunday, June 25, 1950. The quiet was broken all of a sudden by the strident sounds of tanks and automatic rifles. The North Korean troops had launched their operation “storm”, an all-out attack on the South without any declaration of war. It surprised the whole world that was still recovering from the aftermath of World War II just 5 years ago.

Up to that point, the North and South had experienced some clashes along the 38th parallel.
But such an all-out surprise attack was never expected in the Southern camp.  The enemy facing them now was both familiar and new at the same time.

After World War II, the Soviet Union had steadily supplied arms to North Korea in an effort to build military strength. On the other hand, the United States did not allow the South Korean troops to arm except for some rifles. This was because the U.S. suspected that the South Korean President, Mr. Syng-man Rhee, had previously considered going into war.  Besides, the U.S. wrongly assumed that tanks would not be effective in the mountainous Korean frontier. The Korean army did not even have any anti-tank weapons such as mines and artilleries.

Furthermore, the day prior to the attack was a summer holiday.  Most of the Korean soldiers were home to help their families with farming.  The soldiers on the front line fought literally with their bodies and disappeared one by one in the gun smoke or were rolled over by the Soviet-made T-34 tanks.

North Korean troops attacked the South from 3 directions: east, central and west. The strongest of the attacks, originating from the west, was mainly to seize Seoul. They also captured Ui-jong-bu, a gateway just north of Seoul. The central attack group quickly occupied the Ong-jin Peninsula which was surrounded by water from all directions except from the north. The eastern attack group was marched steadily into the eastern part of the Korean Peninsula.  

In the mean time the Korea Broadcasting Service (KBS), in an attempt to calm the public, announced casually that South Korean soldiers were attacking the North along the 38th parallel. While most people dismissed the report as “just another clash along the line,” high-ranking government officials and other VIP’s began evacuating the city.