Hungnam Evacuation | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Korean War | |||||||
Demolition charges destroy Hŭngnam port on 24 December 1950; USS Begor is in the foreground. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
South Korea |
North Korea China | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Douglas MacArthur Edward Almond Shin Sung-Mo Earle E. Partridge James H. Doyle |
Choi Yong-kun Kim Chaek Kim Ung Kim Mu Chong Peng Dehuai | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Fifth Air Force | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
100,000 | Unknown |
The Hungnam evacuation[1] or Heungnam redeployment[2][3] (Korean: 흥남 철수 작전; Hanja: 興南撤收作戰), also known as the Miracle of Christmas, was the evacuation of United Nations (UN) forces and North Korean civilians from the port of Hungnam, Hamhung, North Korea, between 15 and 24 December 1950 during the Korean War. As part of the fighting withdrawal of UN forces against the People's Volunteer Army (PVA) during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir (27 November to 13 December), they abandoned some 59,000 square kilometers of North Korean territory to enemy forces and retreated to Hungnam from where they were evacuated to South Korea.[1]