Hangang Bridge bombing
Encyclopedia
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
: 漢江人道橋爆破) was a bombing conducted by the South Korean Army to destroy the Hangang Bridge
Hangang Bridge
The Hangang Bridge literally Han River bridge, crosses the Han River in South Korea and connects the districts of Yongsan-gu and Dongjak-gu. The first bridge was completed on October, 1917. It was the first bridge to be built on the Han River. But because of the flood in July, 1925 the bridge was...
in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
on 28 June 1950.
On 25 June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, sparking the Korean war
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. South Korean President Rhee Syngman called for the defense of Seoul to the death.
On 27 June, early morning, Rhee Syngman evacuated himself from Seoul by special train with the other government officials. At 11:00 am, the South Korean Army headquarters decided to bomb the Hangang Bridge to stop the North Korean invasion and gave up defending Seoul. From noon to 3:30 pm, the Korean Army planted 3,600 pounds of TNT at the Hangang bridge. At 11:30 pm, the bombing warning order was issued.
However, the South Korean Army didn't announce the bombing to Seoul citizens.
On 28 June, at 1:45 am, the bombing order was issued. At 2:30 am, the Hangang Bridge was bombed without warning. The bridge was filled with 4,000 refugees when it was bombed, and between 500 and 1,000 refugees were killed. The South Korean government said 800 people died in the blast. The South Korean Fifth Division was also cut off from its retreat path. At 11:00 am, the North Korean Army reached the bridge.
On 21 September 1950, Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Choi Changsik was executed as the responsible person for the bombing. In 1964, Choi's wife pleaded his innocence to the appeal tribunal, and the court found Choi not guilty because the bombing order was issued by his superior officers.