Incheon celebrates Operation Chromite's 74th anniversary with commemorative events

To celebrate the 74th anniversary of Operation Chromite’s success, Incheon Metropolitan City is holding almost a full month of commemorative events, which it said is intended to pave the way for a larger-scale celebration next year.

Soldiers under the United Nations Command, the bulk of which was made up of U.S. and South Korean troops, charge onto a beach in Incheon on Sept. 15, 1950, the first day of Operation Chromite. [UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES MUSEUM]

While historians often point to some battles as “changing the tide” of a war, there are few that live up to this expression as the Incheon landing of Sept. 15, 1950.

Code-named Operation Chromite, the landing took place four months after the beginning of the 1950-53 Korean War, during which 22 countries sent a total of 2.16 million military and medical personnel to aid the South Korean effort.

Timed to take place on one of only two days in the month that large landing ships could slip into the waters surrounding Incheon, the operation involved amphibious assault groups having to overcome the area’s formidable 30-foot tidal range, naval mines and 20-foot-tall sea walls to land almost 12 hours apart across three different beaches.

“There are some who estimated that the probability of the operation’s success was less than one out of 5,000,” said Kim Yong-ho, a professor of politics and diplomacy at Yonsei University, who compared it to the Allies’ critical D-Day landings on the beaches of German-occupied Normandy during World War II.

Yet over four days, 75,000 United Nations troops and 261 ships from seven navies were able to mount a surprise offensive at Incheon, forcing the retreat of the North Korean military from all of the territory it occupied in the South.

“The Incheon landing is a feat of military genius that saved this country and ensured its future prosperity,” said Lee Sang-ho, a research fellow at the South Korean Defense Ministry’s Institute of Military History.

In the decades since, Incheon made its name in history as the site of this pivotal military operation and has grown into a thriving international port and modern gateway to South Korea.

Both the city and the South Korean government have paid tribute annually to the UN forces that contributed to the 1950 landing operation, with President Yoon Suk Yeol taking part in a ceremony on the landing ship ROKS Nojeokbong off the Incheon coast last year to mark the 73rd anniversary of the historic amphibious landing operation.

To celebrate the 74th anniversary of Operation Chromite’s success, Incheon Metropolitan City is holding almost a full month of commemorative events, which it said is intended to pave the way for a larger-scale celebration next year.

While the official commemoration week that began on Sept. 6 ends on Thursday, the city has already held several special events in the run up to the anniversary of the Incheon landing.

The city scheduled six lecture sessions at schools across the city from Aug. 19 to Sept. 13 to educate students about the historical significance of the landing operation.

The Incheon city government also invited celebrity Korean history teacher and broadcaster Choi Tae-seong to retell the events of Operation Chromite through two special lectures on Sept. 2 and 12 in the hope that “people can remember and understand the landing from the perspective of peace-building, not just from a military point of view.”

The city also organized opportunities for people to experience riding in naval vessels on Sept. 1 and Sept. 8, as well as a separate memorial event on Sept. 4 to commemorate the Colombian military’s participation in the Korean War.

The theme of this year’s commemorative week is “Freedom through Sacrifice: Incheon as an International City of Peace” and includes 30 different ceremonies, memorial events and civic gatherings across the city.

South Korean Navy officers and sailors hold the flags of the 23 nations that fought under the United Nations Command during the 1950-53 Korean War as they march down a street in Jung District, central Incheon, as part of a parade to commemorate the success of Operation Chromite on Sept. 15, 2023. [YONHAP]

The city-sponsored commemorations are focused on establishing Incheon as a “global festival venue for peace and harmony,” with a special emphasis on educating the city’s Korean and foreign residents on the landing operation’s role in preserving South Korean freedom and democracy, according to the Incheon city government.

From Friday to Saturday, some 250 international students attending universities in Incheon, who hail from the 22 UN member states that came to South Korea’s aid during the war, took part in the UNI Peace Camp. The camp featured opportunities for them to try on hanbok, or traditional Korean dress, undertake K-pop lessons and visit the Ganghwa Peace Observatory along the inter-Korean border.

The city also held the Incheon Peace and Security Forum on Tuesday, which it said was “aimed at building present and future generations’ understanding of the landing operation’s significance and fostering solidarity with the international community regarding freedom and peace.”

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok is further scheduled to announce Incheon’s designation as an “international city of peace” at the official ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of Operation Chromite on Wednesday.

The designation, which requires the approval of the secretariat of the International Cities of Peace association, is intended to establish a “culture of peace” worldwide. Incheon is the fifth city in Korea to be designated as such, following the Gyeonggi cities of Pyeongtaek, Gwangmyeong and Pocheon — as well as Busan.

As part of the city’s mission to institutionalize the celebrations of Operation Chromite, representatives of the Incheon city government, the Incheon Institute and the Memorial Hall for the Incheon Landing Operation are scheduled hold a meeting on Thursday with a delegation from the Caen Memorial Museum in France.

The museum in Caen, which is dedicated to World War II and the Normandy landings, was where Mayor Yoo first announced plans to develop annual celebrations of the Incheon landing operation into an international commemoration by 2025.

According to the Incheon city government, officials from Incheon and the Caen Memorial Museum are expected to discuss ways in which the two cities could conduct exchanges related to their respective commemorations and potentially host a joint forum on international peace with eight UN member states that directly contributed their forces to Operation Chromite.

The Incheon city government has also been engaged in efforts since May to have the date of Operation Chromite designated as a national memorial day as soon as next year in order to boost domestic awareness of the landing’s significance.

According to the city government, the designation of the landing date as a national memorial day “would provide a chance for people to celebrate the preservation of freedom and peace in both Korea and around the world.”

In the city government’s press release, Mayor Yoo said he hopes that “many Incheon residents will participate in celebrations of Operation Chromite to understand its significance and raise awareness of its role in protecting peace and freedom in South Korea.”

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]