Refugees crowd aboard the SS Meredith Victory during the Hungnam evacuation in December 1950. The operation evacuated some 105,000 Korean and UN troops and more than 91,000 civilians from Hungnam Port in what is now North Korea after Chinese forces entered the Korean War and surrounded the allied forces. A fleet of 193 vessels also transported about 17,500 vehicles and 350,000 tons of cargo to Jangseungpo Port on Geoje Island.GEOJE CITY/YONHAP
Shin Bok-ryong
The author is a former emeritus professor of history at Konkuk University.
After the successful Incheon Landing, Gen. Douglas MacArthur promised U.S. President Harry Truman that his troops would be home before Thanksgiving, after Truman asked him to end the Korean War before Christmas. MacArthur ordered three divisions of Lt. Gen. Edward Almond’s X Corps, totaling 12,000 troops, and the ROK I Corps under Maj. Gen. Kim Baik-il — including the 3rd Division under Maj. Gen. Choi Seok and the Capital Division under Maj. Gen. Song Yo-chan — to advance north.
There was exhilaration at reaching the Yalu River. Yet the wiser course would have been to stabilize the front along the Pyongyang-Wonsan line in early October and pursue armistice talks. MacArthur, however, was thinking not of an armistice but surrender, and would hear no such strategy or advice.
China committed 120,000 troops. The ensuing fighting is taught at the U.S. Military Academy as one of the 10 major defeats in American military history and as the “coldest war” ever fought. Some 45,000 Chinese troops and 800 U.S. troops were killed. Chinese casualties were particularly high because blocking detachments shot soldiers who tried to flee.
The Hungnam evacuation began at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 22, 1950. Altogether, 193 vessels of various sizes took part and an estimated 91,000 refugees were evacuated. When the withdrawal order came, U.S. Marines protested that “there is no retreat in Marine Corps history,” shaking their fists at the sky. Gen. Kim Baik-il ordered that soldiers board last.
The largest cargo vessel involved, the SS Meredith Victory, was designed for only a small number of passengers, yet 12,000 refugees crowded aboard, according to the account. Military equipment was unloaded to make room for more refugees. Capt. Leonard LaRue (1914-2001) directed the evacuation despite threats that North Korean infiltrators might assassinate him.
After reaching Busan, LaRue was haunted by the horrors of war and the transience of life. Returning to the United States, he entered a monastery in New Jersey, took the name Brother Marinus and lived as a Benedictine monk devoted to prayer rather than ordained ministry until his death at 87.
How deep must his anguish have been after witnessing so much suffering at Hungnam during that bitter winter?
The fate of the Meredith Victory offers its own irony. The vessel was eventually sold for scrap to China and has disappeared without a trace. War leaves behind long, tangled stories of gratitude and grievance.
흥남 철수와 라루 선장의 회한
신복룡 전 건국대 석좌교수
인천 상륙에 성공한 맥아더는 트루먼 대통령이 성탄절 전에 전쟁을 끝내달라고 하자 추수감사절 전에 장병들을 고향에 돌려보내겠다고 장담하며 10군단 단장 아몬드 중장 예하의 3개 사단 1만2000명, 한국군 1군단장 김백일 소장이 이끄는 3사단(최석 소장)과 수도사단(송요찬 소장)에게 북진을 명령했다. 압록강 물을 마시는 통쾌함이 있었지만, 평양-원산선에 다다른 10월 초에 전선을 고착하고 휴전회담을 진행하는 것이 지혜로운 선택이었으나, 휴전이 아니라 항복을 생각했던 그에게는 그러한 전략이나 의견이 귀에 들어오지 않았다.
중공은 12만 명을 파병했다. 이 전쟁은 “미국 전쟁사에서 패전한 10대 전쟁의 하나”이며 역사상 “가장 추운 전쟁”으로 미국 육군사관학교의 전사 교과목에 들어 있다. 중공군 4만5000명과 미군 800명이 전사했다. 중공군은 독전대(督戰隊)가 탈주병을 사살했기 때문에 전상률이 높았다.
1950년 12월 22일 9시 30분에 철수를 시작했다. 대소 선적이 198척이었고, 피난민은 9만8000명으로 추산된다. 철수 명령이 떨어지자 “미국 해병대의 역사에는 후퇴가 없다”며 미군은 하늘을 향해 주먹질했고, 김백일 장군은 “군인이 마지막에 타라”고 지시했다.
함정 가운데 가장 큰 화물선 메러디스 빅토리호의 승선 정원은 2000명이었지만, 1만2000명이 탔다. 사람들 더 태우기 위해 장비를 버렸다. 라루(Leonard LaRue·1914~2001·사진) 선장은 북한군 침입자의 암살 위협을 받으며 철수작전을 지휘했다. 부산에 도착한 라루 선장은 전쟁의 참혹함과 인생의 무상을 고민하다가 귀국하여 뉴저지주의 수도원에 들어가 마리누스(Marinus)라는 이름으로 수사(修士)신부가 되어 성직을 맡지 않고 기도로 87세의 생애를 마쳤다. 얼마나 고통스러웠으면…. 빅토리호는 역설적으로 중국에 고철로 팔려 지금은 흔적도 없다. 전쟁에는 은원(恩怨)의 사연이 깊다.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
