Hungnam evacuation
The Hungnam evacuation, code-named Christmas Cargo, also known as the Miracle of Christmas, was the evacuation of UN forces and North Korean civilians from the port of Hungnam, North Korea, between 15 and 24 December 1950.
The port at Hungnam was the site of a major evacuation of both United Nations military, South Korean military and North Korean civilians during the Korean War in late December 1950. Approximately 100,000 troops and material and 100,000 civilians were loaded onto a variety of merchant ships and military transports totaling 193 shiploads over the weeks leading up to Christmas 1950, and were transported to safety in Pusan and other destinations in South Korea. The evacuation included 14,000 refugees who were transported on one ship, the SS Meredith Victory - the largest evacuation from land by a single ship. This was made possible by a declaration of national emergency by President Truman issued on 16 December 1950 with Presidential Proclamation No. 2914, 3 C.F.R. 99 (1953). This operation was the culmination of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, in which the embattled UN troops fought their way out of a Chinese trap.
Assessment
Unlike the Dunkirk evacuation, all troops, materials and civilians were transferred safely during the Hungnam evacuation.
In popular culture
- A film about the Hungnam evacuation entered pre-production in 2005, but did not push through.[1]
- The 2014 film Ode to My Father depicts the Hungnam Evacuation at the beginning of film.