The Liberation of Taejon -special article by Dr Dermot Hudson

                                 

Tomorrow , the 20th of July , is the 68th anniversary of the Taejon liberation battle . This 27th of July will also see the 65th anniversary of the defeat of US imperialism in Korea.
The Taejon Liberation battle is remembered as a crushing defeat, a true military disaster for the US imperialist army and a great victory for the Korean People's Army commanded by the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG , the ever-victorious iron-willed brilliant commander  and gifted military strategist . It took place on the 20th of July 1950 (the date the 20th of July has particular significance for me as my birthday is the 20th of July ) , less than a month after the provocation of the Fatherland Liberation War by the south Korean puppets and US imperialists.
                              Seoul the capital of the south Korean puppet regime  had fallen to the victorious Korean People's Army on the 28th of June only 3 days after the war had started . The south Korean puppets had originally boasted that they would have their breakfast in Haeju(a city in the far south of the DPRK) , lunch in Pyongyang and dinner in Sinuiju !. However it turned out to be the complete opposite. The great leader Marshal KIM IL SUNG had ordered an immediate counter-offensive and the south Korean puppet was routed , it collapsed like a pack of cards .
   The US imperialists and south Korean puppets made Taejon the new temporary capital of puppet south Korea. The US imperialists threw the US 24th Army division commanded by General William F Dean . This was called the 'Taro Division ' , meaning the Victory Division . It had fought the Japanese aggressors in the far east during the second world war. However it was to taste the bitterest defeat ever in Taejon.
                           

    Marshal KIM IL SUNG applied the Juche-based military tactics that he had developed in the anti-Japanese armed struggle.  In those days(July 1950) the KPA faced the US imperialists and south Korean puppets He ordered the KPA units to encircle the US army division by making sharp detours . The Americans did not expect the KPA to move so fast but they did . The KPA troops moved like lighting.. As the enemy put emphasis on the front and kept the southeastern area open, Marshal KIM IL SUNG  saw to it that the KPA units, which had advanced to the southwestern area, manoeuvred back, some to the area southeast of Taejon to cut off the retreat of the enemy, thus forming a circle surrounding the city.
   On the morning of the 20th of July Taejon was liberated . General Dean the commander of the
24th division was captured ,trying to escape, by a young soldier of the Korean People's Army. Dean's generals pips and his boots can today be found in the Fatherland Liberation War Museum of the DPRK which is situated by the Potong river in Pyongyang.
               

   The Taejon liberation battle is beautifully and splendidly commemorated in the Fatherland Liberation War Museum by a large sized diorama  which is like nothing I have seen before .It is really well crafted Visitors to the museum are ushered onto a rotating platform. The platform moves round so the visitors get the full panorama of the Taejon liberation battle . Truly amazing.
     The Taejon Liberation battle bore witness to the Juche-based tactics and revolutionary art of command of the great leader generalissimo KIM IL SUNG as well the heroism and fighting
efficiency of the Korean People's Army .
Dr Dermot Hudson.
President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK
Chairman Juche Idea Study Group of England
Official Delegate Korean Friendship Association UK
Chairman British Solidarity for Peace and Reunification