What U.S.-Korea Ties Mean on the 75th Anniversary of the Incheon Landing

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Asia Pacific|The City That Embodies the U.S.-Korea Bond, Even in the Trump Era

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/world/asia/south-korea-incheon-us-bond.html

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Douglas MacArthur has not faded away in Incheon, South Korea. From its hilltop Freedom Park, the late American general, in the form of a bronze statue, gazes down at the narrow channel that connects the city to the Yellow Sea.

On a September dawn 75 years ago, tens of thousands of U.S. and South Korean Marines under his command braved a hail of enemy fire to approach the shore and scale sea walls protecting Incheon. They retook the city from North Korean forces and went on to liberate Seoul, the South Korean capital, which lies roughly 25 miles to its east.

The Incheon Landing, the U.S. military’s most daring amphibious assault since D-Day in Normandy, turned the tide of the Korean War and made MacArthur a household name in South Korea. In Incheon, he is more than that; the city has made him and his maneuver part of its identity, hosting commemorative ceremonies each year.

A statue of a man, holding a pair of binoculars in one hand, gazing into the distance from a pedestal.

On Sunday, South Korean and U.S. Marines marched down an Incheon street as onlookers cheered, waving flags of both countries. On Monday, the landing’s anniversary, amphibious assault vehicles vroomed across the water into the harbor. Marines later hoisted the South Korean flag on a pier as a large outdoor screen flashed black-and-white images from the actual landing 75 years ago.

The map locates Incheon, the city and port in northwestern South Korea, not far from Seoul, the capital.