The 105th Guards Seoul Ryu Kyong-Su Armored Division is a military formation of the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches: the Korean People's Army Ground Force, Ground Force, the Ko ...

. It was North Korea's first armored unit and took part with

T-34-85 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...

tanks in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

Formation and structure

The division was established in October 1948 as the 105th Armored Battalion and given its unit colors by

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

a month later. It increased to regimental strength in May 1949. By June 1950, the 105th Armored Regiment had become the 105th Armored Brigade with a strength of 6,000 men and 120 T-34 tanks. Its equipment – tanks, weapons and vehicles – was Soviet-made. The brigade had three tank regiments – the 107th, 109th, and 203rd – and a mechanized infantry regiment, the 206th. The 83d Motorized Regiment was also part of the division during the Korean War. Each tank regiment had three medium tank battalions, each having 13 tanks. Each tank battalion had three tank companies with four tanks to a company. Tank crews consisted of five men. Battalion, regimental, and divisional commanders each had a personal tank. The mechanized infantry regiment had a strength of about 2,500 men. The

SU-76 The SU-76 ('' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 76'') was a Soviet light self-propelled gun used during and after World War II. The SU-76 was based on a lengthened version of the T-70 light tank chassis and armed with the ZIS-3 mod. 1942 76-mm divisional ...

self-propelled guns were equipped and tank crews of four men.

Korean War

In the first days of the

, under the command of Major General , the 105th Armored Brigade reached

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

on 28 June. It was then raised to division status and renamed the 105th Guards Seoul Ryu Kyong-Su Armored Division before crossing the Han River to continue the attack southward. The division was part of the North Korean advance from Seoul to

Taejon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a technology and research cente ...

and subsequent

Battle of Pusan Perimeter The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter, known in Korean as the Battle of the Naktong River Defense Line (), was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one ...

between August and September 1950. The 107th Tank Regiment, equipped with T-34 tanks, defeated

Task Force Smith The Battle of Osan () was the first engagement between the United States and North Korea during the Korean War. On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, an American task force of 540 infantry supported by an artillery battery, was moved to Osan, south ...

during the initial advances of the

. The regiment then fought with the rest of the division in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter. After taking part in the

Great Naktong Offensive The Great Naktong Offensive was a North Korean military offensive against United Nations Command (UN) forces early in the Korean War, taking place from September 1–15, 1950. It was the North Korean Korean People's Army (KPA)'s unsuccessful f ...

, the 105th Armored Division was partly reconstituted and at the end of October and the first week of November 1950, it was committed to help the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

. The division used its tanks to provide fire support on a few occasions, but it played a negligible role in the fighting that followed and the U.S.

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organ ...

destroyed most of its tanks behind the battle front. On November 7, U.N. aircraft reportedly destroyed six tanks, three armored cars, and 45 vehicles in Pakchon and the area eastward.

Later service

The 105th Armored Division is at present equipped with

Chonma-ho The Ch'ŏnma (Chosŏn'gŭl: 천마; Hanja: 天馬 meaning 'Pegasus'), often inaccurately referred to as Chonma-Ho, is one of North Korea's secretive indigenous main battle tank designs. The tank is also known by the name of 천리마 전차 (� ...

and

Pokpung-ho The P'okp'ung-ho (), officially the Chonma-215 and Chonma-216 are North Korean main battle tanks (MBT) developed in the 1990s. The tank may incorporate technology found in the T-62, T-72, and Ch'onma-ho MBTs.Yoon Min Hyeok.북한군 폭풍호전� ...

tanks.

References

{{reflist ArmDiv0105 Divisions of North Korea in Korean War ArmDiv0105NK Military units and formations established in 1948