Sangju

On 24th July, the ROK Army reorganized itself into two corps and five divisions.

the r k first corps controlled the eighth and capital divisions while the r o k second corps controlled the first and sixth divisions a reconstituted r o k third division was placed under direct r o k army control The ROK's 2nd Corps headquarters was at Hamcheng, with its 1st and 6th Divisions on line from west to east, and the 1st Corps headquarters was at Sangju, with the 8th and Capital Divisions on line from west to east.

The 3rd Division operated on the east coast of South Korea.

Large numbers of recruits and replacements had entered the ROK Army, which had regained its pre-war strength of about 95,000.

By 17 August, ROK units and the 2nd Division had managed to check the enemy drive at Pohang-dong.

A primary factor in stopping the North Koreans was logistics, as the enemy had outrun his supply line during the difficult trek southward through the mountains.

The natural corridor of the Naktong Valley from Sangju to Taigu presented another principal axis of attack for the NKPA.

The sizeable enemy forces assembled in an arc around Taigu in early August from south to north consisted of the 10th, 3rd, 15th, 13th, and 1st Divisions and elements of the 105th Armored Division.

Let's set the scene.

Sangju is a quiet inland city in North Gyeongsang Province, southeast of Seoul.

At the time, the Associated Press put its population at about 120,000.

It's known for persimmons, for rice, and oddly enough, for bicycles.

It's said that Sangju has long promoted itself as Korea's bicycle city, and that year, the city government was throwing a festival in their honor.

So in early October 2005, the city held a three-day event, the Sangju Bicycle Festival.

And for the grand finale, it brought in something big.

The MBC Gaio concert, a long-running weekly TV show from the national broadcaster MBC, would be filmed live in Sangju's own stadium.

A reconstituted ROK 3rd Division was placed under direct ROK Army control.

The ROK 2nd Corps headquarters was at Hamcheng, with its 1st and 6th Divisions on line from west to east, and the 1st Corps headquarters was at Sangju, with the 8th and Capital Divisions on line from west to east.

The 3rd Division operated on the east coast of South Korea.

Large numbers of recruits and replacements had entered the ROK Army, which had regained its pre-war strength of about 95,000.

By Seventeen August, ROK units and the Second Division had managed to check the enemy drive at Pohang-Dong.

A primary factor in stopping the North Koreans was logistics, as the enemy had outrun his supply line during the difficult trek southward through the mountains.

The natural corridor of the Nakdong Valley from Sangju to Taegu presented another principal axis of attack for the NKPA.

The sizable enemy forces assembled in an arc around Taegu in early August from south to north consisted of the Tenth, Third, Fifteenth, Thirteenth, and First Divisions and elements of the Hundred and Fifth Armored Division.

... where it does have a home base.

And, you know, I think for, for away day supporters, you know, i-i- going to Sangju, for example, or Gimcheon, when would you ever normally get to go to or have a reason to go to Sangju or Gimcheon, uh, apart from obviously for, for the, uh, the Shine Muscat grapes, which is-

[chuckles]

... what Gimcheon's famous for.

Uh, and the Sangmu team in general, it was set up for that.

It was set up, um, in Gwangju originally.

The- their first season playing professionally was, uh, the 2003 season, and it was in Gwangju for 10 seasons and then moved to Sangju, and Gwangju chose to set up its own citizen team.

So the Gwangju FC you see today is not actually linked to, uh, the previous army side.