August 20, 1950: 'Taegu Has Been Definitely Saved'

Today in 1950 · Sunday, August 20, 1950

Republic of Korea soldiers march toward the front during the Pusan Perimeter fighting, August 1950

Republic of Korea soldiers march toward the front during the Pusan Perimeter fighting, August 1950 · U.S. Army photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On this day in 1950, two weeks of desperate fighting on the Pusan Perimeter reached a turning point: the battles of P'ohang-dong and Taegu ended in United Nations victories. In the mountainous eastern corridor, South Korean forces advanced two miles north of Kigye and re-entered the port town of P'ohang-dong, driving the North Korean 5th Division north.

The official US Army history records how close-run it had been — and why the attackers finally broke. The North Korean 12th Division, which had ordered its units to withdraw north through Kigye on the night of August 17, was reduced to roughly 5,000 men and reorganized short of artillery and food. As historian Roy Appleman put it, 'the North Korean system of logistics simply could not supply these troops in the Kigye-P'ohang-dong area.' At Taegu, the US 1st Cavalry Division and South Korean II Corps held the city against multiple North Korean divisions.

Eighth Army commander General Walton Walker, quoted in TIME that week, allowed himself a rare declaration: 'Taegu has been definitely saved.' The perimeter would be tested again within days — but for the first time that summer, the line had visibly held.

Also on this day

  • Sayyid Qutb concluded his two-year residence in the United States and returned to Egypt, where his writings would shape radical Islamist thought for decades.
  • Congress passed legislation suspending federal employees who violated security regulations.

🎵 On the radio that week: America’s No. 1 song was “Goodnight Irene” by Gordon Jenkins and The Weavers (Billboard best sellers) — the Weavers' version with Gordon Jenkins' orchestra sold about two million copies, with 'Tzena, Tzena, Tzena' on the same disc. That sound never really left — we recreate 1950s doo-wop and slow-dance ballads every week: read the stories behind our songs or listen on the lovesong1950s channel.
🎬 At the movies: Billy Wilder's “Sunset Boulevard” had just opened at Radio City Music Hall — 51-year-old silent star Gloria Swanson beginning her legendary comeback as Norma Desmond.
⚾ In sports: Eddie Sawyer's “Whiz Kids” Phillies sat 5.5 games clear of Brooklyn in the National League, while Detroit led a four-team American League fight with the Yankees three back.

Theatrical poster for Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Theatrical poster for Sunset Boulevard (1950) · Paramount Pictures poster, public domain (US copyright not renewed), via Wikimedia Commons

Sources: US Army official history (Appleman), ch. 18 · TIME, Aug 28, 1950: 'Definitely Saved' · Encyclopedia.com: Turning tide at the Pusan Perimeter · Wikipedia: August 1950 · Billboard best-seller charts, 1950 (issue scans) · Variety National Boxoffice Survey, 1950 (Lantern scans) · Retrosheet 1950 game logs and box scores. Every fact above is drawn from the records linked here — no dramatization, no invented details.

More from this series: Today in 1950 — the daily archive · every post from August 2026

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