Statue of General Douglas MacArthur

The statue was carved to honor General MacArthur for his military leadership in turning the course of the Korean War. It marks the spot where the ROK-US Combined Forces simultaneously planted the Korean National Flag to signify the repulsing of North Korean troops and retaking Incheon. Douglas MacArthur was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 26, 1880. He graduated first in his class from West Point Academy in 1903, and in 1930 was promoted to four-star general. In 1937 MacArthur retired from the Army. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, however, he went back into active duty and was appointed commander of the Southwest Pacific Area in early 1942. American forces under MacArthur’s command took back the Philippines in July 1945. After the surrender of Japan in August 1945, General, MacArthur served as the supreme commander of the Allied Occupation Forces in Japan. With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, MacArthur was named the United Nation’s commander-in-chief and led the Incheon Landing Operation, reversing the war in favor of the UN and pushed the North Koreans all the way to the Chinese border. As the communist Chinese intervened and forced the UN troops to retreat, he wanted to bomb Manchuria, blockade the China coast, and employ the Taiwanese Army. This led to conflict with President Truman, who relieved MacArthur from command in April 1951. When the newly dismissed MacArthur returned to New York, more than seven million citizens poured out to greet him with great enthusiasm. In his homecoming speech, the general famously said, “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. The war hero lived a good and honorable life and died at Walter Reed Army Hospital on April 5, 1964.

View of the MacArthur Statue on the east side of Freedom Park. Statue of MacArthur, the former UN Commander, was erected in Freedom Park to celebrate the success of the Incheon Landing Operation. The statue was funded by public fundraisers.

Reliefs around the statue give clues to some of difficulties involved with the Incheon Landing Operation.

Freedom Park was the first westernized park (the then current name, Manguk Park) in Korea. The square and nearby statue are famous for its beautiful sunsets of Incheon Harbor on the West Sea.