The
Third Battle of Seoul, also known as the
Chinese New Year's Offensive, the
January–Fourth Retreat or the
Third Phase Campaign Western Sector , was a battle of the Korean War, which took place from December 31, 1950 to January 7, 1951 around the
South Korean capital of
Seoul. In the aftermath of the major Chinese victory at the
Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, the
United Nations Command started to contemplate the possibility of evacuation from the
Korean Peninsula. Upon learning of this development, China's Chairman
Mao Zedong ordered the Chinese
People's Volunteer Army to cross the
38th parallel in an effort to pressure the United Nations forces to withdraw from South Korea.