7th Infantry Division
제7보병사단
Shoulder Sleeve Insignia
Active	10 June 1949 – present
Country	South Korea
Branch	Republic of Korea Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Part of	II Corps
Garrison/HQ	Hwacheon County, Gangwon Province
Nickname(s)	칠성 (Chilsung / The Seven Stars)
Colors	White, Blue
March	7th Division Hymn
Engagements	28 battles fought During Korean war; notable battles Battle of YeongCheon
Decorations	11 Decorations of Presidential Honour
Battle honours	Korean War Operation Pokpoong Battle of Uijeongbu (1950) Battle of Kumsong
Commanders
Current commander	Maj. Gen. Kim Jin-Ho

The 7th Infantry Division (Korean: 제7보병사단, Hanja: 第七步兵師團) is a military formation of the Republic of Korea Army, currently employed on patrol duty in the Korean Demilitarized Zone around Hwacheon County, Gangwon Province. It has a GOP(General outpost) brigade (5th or 8th Brigade), a reserve brigade (3rd Brigade), an artillery brigade, and a subordinate force.

Structure

• Headquarters:^[1][2]
  • Headquarters Company
  • Intelligence Company
  • Air Defense Company
  • Reconnaissance Battalion
  • Engineer Battalion (K1 ARV)
  • Armored Battalion (K1)
  • Signal Battalion
  • Support Battalion
  • Military Police Battalion
  • Medical Battalion
  • Chemical Battalion
• 3rd Infantry Brigade (K105A1 howitzers and 81mm mortars)
• 5th Infantry Brigade (K105A1 howitzers and 81mm mortars)
• 8th Infantry Brigade (K808 APCs, K105A1 howitzers and 81mm mortars)^[3]
• Artillery Brigade (K9 Thunder SPHs)

History

During the Korean War, the 7th Infantry Division served a total of 28 battles. In particular, the Yeongcheon at the time to perform on the defense division president received a citation for troops to destroy the two Democratic People's Republic of Korea in battle of the world.

The division first started from Youngsan, Seoul on June 10, 1949. The division first saw combat on September 14, 1949, in an operation on Jirisan Mt. to fight Communist guerillas. This division was, after the fall of Taejon, only had a few hundred survivors to participate in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter.^[4] During the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, The 7th Infantry Division regrouped with the 3rd, 5th, and 8th infantry regiments to become what formation they have, and destroyed size of two divisions of North Korean army during the Battle of YeongCheon.

On 26 November 1950, a column of retreating ROK Korean soldiers of the ROK 6th and 7th Divisions from Tokchon was attacked by a battalion of the Turkish Brigade who were the first to arrive at Wawon, after the Turks mistook the Koreans for Chinese. 125 Koreans were taken prisoner and many of them were slaughtered by the Turks. The event was wrongly reported in American and European media as a Turkish victory over the Chinese and even after news leaked out about the truth to the Americans, no efforts were made by the media to fix the story.^[5][6][7]

After the Chinese intervention and attacks in November 1950, the U.S. 2d Infantry Division, the Turkish Brigade, and the ROK 6th, 7th, and 8th Infantry Divisions suffered substantial loss that they needed extensive rest and refitting to recover combat effectiveness.^[8] After recovery, The 7th Division took part of the operation as II Corps's command such as the Retaking of Hwacheon and the Battle of Gumsung.