From 180,000 UN troops holding the Pusan Perimeter against 98,000 attackers to the Armistice ending the war after 3 years, 1 month, 2 days, the Korean War is packed with battles measured in stark counts. Some engagements are almost lopsided on paper, like 120,000 Chinese at Chosin versus 30,000 UN Marines and Army, yet the outcomes hinge on timing, terrain, and endurance. This post assembles the full statistical ledger behind those moments, from casualties and aircraft losses to troop peaks and the reshaping of lines across the peninsula.
Key Takeaways
- Battle of Pusan Perimeter defended by 180,000 UN troops against 98,000 attackers
- Inchon Landing involved 75,000 US troops under X Corps
- Chinese intervention at Chosin Reservoir: 120,000 PVA vs 30,000 UN Marines/Army
- During the Korean War, the United States suffered 33,686 battle deaths
- South Korean military deaths totaled approximately 137,899 killed in action
- North Korean People's Army losses estimated at 215,000–350,000 killed
- UN aircraft losses totaled 1,986 (mostly USAF)
- US F-86 Sabre shot down 792 MiG-15s for loss of 78
- North Korean T-34 tanks destroyed: 239 by UN forces
- Peak strength of US ground forces in Korea reached 302,483 in July 1953
- Republic of Korea Army expanded to 590,000 troops by armistice
- Chinese People's Volunteer Army committed 1.35 million troops total
- Armistice signed on July 27, 1953, at Panmunjom
- Negotiations began July 10, 1951, at Kaesong, moved to Panmunjom
- Prisoner repatriation: 70,183 communist vs 12,770 UN POWs
From Pusan’s last stand to armistice, vast casualties and shifting fronts defined a brutal Korean War.
Related reading
01 · Category
Battles22 stats
01
Battle of Pusan Perimeter defended by 180,000 UN troops against 98,000 attackers
02
Inchon Landing involved 75,000 US troops under X Corps
03
Chinese intervention at Chosin Reservoir: 120,000 PVA vs 30,000 UN Marines/Army
04
Heartbreak Ridge battle lasted 4 weeks, 3,000 UN casualties vs 25,000 Chinese
05
Pork Chop Hill saw 1,500 US casualties in May 1953 assaults
06
Imjin River battle: British 29th Brigade held off 10,000 Chinese for 3 days
07
No Name Line offensive repelled 200,000 Chinese attackers
08
Battle of Kapyong: 3,700 UN troops vs 20,000 Chinese
09
Glosters Hill defense: Gloucestershire Regiment annihilated holding line
10
Maryang San captured by Commonwealth forces after 12 days
11
Hill 355 (Little Gibraltar) defended by Canadians against mass assaults
12
Battle of the Hook: 29th Brigade repelled 15,000 Chinese
13
Outpost Kelly assault: 200 Turks vs 5,000 Chinese, all Turks KIA/WIA
14
Vegas and Carson outposts defended in June 1953, heavy casualties
15
Waegwan defense during Pusan: delayed NK advance by days
16
Taejon battle: 24th Infantry Division delayed NK for 7 days
17
Osan roadblock: Task Force Smith, 540 men vs 5,000 NK
18
Battle of Pyongyang: rapid UN advance captured capital in 3 days
19
Hungnam Evacuation: 105,000 troops and 98,000 civilians rescued
20
Operation Ripper: advanced MLR 3 miles in March 1951
21
Operation Dauntless: captured Line Kansas positions
22
Arrowhead Hill assault: 2nd Division vs PVA 204th Division
Interpretation
Battles Interpretation
The Korean War, as told through its brutal arithmetic, was a relentless and bloody seesaw where vastly outnumbered UN units, with stubborn courage and catastrophic sacrifice, repeatedly bent but refused to break against a human-wave adversary, proving that tactical steel can hold strategic ground.
02 · Category
Casualties30 stats
01
During the Korean War, the United States suffered 33,686 battle deaths
02
South Korean military deaths totaled approximately 137,899 killed in action
03
North Korean People's Army losses estimated at 215,000–350,000 killed
04
Chinese People's Volunteer Army casualties numbered around 183,108 battle deaths
05
United Nations Command total casualties reached 178,569 killed or wounded
06
Turkish Brigade suffered 721 killed and 2,068 wounded during its deployment
07
Australian forces recorded 281 killed and 1,216 wounded
08
Canadian Army casualties included 516 killed and 1,558 wounded
09
British Commonwealth forces lost 1,106 killed in action
10
Colombian Battalion had 145 killed and 610 wounded
11
Ethiopian Kagnew Battalion suffered 121 killed and 536 wounded
12
French Battalion lost 262 killed and 1,008 wounded
13
Greek Expeditionary Force recorded 168 killed and 557 wounded
14
Luxembourg Battalion had 7 killed and 11 wounded
15
Netherlands Battalion suffered 112 killed and 645 wounded
16
New Zealand forces lost 33 killed and 79 wounded
17
Philippine Expeditionary Force had 112 killed and 299 wounded
18
South African Air Force lost 34 killed and 40 wounded
19
Thai Expeditionary Force recorded 129 killed and 1,139 wounded
20
North Korean civilian deaths estimated at 1.6 million
21
South Korean civilian casualties totaled about 990,000 killed or missing
22
Total war-related deaths on Korean Peninsula approached 3 million
23
US missing in action numbered 7,926
24
Chinese POWs captured by UN forces: 21,374
25
North Korean POWs: around 82,000
26
South Korean POWs repatriated: 8,724
27
US wounded in action: 103,284
28
ROK Army wounded: 450,742
29
Chinese wounded estimates: 340,000–610,000
30
North Korean wounded: 303,000+
Interpretation
Casualties Interpretation
The grim arithmetic of the Korean War tallies over three million souls, proving that a "police action" can exact a butcher's bill rivaling any total war, where every flag in the UN mosaic was stained with blood and the peninsula itself paid the heaviest price.
03 · Category
Equipment23 stats
01
UN aircraft losses totaled 1,986 (mostly USAF)
02
US F-86 Sabre shot down 792 MiG-15s for loss of 78
03
North Korean T-34 tanks destroyed: 239 by UN forces
04
US M4 Sherman tanks lost: approximately 200 in combat
05
Soviet-supplied MiG-15s total: over 3,000 delivered
06
US B-29 Superfortress bombers flew 21,000 sorties
07
Naval gunfire support: 5 million rounds fired by US Navy
08
US destroyers shelled Wonsan for 861 days continuously
09
North Korean artillery pieces captured: over 1,000
10
Chinese Su-76 self-propelled guns used: limited numbers destroyed by UN
11
US F-51 Mustang ground attack sorties: 138,000
12
Marine Corps F4U Corsairs dropped 158,000 bombs
13
Soviet 37mm AA guns downed 211 UN aircraft
14
US 105mm howitzers fired 12 million rounds
15
155mm Long Tom guns: 2.5 million rounds expended
16
North Korean submarines sunk by UN: 1 (not confirmed)
17
US carriers operated 11 Essex-class in rotation
18
Minesweeping operations cleared 32,000 mines at Wonsan alone
19
Chinese Type 53 rifles captured: thousands by UN forces
20
US M1 Garand rifles issued: over 2.5 million to ROK forces
21
Bazooka rockets fired: millions in infantry support
22
8-inch howitzers destroyed key bridges repeatedly
23
US napalm bombs dropped: 32,357 tons
Interpretation
Equipment Interpretation
Through this avalanche of numbers—from millions of shells fired to the lone, dubious submarine kill—the sobering truth emerges that the Korean War was a brutal contest of industrial attrition, where staggering logistical output collided with stubborn human resistance to produce a costly stalemate.
04 · Category
Forces26 stats
01
Peak strength of US ground forces in Korea reached 302,483 in July 1953
02
Republic of Korea Army expanded to 590,000 troops by armistice
03
Chinese People's Volunteer Army committed 1.35 million troops total
04
North Korean People's Army initial strength: 135,000 regulars plus 100,000 guerrillas
05
United Nations Command peak strength: over 1 million personnel
06
US Eighth Army in Korea had 230,894 troops at armistice
07
British Commonwealth Division strength: 14,198 at peak
08
Turkish Brigade deployed 5,455 troops total
09
Australian contributions: 17,000 personnel served
10
Canadian Army committed 26,791 troops
11
French contingent: 3,421 troops rotated
12
Greek Expeditionary Force: 1,263 infantry and 346 air force
13
Belgian Volunteer Corps: 900 troops
14
Colombian Battalion rotated 5,130 soldiers
15
Ethiopian Kagnew Battalion: 3,158 troops in rotations
16
Netherlands Detachment: 5,271 personnel
17
New Zealand Army Artillery Group: 1,389 served
18
Philippine forces: 7,420 troops deployed
19
Thai Division: 6,326 troops rotated
20
South Africa sent 826 air force personnel
21
Luxembourg contingent: 44 volunteers
22
Total UN member states contributing troops: 21 countries
23
Soviet air support personnel: up to 72,000 in theater
24
ROK Marine Corps grew to 18,000 by 1953
25
US Marine Corps divisions in Korea: 1st and 5th Marines, totaling 25,000+
26
Initial North Korean invasion force: 89,000 troops on June 25, 1950
Interpretation
Forces Interpretation
While the United States formed the spearhead, the Korean War’s staggering toll reveals it was ultimately a brutal, internationalized civil war where a small peninsula became a crowded stage for millions, with China and North Korea betting on sheer mass while the UN coalition answered with a patchwork of global resolve.
05 · Category
Negotiations18 stats
01
Armistice signed on July 27, 1953, at Panmunjom
02
Negotiations began July 10, 1951, at Kaesong, moved to Panmunjom
03
Prisoner repatriation: 70,183 communist vs 12,770 UN POWs
04
Demilitarized Zone established 2 km wide along 38th parallel
05
Ceasefire halted fighting after 3 years, 1 month, 2 days
06
US economic cost: $341 billion in 2023 dollars
07
Soviet Union provided $2 billion in aid to North Korea
08
China committed 78% of its military budget to the war
09
War damage to South Korea: $3.9 billion (1953 dollars)
10
North Korea's GDP fell 70% during the war
11
5 million refugees displaced in South Korea alone
12
Military Demarcation Line adjusted 2,000 km long
13
Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission formed with Poland, Switzerland, etc.
14
Repatriation completed by September 6, 1953
15
83,000 Chinese POWs chose non-repatriation
16
Panmunjom remains joint security area post-armistice
17
US troops remained 28,500 post-armistice under UNC
18
No peace treaty signed, armistice only
Interpretation
Negotiations Interpretation
After three years of grinding negotiation that cost millions of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars, the Korean War proved it is tragically possible to fight a vicious, inconclusive stalemate to a perfectly engineered, tense, and permanent draw.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Julian Richter. (2026, February 13). Korean War Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/korean-war-statistics
MLA
Julian Richter. "Korean War Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/korean-war-statistics.
Chicago
Julian Richter. 2026. "Korean War Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/korean-war-statistics.
Sources & references
17 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level