The 12th Infantry Division was a division of the Korean People's Army during the 20th century. Originally, it was the 156th Division (Chinese: 第156师), which was created in November 1948 under the Regulation of the Redesignations of All Organizations and Units of the Army, issued by Central Military Commission on November 1, 1948,[1] basing on the 6th Independent Division, PLA Northeastern Field Army.
The 156th Division was a Korean-Chinese unit, composing of both Chinese and Korean soldiers and formed part of 43rd Corps. Under the flag of 156th division it took part in the Chinese Civil War. On June 25, 1949, the division was disbanded and reorganized as Jiujiang and Nanchang military sub-district. In February 1950, all Korean soldiers from 156th Division regrouped in Nanchang and moved to North Korea, where it was re-organized as 7th Division(later 12th Division) of the Korean People's Army. Its divisional HQ was re-organized as HQ, 2nd Forestry Engineering Division.
As of disbandment division was composed of:
466th Regiment (mostly Korean);
467th Regiment (basically Korean);
468th Regiment (basically Chinese).
North Korea Period
It was activated in Wonsan and was initially composed of Korean-personnel regiments of the PLA 156th Division and was initially composed of the 30th, 31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments. The unit was initially equipped with vehicles transferred to North Korea from the Soviet Union shortly after April 1950.
In April 1950, the People's Republic of China returned 12,000 more veterans of the PVA to Korea where they formed the 7th Division (redesignated the 12th about July 2, 1950).[2]
Artillery units of the 12th Division, at the time of the division's activation at Wonsan in April or May 1950, were composed of battle-seasoned Korean veterans from the Chinese People's Liberation Army.[3]
On September 16, in the I Corps sector, elements of the Capital Division fought their way through the streets of An'gang-ni. The next day, advancing from the west in the II Corps sector, a battalion of the ROK 7th Division linked up with elements of the Capital Division, closing a two-week-old gap between the ROK I and II Corps. The NKPA's 12th Division waged a series of stubborn delaying actions against the Capital Division in the vicinity of Kigye as the North Koreans retreated northward into the mountains. Kigye fell back under South Korean control on September 22, 1950.[5]
