On the night of 30 October 1968, 120 men of Unit 124 landed at 8 separate locations between Ulchin and Samcheok in Gangwon province and moved inland on a 30-day mission to create guerilla bases in the Taebaek Mountains. On the morning of 31 October they entered several villages and began indoctrinating the villagers, several of whom slipped away to alert the authorities. ROKA forces soon arrived in the area aboard the UH-1 Huey's of the 6th Aviation Platoon and some of the new UH-1s provided to the ROKA under the Military Assistance Program. The 36th Homeland Defense Infantry Division, parts of two other Divisions, an ROK Marine Corps battalion, Combat Police companies, an ROK Special Forces Group and thousands of Home Defense Reserves took part in the manhunt that followed. Within two weeks most of the infiltrators had been killed. On 9 December several commandos murdered 10-year-old Lee Seung-bok and 3 other members of his family at their home on the remote northern slope of Gyebang mountain. By the time President Park suspended the operation on 26 December, 110 North Koreans had been killed and 7 captured, for the loss of 40 regular army, police and militia and 23 civilians.

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