The Third Battle of Seoul, also known as the Chinese New Year’s Offensive, theJanuary–Fourth Retreat (Korean: 1·4 후퇴) or the Third Phase Campaign Western Sector (Chinese: 第三次战役西线; pinyin: Dì Sān Cì Zhàn Yì Xī Xiàn), was a battle of the Korean War, which took place from December 31, 1950 to January 7, 1951 around theSouth 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 on the possibility of evacuation from the Korean Peninsula. Upon learning this development, China’s Chairman Mao Zedong ordered the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army to cross the38th parallel in an effort to pressure the United Nations forces to withdraw from South Korea.