US Marines at Chosin Reservoir: The epic Korean War battle Hollywood overlooked - CNN.com

Editor's note: Seoul-based reporter Andrew Salmon is the author of Korean War histories "To the Last Round" and "Scorched Earth, Black Snow."  

EXCERPT:

Seoul (CNN) -- North Korea's underground nuclear test site, Punggye-ri, is set amid terrain appropriate for its purpose: The mountainous, northeastern province of Hamgyong, which borders China and Siberia, is one of the most inhospitable winter landscapes in Asia.

But this grim, forbidding province, which is also home to the notorious Yodok labor camp, seized the attention of the wider world half a century before Pyongyang's nuclear tests and claims of human rights abuses made headlines.

Hamgyong witnessed arguably the most harrowing battle fought by U.S. or British troops since World War II, a forgotten epic that offers every ingredient for the perfect war movie: an embattled force, towering odds, murderous combat and treacherous weather.

FULL ARTICLE: Chosin: The epic Korean War battle Hollywood overlooked - CNN.com