The smaller South Korean army suffered from widespread lack of equipment, and was unprepared for war.[8] The numerically superior North Korean forces overcame isolated resistance from the 38,000 South Korean soldiers on the frontier before it began moving steadily south.[9] Most of South Korea's forces retreated in the face of the invasion.[10] The North Koreans were well on their way to South Korea's capital of Seoul within hours, forcing the government and its shattered army to retreat further south.[10]