Korean War

The Korean War (Korean: ????/????), from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. Some consider this Cold War-era conflict to have been a proxy war between the United States and its Western democratic allies and the Communist powers of the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. The principal combatants were North Korea, supported by Soviet and later Chinese forces, combat advisors, aircraft pilots, and weapons; and South Korea, supported principally by the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, although many other nations sent troops under the aegis of the United Nations.

Origins

The country of Korea was invaded and effectively ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II in 1945. Following the American atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, the Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese Empire on August 8 and invaded Korea from the North. President Harry S. Truman ordered the landing of U.S. troops in the South.http://www.hoseo.ac.kr/~css/institutes/archive/rustow.html

Related Topics:
Korea - Japan - 1910 - World War II - 1945 - Atomic bomb - Hiroshima - August 6 - Japanese Empire - August 8 - President - Harry S. Truman

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the Japanese surrender on August 15th, Korea was liberated from Japanese rule but still occupied by Soviet and American troops. The Allies agreed that Japanese forces north of 38° north latitude (the 38th parallel) would surrender to the Soviet Union and those south of 38° would surrender to the USA. The peninsula was effectively divided into zones of control in the North and South under the administration of the two major powers.

Related Topics:
August 15 - Allies - Latitude - 38th parallel - Soviet Union - USA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In December 1945, the USA and the Soviet Union agreed to administer the country temporarily. Concurrently, both countries established governments in their respective halves, each one favorable to their political ideology. In the process, the USA replaced a left-wing government formed in June 1945, before the end of the war, with one led by anti-communist Syngman Rhee. The Soviet Union, in turn, installed communist Kim Il-Sung in the northern part. The Allies pledged that Korea would be a unified, independent country under an elected government but failed to specify the details.

Related Topics:
Syngman Rhee - Kim Il-Sung

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the South, a United Nations-supervised election was held in 1948, but the Soviet Union opposed this undertaking, arguing that the joint US/USSR commission, which had been unable to reach a consensus, was in charge in Korea. Instead, they chose to hand power to the North Korean Communist Party under Kim Il-Sung (???), who had been in exile in Moscow, Russia. The South elected the exile Syngman Rhee (???), who had been calling for partial elections, with left-wing parties boycotting the election. Some observers considered the elections unfair or fraudulent.

Related Topics:
United Nations - Kim Il-Sung - Moscow - Syngman Rhee

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South Korean President Syngman Rhee and North Korean General Secretary Kim Il-Sung were each intent on reuniting the peninsula under their own systems. Partly because of Soviet support, the North Koreans were the ones able to go on the offensive, while South Korea, with only limited American backing, had far fewer options. As for the American government, they believed at the time that the communist bloc was a unified monolith, and that North Korea acted within this monolith as a pawn of the Soviet Union (a view that in the case of North Korea is largely substantiated by documents from the Soviet archives showing that Kim Il-Sung, operating with some Soviet assistance, was responsible for the invasion of the South, and discrediting a popular viewpoint of the 1960s and 1970s that the war was just as much caused by western and South Korean provocation).

Related Topics:
Syngman Rhee - General Secretary - Soviet Union - Kim Il-Sung - 1960s - 1970s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On January 12, 1950 United States Secretary of State Dean Acheson told the National Press Club that America's Pacific defence perimeter was made up of the Aleutians, Ryukyu, Japan, and the Philippines implying that the U.S. would not fight over Korea, and that the country was outside of American concern in the Pacific. This omission, which was not deliberate, encouraged the North and the Soviets.

Related Topics:
January 12 - 1950 - United States Secretary of State - Dean Acheson - National Press Club - Aleutians - Ryukyu - Japan - Philippines

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The People's Republic of China was wary of a war in Korea. Mao Zedong (???) was concerned that it would encourage American intervention in Asia and would destabilize the region and interfere with plans to destroy the Kuomintang (???) forces under Chiang Kai-Shek (???) which had retreated to Taiwan. In early 1949 Kim Il-sung pressed his case with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that the time had come for a conventional invasion of the South. Although he approved of the idea of a united Korea, Stalin refused, concerned about the relative unpreparedness of the North Korean armed forces and about possible U.S. involvement. In the course of the next year, the communist leadership built the North Korean army into a formidable offensive organization modeled after a Soviet mechanized force. By 1950 the North Koreans enjoyed substantial advantages over the South in every category of equipment. After another visit by Kim to Moscow in March?April 1950, Stalin approved an invasion.

Related Topics:
Mao Zedong - Kuomintang - Chiang Kai-Shek - Taiwan - Joseph Stalin - Kim

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

See also: Division of Korea

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~