PREDECESSOR:
Korean Resistance to Japanese Occupation,
World
War 2
CONCURRENT:
The
Cold War,
The
First Indochina War, China-Taiwan Cold War
SUCCESSOR:
Ongoing
Korean Border Battles and Incidents
The Korean War was the
first major military conflict of the Cold War between the
Western powers and the Communist nations in the years
following World War Two. The war lasted three years, cost
millions of lives, devasted both North and South Korea,
and actually continues to this day as the military
conflict concluded with a truce, not an actual peace
treaty. The Korean War involved all of the major powers
of the 1950s: The United States, United Kingdom, France,
China, and Russia (the Soviet Union), as well as the
relatively new United Nations. The war in Korea was just
one of several major conflicts pitting the Western powers
against Communist forces, but this was the only one at
the time that carried the potential for escalating into a
Third World War. Such a world war could easily have
become a nuclear conflict as both the U.S. and Soviet
Union possessed atomic weapons.
Background
to the Korean War
The Japanese Empire had
ruled Korea from 1895 to the end of World War Two in
1945. Following the Japanese surrender to the Allies,
Korea was occupied by both Soviet and American forces.
Though the original agreement between the Americans and
Soviets had been to unite the two occupied halves of
Korea, both occupying powers set up rival governments in
the areas under their control. In the north, the Soviets
set up a Communist regime led by a Korean-born former
Soviet soldier named Kim Il-Sung. In the south, the
Americans set up a Western-style democratic government in
1948 led by President Syngman Rhee.
One reason the two rival
governments were set up was due to the growing Cold War
between the United States and other Western nations on
one side, and the Communist Soviet Union and other
Communist nations on the other side. Though negotiations
were held on the possibility of reunification, North
Korea sponsored a low-level insurgency in South Korea and
engaged in border skirmishes along the 38th Parallel,
which formed the North-South border.
The Communist
dictatorship in North Korea was built on the Russian
Stalinist model; no political freedom, no religious
freedom, no private ownership of property, and total
control held by the Communist Party. The Soviets set up
North Korea with a ready-made, veteran military, bringing
in Korean units that had served in the Soviet Union
during World War Two and units of the Chinese Communist
forces made up of ethnic Koreans. These China-based units
had extensive combat experience fighting against both the
Japanese (1937-1945) and against the Nationalist Chinese
forces of the Chinese government in the Chinese Civil War
(1927-1949).
In the South, the United
States set up a government based on the Western-style
democratic model, and built up a South Korean military
force. The U.S. ended its occupation of South Korea in
1948. Tensions between North and South Korea escalated
throughout 1949 and the first part of 1950. In January,
1950, the United States Secretary of State, Dean Acheson,
gave a speech at the National Press Club in which he
described America's "defense perimeter" in the Pacific
and Far East. In his remarks, he included Japan and the
Nationalist Chinese government in what is now called
Taiwan, but he left South Korea out of the areas
described as part of America's defensive commitment. The
North Koreans took the omission of South Korea from the
areas under automatic American protection as a sign that
the U.S. would not interfere in an inter-Korean
conflict.
The
Korean War Begins
With the blessing of
Soviets, North Korean dictator Kim Il-Sung invaded South
Korea on June 25, 1950 with an invasion force numbered
approximately 90,000 men supported by 150 Soviet-supplied
T-34 tanks. The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) forces were
badly outnumbered and they did not have effective
anti-tank weapons, field artillery, or combat aircraft.
As a result, the ROK suffered heavy casualties, and the
North Korean forces entered the Southern capital city of
Seoul on June 28.
President Truman
responded almost immediately to the new conflict in Asia.
The day of the invasion, American President Harry S
Truman ordered General Douglas MacArthur to use American
forces to evacuate American dependents from Korea, supply
ROKA forces, and conduct a survey of how to best help
South Korea. The next day, June 26, Truman authorized
MacArthur to use American air and naval forces against
North Korean military targets below the 38th parallel
(the official North-South Korean border). Truman also
directed the U.S. Seventh Fleet to enter the straits
between Taiwan and Communist-controlled mainland China.
At the time, there was a serious concern that the North
Korean invasion was merely the opening round of a
world-wide Communist offensive that could include a
Chinese invasion of Taiwan and/or a Soviet move against
West Berlin.
International response to
the North Korean attack on South Korea was swift and
decisive. The United Nations Security Council passed a
resolution condemning the Communist invasion as a "breach
of the peace." The Council did not have a Soviet
delegate, since 6 months earlier, the Soviet Union
withdrew its UN representative from the Security Council
in protest of the United Nation's refusal to seat a
delegate from the new Communist government in mainland
China. President Harry S Truman quickly committed
American forces to a combined United Nations military
effort and named General Douglas MacArthur as the
Commander of the U.N. forces. Fifteen other nations also
placed troops under the U.N. command in Korea. In a
somewhat controversial decision, President Truman did not
seek a formal declaration of war from Congress; so,
officially, America's intervention in the Korean War was
officially referred to as a "police action."
See
also:
Korean
War Timeline
Korean
War Links and Resources:
Korean War Links and
Resources
US Army Center for Military History online
books - official histories http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/online/Bookshelves/KW.htm
Korean War Project--http://www.koreanwar.org/
Korean War Veterans Memorial National Memorial
(U.S. National Park)--Official
National Park Service site for the Washington
memorial. Illustrated description and
background.
Korea 60: Memories and Messages From The
Forgotten War-- http://www.trumanlibrary.org/korea/exhibit.htm
The Korean War and its Origins: From the Truman
Presidential Library-- http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/koreanwar/index.php
Policy and Directions: The First Year -
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/korea/truce/fm.htm
South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu -
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/korea/20-2-1/toc.htm
Ebb and Flow - http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/korea/ebb/fm.htm
Truce Tent and Fighting Front - http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/korea/truce/fm.htm
Combat Actions in Korea - http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/korea/30-2/30-2_con.htm
US Army Center for Military History -
Korean
War Maps
Dean Acheson's Speech to the National Press
Club, January 12, 1950--Secretary of State
Acheson's appearance at the National Press Club is
where he gave a speech in which it appears he excluded
South Korea from America's "defense perimeter." It is
widely believed that North Korea invaded South Korea
believing that the U.S. would not intervene based on
this speech by Acheson. See the links to this historic
speech.
Dean Acheson's Press Club Speech
Reexamined: From the Journal of Conflict
Studies-- http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/JCS/bin/get.cgi?directory=spring02/&filename=matray.htm
(Even
a Few) Words Matter : Bad actors look hard for the
smallest sign that they might get away with
aggression without consequences--commentary by
historian Victor Davis Hanson on the historical
ramifications of the Acheson speech and similar
incidents in history, with an eye to current 21st
century events.
Australia in the Korean War--http://www.korean-war.com/australia.html
Belgian Forces in the Korean War--http://www.korean-war.com/belgium.html
Canadians in Korea, 1950-1953--http://www.korean-war.com/canada.html
Colombian Forces in the Korean
War--http://www.korean-war.com/colombia.html
Danish Hospital Ship "Jutlandia" in the Korean
War-http://www.korean-war.com/jutlandia.html
Ethiopian Forces in the Korean
War--http://www.korean-war.com/ethiopia.html
French Forces in the Korean War--http://www.korean-war.com/france.html
Greek Forces in the Korean War--http://www.korean-war.com/greece.html
Medical Units From India in the Korean
War--http://www.korean-war.com/60thindian.html
Italy's Contribution to the Korean
War--http://www.korean-war.com/italianRChospital.html
Luxembourg in the Korean War--http://www.korean-war.com/luxembourg.html
Dutch Participation in the Korean
War--http://www.korean-war.com/netherlands.html
New Zealand in the Korean War--http://www.korean-war.com/newzealand.html
Medical Units From Norway in the Korean War
--http://www.korean-war.com/normash.html
Philippine Forces in the Korean
War--http://www.korean-war.com/phlippines.html
South Africa in the Korean War-- http://www.korean-war.com/soafrica.html
South Korean Army in the Korean War--
http://www.korean-war.com/sokorea.html
Sweden's Field Hospital in the Korean War--
http://www.korean-war.com/swedishhospital.html
Thailand in the Korean War-- http://www.korean-war.com/thailand.html
Turkish Forces in the Korean War-- http://www.korean-war.com/turkey.html
United Kingdom (British) Forces in the Korean
War-- http://www.korean-war.com/unitedkingdom.html
United Nations Command of the Korean War--
http://www.korean-war.com/unitednations.html
United States Military in the Korean War--
http://www.korean-war.com/USUnits.html
