THE KOREAN WAR

“THE FORGOTTEN WAR”1950-1953

LEAD UP TO KOREAN WAR Korea jointly occupied by Soviet Union and American forces

at end of WWII 38th Parallel split peninsula in half until reunification was agreed

upon USSR got North Korea because they had been planning to invade

Manchuria US got South Korea because they had originally planned to invade

the Japanese home islands Withdrawal officially happened in 1948-49

Remained divided with separate support from superpowers Civil War couldn’t happen because Truman administration

decided to concentrate on defense of island strongpoints South Korean president, Syngman Rhee, sought support but was

refused US afraid Rhee would march north and involve them in a war

Kim Il-Sung sought support in Moscow for a military campaign Was rejected until Acheson announced the “defense perimeter”

PRIM

ARY

SOU

RCE The Security Council,

Having determined that the armed attack upon the Republic of Korea by forces from North Korea constitutes a breach of the peace,

Having recommended that Members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and to restore international peace and security in the area,

1.         Welcomes the prompt and vigorous support which Governments and peoples of the United Nations have given to its resolutions 82 (1950) and 83 (1950) of 25 and 27 June 1950 to assist the Republic of Korea in defending itself against armed attack and thus to restore international peace and security in the area;

2.         Notes that Members of the United Nations have transmitted to the United Nations offers of assistance for the Republic of Korea;

3.         Recommends that all Members providing military forces and other assistance pursuant to the aforesaid Security Council resolutions make such forces and other assistance available to a unified command under the United States of America;

4.         Requests the United States to designate the commander of such forces;

5.         Authorizes the unified command at its discretion to use the United Nations flag in the course of operations against North Korean forces concurrently with the flags of the various nations participating;

6.         Requests the United States to provide the Security Council with reports as appropriate on the course of action taken under the unified command.

Adopted at the 476th meeting by 7 votes to none, with 3 abstentions (Egypt, India, Yugoslavia)

PRIMARY SOURCE Origin

UN Security Council Resolution 84 July 5th, 1950

Purpose There are 6 main points made;

1st is to thank countries which Defended the Republic of Korea in initial attack 2nd is to point out the UN has already offered help 3rd is to offer military assistance to South Korea through the US 4th is to tell the US to assign a commander 5th is to use the UN flag alongside the country’s own 6th is to tell the US to report on any action taken

Value It shows how quickly the UN reacted to the threat of the North Korean

invasion Shows the specific tasks needed at the time with a reference to past

actions Limitation

Doesn’t show the effectiveness of these actions Doesn’t show what is done at later times Doesn’t present the North Korean’s side

“DEFENSE PERIMETER” Secretary of State Acheson announced

publicly that South Korea wasn’t included in the American “defense perimeter”“If the best minds in the world had set out to

find us the worst possible location in the world to fight this damnable war, the unanimous choice would have been Korea.”

Made Stalin feel comfortable enough to endorse North Korean attack on South KoreaAlso encouraged Ho Chi Minh to intensify

offensive against French in IndochinaDidn’t require direct Soviet involvement

INITIAL INVASION June 25th, 1950

North Korea crosses 38th Parallel for first invasion Pentagon had no contingency plan ready South Korea had a weak army so army got to Seoul in

4 days June 27th, 1950

UN Security Council passed resolution to give military support to South Korea

General Douglas MacArthur named commander of all UN forces in Korea

One of hottest and driest summer on record American soldiers got diseased

Fought a defensive war Didn’t work very well for them

IMPACT OF FIRST INVASION OF SOUTH KOREA Almost as shocking as Pearl Harbor with

consequences almost as important The blatant invasion challenged postwar

collective security 38th Parallel was sanctioned by UN

America able to act quickly once decision was made US army occupied Japan No Soviet representative n Security Council of

UN meant international community also mobilized

Stalin had overlooked this

NEW WAR AIMS Had been pushed back to Pusan

Perimeter Became war to liberate the North from

communism Battle of Inchon worried Chinese

INCHON INVASIONOPERATION CHROMITE

September 13-15, 1950 Amphibian assault on Korean port of Inchon

100 miles south of the 38th parallel and 25 miles from Seoul

Strategically appealing but tactically challenging Long approaches through shallow canals, poor

beaches, and a tidal range McArthur planned a pincher move

Retake Seoul, cut off supplies to North Korean army, then attack Pusan

Low resistance and casualties Objectives quickly achieved

Continued on toward Seoul Took Kimpo airfield September 17th Seoul recaptured on September 29th

PYONGYANG October 1950

American and South Korean troops crossed the 38th Parallel

PyongyangCapitol of North KoreaCaptured on October 19th

Continued north to Yalu RiverYalu River border between North Korea and

ChinaAdvance stopped by Chinese

CHINA’S INVOLVEMENT 1948-1950; Eager to legitimize revolution by winning Stalin’s approval Worried about “armed aggression against Chinese territory” SURPRISE!!!!

US Diplomats and intelligence personnel believed the time for China to intervene was past Allied air power and firepower would cripple ability to move or resupply

Military observers thought huge infantry forces would be poorly led, supplied, and equipped Forgot about revolutionary zeal and military experience

Veterans of civil war against the Nationalist Chinese forces Were poorly supplied but highly motivated, battle hardened, and led by officers

who had been at war for 20 years General MacArthur said they wouldn’t attack

His reputation meant that when he said the Chinese wouldn’t attack people believed him

Far Eastern Command (FEC) listed total of Chinese troops in theater as 34,500 when really there was 300,000

Entered North Korea at end of October, undetected by intelligence forces Started a few small battles but nothing really alarming for the

Americans

MORE CHINESE INVOLVEMENT 25th November

Chinese struck the 8th Army Forced them to retreat to the Ch’ongch’on River

Hundreds killed due to slow moving vehicles and bottlenecks at bridges

Defeat at Ch’ongch’on River major blow to MacArthur’s plan of reunifying Korea forcefully 2nd Division lost almost 4,500 from 15th to 30th November

Task Force Faith destroyed one division and prevented another attack from the Chinese for another 4 days Destroyed in the process

General Walker decided to abandon P’yongyang and withdraw to the Imjin River

Seoul withdrawn from on January 4th

MacArthur Disagreed with UN telling him not

to bomb mainland China Made public his dissatisfaction

Fired Replaced by James A. Van Fleet

April 22nd

Chine launched attack, forced back

General Ridgeway proposed meeting to talk about cease-fire North Korea agreed and talks

began July 10, 1951 While negotiators talked, both

sides continued to fight The war had reached a

stalemate

Descent to Stalemate

“LIMITED ENGAGEMENT” Limited Engagement is not using all of

the possible weapons availableAka nuclear weapons

Korean War proved it was possible to wage war of limited engagement

A LITTLE ON CANADA Canada prime minister Louis St. Laurent

cautiously brought Canada into the war

No ground forces initally, just naval and air support

Sent 27K soldiers and sailors; 3rd largest contingent

Colombia sent 6200 soldiers

PEACE TALKS AND PANMUNJOM Peace negotiations fell apart in October 1952 Spring of 1953 Peace talks resumed

Eisenhower’s election Death of Stalin

April 1953 Exchange of sick and wounded prisoners Communists agreed to voluntary repatriation

June 1953 Agreement for 2.5 miles of demilitarized zone

Gave North Korea 850 miles^2 south of 38th Parallel and 2350 miles^2 above Parallel to South Korea

No increase of military strength during the armistice Syngman Rhee didn’t like armstice

Threatened that South Korea would keep fighting Truce signing delayed until US satisfied Communists that it would keep

South Korea in line July 27th, 1953

Armsitce signed Fighting ended that evening

CASUALTIES Nearly 5 million people died

More than half of these–about 10 percent of Korea’s prewar population–were civilians United States suffered 33,686 battle deaths

along with 2,830 non-battle deaths 8,176 missing in action

South Korea reported 373,599 civilian deaths 137,899 military deaths.

Data from official Chinese sources reported that the PVA had suffered 114,000 battle deaths 34,000 non-battle deaths 340,000 wounded 7,600 missing 21,400 captured

Chinese sources also reported that North Korea had suffered 290,000 casualties 90,000 captured and a "large" number of civilian deaths.

the Chinese and North Koreans estimated that about 390,000 soldiers from the United States, 660,000 soldiers from South Korea and 29,000 other UN soldiers were "eliminated" from the battlefield.

This rate of civilian casualties was higher than World War II’s and Vietnam’s

RESULTS OF KOREAN WAR Truce didn’t actually solve anything but the fighting

Needed to keep a constant alert South Korea

US troops remained in greatly reduced numbers North Korea

Violated armistice agreement by rearming troops with modern weapons United Nations

Gained respect by taking action, joint action by members UN could have possibly seen as US puppet because most action was

taken by US USA

Containment policy seemed to work Defense spending increased, didn’t liberate North Korea

Russia Became closer to China, gained more respect from Asian communists Arms race with US

China Emerged stronger than ever, closer relationship with Russia Expensive war, didn’t win South Korea Lost US in trade and politics

WORKS CITED "HowStuffWorks "Korean War - Stalemate"" HowStuffWorks. 24

Apr. 2014 <http://history.howstuffworks.com/korean-war/korean-war5.htm>.

"Inchon Invasion." Inchon Invasion. 24 Apr. 2014 <http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/kowar/50-unof/inchon.htm>.

"Korean War." History.com. A&E Television Networks. 24 Apr. 2014 <http://www.history.com/topics/korean-war>.

"The Korean War: The Chinese Intervention." The Korean War: The Chinese Intervention. 24 Apr. 2014

<http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/kw-chinter/chinter.htm>.

"The Korean War." The Korean War. 24 Apr. 2014 <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/korean_war.htm>.

"Wilson Center Digital Archive." Wilson Center Digital Archive. 24 Apr. 2014 <http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/117725 >.