CAUSE of WAR & Before the War

NAME: DATE: HISTORY 12

KOREAN WAR (1950 – 1953)

BELLIGERENTS North Korea (Democratic South Korea Vs. People’s Republic of Korea) (Republic of Korea) USSR USA UN Alliance Forces (of 16 countries, i.e. China Britain, Canada, Australia, Turkey)

KEY LEADERS involved: President Truman US President Eisenhower General MacArthur (Secretary General) Stalin USSR (Secretary General) Khruschev Chairman Mao Tse-tung China General Peng Dehuai DPRK General Kim Il Sung Republic of Korea President Rhee Syngman

CAUSE OF WAR & Before the War: Superficially, it was Kim Jung Il, the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) who boldly visited Moscow to seek Stalin’s permission to invade the south in March, 1949 in his desire to a unified Korea. However, both sides were to equally blame for starting the war: 1. Korean leaders and politicians were politically divided, and therefore could not maintain unity. Nationalists wanted close ties to the West and supported capitalism. Others, influenced by Marxism, insisted Korea founded on communist ideals. 2. As the Japanese army that had occupied Korea for 35 years finally surrendered on August 15th, 1945, the Soviet and American troops temporarily occupied Korea. Despite various individuals and organizations’ claims for an independent Korean government, the Soviets and Americans failed to reach an agreement on a unified Korean government. As a result, two separate Korean governments were established along the 38th Parallel as a temporary measure:  The Republic of Korea, led by Rhee Syngman, in the American zone (South)  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, led by Kim Il Sung, in the Soviet zone (North) DURING WAR: On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops, with the support of the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea by crossing the 38th Parallel. At the United Nations Security Council, the United States declared this advancement as an act of military aggression and that communist North Korea should be forced to withdraw their troops from South Korea. This decision was carried out more easily because of the Soviet Union’s absence (boycott) at the UN meeting. The United States led the United Nations in its first involvement as a “peacemaker,” in which active military measures were to be undertaken for “global collective security.” United States’ General Douglas MacArthur, who was the Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific, led this mission. On November 25, 1950, Chinese troops also became involved. President Truman later removed General MacArthur from his position and replaced him with Commander Matthew Ridgway, after their disagreement of whether the UN forces should cross the 38th Parallel again. During the course of the Korean War, the President of the US changed from Truman to Eisenhower, in January 1953, and USSR leader Stalin died on March 1953. “Operation Little Switch” and “Operation Big Switch” was the exchange of prisoners between the South Korea/UN and North Korea/Communists. On July 10, 1951, the UN forces and North Korea started peace negotiations. However, it isn’t until July 27, 1953 that they sign an armistice at Panmunjom.

OUTCOME OF WAR: The armistice was signed between the UN forces and North Korea, after the war has evolved into a stalemate. The 38th Parallel has once again been chosen as the border separating the communist North from democratic South Korea.

AFTER WAR:

North Korea South Korea

Capital City Pyongyang Seoul First Leader Kim Il-Sung Rhee Syngman Type of Government Communist, dictatorship Capitalist, democracy Political Influence  Economy, culture, education   Economy/tech., culture, education   Only high officials benefit  Since 1960s, poor Asian country   Citizens live in poverty powerful, wealthy nation  Stuck in a time warp  3rd largest econ. (Asia), 13th (world)  “Hermit Kingdom” b/c it’s a  13th largest economy in world closed society= internal  Major exporter of cars, electronic events/info hidden from foreign goods (ex. Hyundai, Samsung) world  K-pop culture popularity in world  Citizens manipulated by gov.  Korean culture more well-known propaganda; leaders=godly (ex.  Education is valued Kim Il-Sung = Great Leader; Kim  International OECD (Organization Jong-Il = Our Father) for Economic Co-operation &  Gov. ‘s biggest investment in Development) rankings,  results = military and nuclear weapons 1st (reading/math), 3rd (science) in development (ex. $8.8 billion) 2009 The chances of unification of Korea decline as each Korea engages in differing political/social routes, since the end of the Korean War, and as it would cost a great deal of $ (ex. North Korea only has one quarter of South Korea’s GDP).

CONTEXT IN COLD WAR: Assumption: Korean War was only a civil war fought between North and South Korea But: It was a conflict fought indirectly between the US and USSR and their opposing political beliefs (capitalism vs. communism). They used their reasons of spreading or eliminating communism as a justification for their involvement in Korea, a third-party country that was struggling for unification.

“Korea is a small country thousands of miles away. But what is happening there is important to all the Americans. The fact that the communist forces have invaded Korea is a warning that there may be similar acts of aggression in other parts of the world.” ─ President H. S. Truman

“The feeling that I had was that the military operation of this magnitude could not have possibly taken without the support of the Russian military. In other worlds, I was concluded right at the moment that this was a something happening in the context to the Cold War.” ─ Niles Bond