The Korean Conflict

First Proxy War of the Cold War

Questions to Consider

• What were the causes of the Korean War

(Conflict)?

• Why, and with what consequences, did the

United States get involved with Korea?

• What motivated Truman’s Policy toward Korea?

• Did Truman’s decision broaden a Civil War into

a Proxy Battle in the Cold War?

• What changes in policy occurred under the

Eisenhower administration?

Prelude to Conflict

• Korea had been an independent country since

the 6th Century

• 1895- Japan defeats China in the First Sino-

Japanese War and occupied Korea

• 1905- Japan defeats the Russian Navy in the

Russo-Japanese War declaring Korea as a

Protectorate

• 1910- Korea forced to sign Treaty of Annexation

making Korea part of Japanese Empire

Prelude to Conflict • Yalta Conference1945- agreed that Soviet and

American troops would occupy Korea after the Japanese are defeated.

• August 10, 1945- USSR enters Korea and waits at the 38th Parallel

• September 9, 1945- US accepts Japanese surrender South of 38th Parallel

• US and USSR to work towards “trusteeship” before Koreans “ready” for self-rule – The North leans toward Communism

– The South leans toward Conservative Nationalism

Two Nations in One Country

• Representative Democratic Council and Civil unrest in the South in opposition to trusteeship leads the US to call for elections in Korea

• Sygmann Rhee emerges as the strongman, anti-communist leader of the South Republic of Korea (ROK)

• Kim-Il Sung becomes the

Communist Dictator of the North

Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea (DPRK)

• Rhee and Kim want a single

country under their rule; both

regard the other as illegitimate

Causes of the Korean War

• 1948-1950 minor border

clashes between ROK and

DPRK

• June 25, 1950- Soviet

supplied North Korean

Army struck with 200,000

troops in the pre-dawn

hours crossing the 38th

Parallel.

• The South Korean Army is

quickly overwhelmed and

the capitol Seoul falls on

June 28th

The United Nations Responds

• UN Security Council

(UNSC)Resolution 82

condemns the attack.

USSR boycott

• June 27th - Truman orders

US air and naval forces to

assist South Korea

• June 27th- UN Security

Council Resolution 83

recommending member

states defend ROK

• July 7th- UNSC 84 places

12 UN states under US

command in Korea

Truman’s Decision • June 27th - Truman orders US air and naval forces to

assist South Korea, without consulting Congress

• Communism was acting in Korea, just as Hitler,

Mussolini and the Japanese had…years earlier. If the

Communists were permitted to force their way into the

Republic of Korea without opposition from the free world,

no small nation would have the courage to resist threat

and aggression by stronger communist neighbors.

- Harry S Truman

Truman’s Decision

• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Omar Bradley, testified to Congress and spoke out against "appeasement" and declared that Korea was as good a place as any "for drawing the line" against Communist expansion.

• Truman and Secretary of State Acheson ask Congress to appropriate funds for additional military expenses essential to the goals of UNSC-86 and in August 1950, $12 billion for military expenses in Asia was authorized.

• US refused Taiwan’s (ROC) request to participate in military action, Truman’s goal to prevent drawing “Red” China into conflict.

Course of the Conflict • Initial support by US was through air cover for naval

landing of supplies to ROK

• Task Force Smith was ordered into the first ground battle

with North Korean forces in the Battle of Osan. UN-ROK

and the US 8th Army forces are defeated and pushed

into Pusan

• North Koreans held at the Nakdong River

Course of the Conflict • UN Commander General

Douglas MacArthur

counterattacks with an

landing in Incheon on

September 15th, 1950.

• UN-ROK forces successfully

take Incheon and cut off a

North Korean retreat to the

North

• ROK and US 8th Army

quickly advanced north of

the 38th Parallel and capture

the North Korean capital of

Pyongyang on October 19th

Course of Conflict: China • Truman warned MacArthur not to threaten the Chinese

border at the Yalu River

• MacArthur assured the President …if the Chinese tried to get down to Pyongyang, there would be the greatest slaughter.

• Mao Zedong ordered the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army to assemble at the Yalu the day the US crossed the 38th Parallel

• Mao requested Soviet support in an attack on US forces on the grounds of stopping the spread of US influence in Asia and halting the Communist Revolution. USSR sent material and MIG jet fighters (with pilots)

• November 1st 1950 the Chinese attack US, ROK pushing them below the 38th Parallel, capturing Seoul in 1951

Course of Conflict: Stalemate • July 1951-1953 no significant changes in territory.

– Trench warfare near the 38th Parallel

– US engages in bombing campaign of North Korea

• Peace negotiations in Panmunjom continue for two

years, stalled over the issue of repatriating POWs

– DPRK and China want their soldiers repatriated (even if they

want to remain in South) Issue is eventually dropped to win a

cease fire

• October 1951, Operation Hudson Harbor. Practice

bombing runs with “dummy atomic bombs.” Decide

against nukes because “timely identification of large

masses of enemy troops was extremely rare.”

Course of Conflict: Armistice • President-elect Eisenhower visits on November 29, 1952

to fulfill a campaign promise by going to Korea to find out

what could be done to end the conflict

• July 27, 1953 - cease-fire:

– Front line was back around the proximity of the 38th

Parallel

– Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was established around 38th

Parallel, presently defended by North Korean troops on

one side and by South Korean, American and UN troops

on the other.

– North Korea and the United States signed the Armistice

Agreement, with Syngman Rhee refusing to sign.

– Technically the war is not over, only a prolonged cease-fire

Consequences

• Casualties

– South Korea…………58,127

– United States…….....36,515

– UN (-US).....................3,500

– North Korea………..215,000

– China……………….114,000

• Over 600,000 civilian dead

ROK and DPRK

Consequences • First Proxy War in the Cold War, the US and USSR

could confront each other indirectly through limited, non-

nuclear warfare.

• First conflict with UN participation

• Truman Doctrine dedication to containment

– American defense budget increased to $50 billion, the

Army and Air Groups doubled in size and they were

deployed outside American territory (ex.-West Germany)

– Executive Order 9981- racially integrated US Army