Korean War

The Korean War, known in China as the "War to Resist American Aggressiom and Aid Korea", and in the DPRK as the "Korean Liberation War" was a war fought in Korea between armies from North Korea and from South Korea. The war began on 4:30 AM on June 25, 1950 and fighting stopped July 27, 1953. More than two million Koreans died, most of them in the north.
Both sides blame each other for starting the war. The north, led by communist Kim Il-Sung, was helped mostly by the People's Republic of China, and the USSR. The south, led by nationalist Syngman Rhee, was helped by many countries in the United Nations, and especially by the United States. The war ended with a truce. South Korea and North Korea are still officially at war, and the United States still keeps troops in South Korea, in case North Korea ever invades again. North and South Korea are divided by the 38th parallel.

Origin and causes

In 1910, Japan put Korea under Japanese rule and was still ruling Korea when World War Two ended. When Japan surrendered, the United States and the USSR agreed to split Korea into two temporary occupation zones with USSR occupying the North and USA occupying the South. This was, at first, to be for a short time.

At the Moscow Conference of the Council of Foreign Ministers in December 1945, the United States and USSR agreed on Korea having a provisional government (a temporary government set up quickly before a real government is ready). This became difficult because of the growing Cold War (see next cause).

The Cold War was an important cause in the Korean War. Relations between the two occupying powers were bad and when China became Socialist in October 1949, the President of the USA, Harry Truman, and the American capitalist class were very worried that other countries around China may also become Communist, such as Japan. The American Army was about one twelfth the size of five years earlier and Joseph Stalin had recently lost a Cold War dispute over the Berlin Blockade and subsequent airlift.

Events

casualties near Pusan

• 25^th June 1950
• North Korea invades South Korea and takes most of South Korea. The South Korean Army retreats to Busan.

July 1950

UN Forces landing at Inchon

• United Nations army intervenes and lands at Inchon, a small port just about half-way down South Korea, from there on they fight the North Korean army and push them past the border separating North and South Korea and close to the Chinese border, just south of the Yalu River.
• China starts to feel threatened with the war happening so close to them and tells the UN Army and the South Korean army to return to the border and that they have no business to fight so far into North Korea.

October 1950

• The warning given by the Chinese is ignored by the UN (led by an American general, Douglas MacArthur) and so the Chinese army, called the People's Liberation Army, invades North Korea and helps the North Koreans fight the UN until the UN forces are pushed past the border separating North and South Korea.

December 1950

• Because MiG-15s are beating America's P-80 Shooting Stars, the F-86 Sabre goes to Korea.

February 1951

• Fighting continues until order is restored and neither army is in the other country. Peace talks begin.

11 April 1951

• Douglas MacArthur relieved of his commands for making public statements that contradicted the administration's policies

March 1951 - 27^th July 1953

• Peace talks continue. On the 27^th July 1953 no peace has been declared but an armistice has been signed by both countries and the UN withdraws. As of 2019, the two countries are still technically at war.

Results

Country	Good	Bad
USA	Stopped communist expansion. Greece and Turkey joined NATO. Upheld Truman Doctrine.	Far too aggressive, this made other countries nervous
UN	First major success.	Could only win through violence, not peace talks
Both Koreas	North Korea got a treaty with China.	Many people died; much property was wrecked. No re-unification. South Korea remained capitalist.
China	Foreign war united the country and improved rulers' prestige	USSR relations became worse.
USSR	North Korea stayed Socialist. Tested their Air Force against the United States	Chinese relations became worse. Lost a great deal of money.

Statistics

Total Strength

United Nations

• South Korea - 590,969 soldiers
• United States of America - 480,002
• Britain - 62,998
• Canada - 26,791
• Australia - 16,999
• Turkey - 5,000
• Philippines - 7,002
• Netherlands - 3,971
• France - 3,425
• New Zealand - 1,384
• Thailand - 1,239
• Ethiopia - 1,283
• Greece - 1,249
• Colombia - 1,062
• Belgium - 891
• South Africa - 873
• Luxembourg - 44
  • Total - about 1,070,000 soldiers

Communist

• North Korea - 260,108
• China - 780,092
• Soviet Union - 25,969
  • Total - about 1,065,000 soldiers

Losses

South Korea

• South Korea - 50,000 deaths - 175,802 wounded
• United States - 36,503 deaths - 92,073 wounded
• Turkey - 721 deaths - 2,109 wounded
• Canada - 507 deaths - 1,001 wounded
• Australia - 380 deaths - 1,192 wounded
• New Zealand - 41 deaths
• France - about 69 deaths
• Luxembourg - 2 deaths - 2 wounded

North Korea

• North Korea - 319,000 deaths
• China - about 300,000 Deaths
• Soviet Union - about 300 Deaths

Extra information

The popular television show M*A*S*H was about American doctors serving in the Korean War. The show lasted longer than the war did.

Related pages

• Cold War

Other websites

• A Korean War timeline of events
• Educational site containing biographies, interviews, factsheets etc
• Search list of names of the dead
• Photos of the Korean War - Equipment, combat etc