the Korean War essay PDF

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the Korean War...

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Abstract In Korea, there were division between communist and non-communist government that worsened into military confrontation. Before World War II, Korea has been a Japanese colony. the U.S. proposes dividing Japanese occupied Korea on the 38th parallel. The Soviet helped communists take power in North Korea, and the U.S. supported the democratic government in South Korea. In June 1950, North Korea communist forces attack South Korea. The United Nations put together a team of soldier led by U.S. general Douglas MacArthur (Who had helped take Japan in World War II and has overseen in occupation) to help South Korea. When MacArthur tied to push the invaders out of South Korea, China sent troops to help their allies in North Korea. Eventually the two sides agreed to disagree. They signed an Armistice in July 1953 agreeing to stop fighting and keep the country divided. Keywords 1. Korean War 2. 38th parallel 3. North Korea 4. South Korea 5. Demilitarized zone

Özet İkinci Dünya Savaşı’nda Kore’yi işgal eden Japonya, ABD tarafından bu ülkeden çıkarıldı. 38. enlem sınır kabul edilerek SSCB, Kuzey Kore’ye yerleşti, iki Kore’yi birleştirme girişimi BM’de yapılan görüşmelere rağmen sonuçsuz kaldı. ABD’nin Kore ve Japonya’ya yerleşmesi Sovyetleri rahatsız etti. SSCB, Çin’de komünist düzen kurulunca ABD’yi Uzak Doğu’dan uzaklaştırma politikalarına hız verdi. Kuzey Kore 25 Haziran 1950’de Güney Kore’ye saldırdı. ABD öncülüğündeki Birleşmiş Milletler Gücü, Güney Kore’yi korudu. 1951 yılının başlarında savaş 38. enlem civarında tıkanmıştı. İki taraf da üstünlük gösterip kesin sonuca gidebilecek bir güç gösteremiyordu. Temmuz 1951’de Kuzey Kore’nin talebi üzerine taraflar arasında ateşkes görüşmeleri başladı. Ateşkes Antlaşması ancak 27 Temmuz 1953’de imzalandı. Savaş 1953’te son buldu, iki tarafta birbirlerine karşı üstünlük kuramadı. 38. paralel Kuzey-Güney arasındaki sınır olarak belirlendi. Ateşkes antlaşması ile Kore savaşı sona ermiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler 1. Kore Savaşı 2. 38.Enlem 3. Kuzey Kore 4. Güney Kore 5. Askerden Arındırılmış Bölge (DMZ)

Child refugees during the Korean War. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons. Introduction Whether it's North Korea or South Korea actually they are the same lineage. All language, culture, food, dressing are the same. Different only in the form of governing and political concepts. The question is, what happened to Korea, a country that seems as one. How did they get into war with each other, how come they were divided into North and South Korea, what was the quarrel about?

Background Before the whole Korean War thing, let's talk about Korea itself first. At the beginning of time, Korea wasn't a united country. It consisted of many tribes scattered around the Korean peninsula. Until the era of Han dynasty in China (206 BC–220 AD), they have expanded their power to the peninsula, and took over it for over 400 years. Until one day, Han dynasty came to an end, and the power faded from the peninsula.

Picture from http://koretarihim.blogspot.com/

From the 4th century CE onwards. All that's left were four big tribes ruling over the rest, which are Goguryeo, Silla, Backje and Kaya (Some didn't count Kaya as one of them, and said there were only three) The four tribes counterbalanced one another, until one day, Silla became the strongest tribe, and used their force to unite the country into one. But not long after that, Silla was abolished by a noble. He claimed that Silla not good at ruling. Then, the noble established a dynasty, called Goryeo, which is the origin of the name Korea. Goryreo dynasty ruled over Korea for 200 years, and then was also abolished by another noble. He created a new dynasty called Joseon. Korea went on like that for quite some time, until the 19th century. The world's number one trend was imperialism. It was popular in the West and also in Asia. Japan called themselves an empire, and started invading other countries. In 1910, Korea being the closest one to Japan, couldn't escape their fate. Japan took over it, turning Korea into a colony. From the Japanese side, the occupation of Korea in the 20th century CE sought historical justification from an interpretation of the Nihon shogi. Here in this text, dating to the 8th century CE, it is stated that between 369 and 562 CE parts of southern Korea were Japanese colonies. The Japanese occupation was not a pleasant occupation for the Korean people. They subjugated the Korean people in multiple ways. Forced labor, forced prostitution. They tried to eradicate the Korean language and the Korean culture. So, this was not in any way a pleasant occupation. Japan stay in power in the Korean peninsula all the way until the end of World War II. It was a war between the Axis [Germany, Italy, Japan] and the Allies [UK, France, USSR, China, USA] Japan, being in the Axis, had to take Korean people into war with them. At that time, Japan seemed to have a lot of enemies. As we know well, the war ended with USA dropping the atomic bombs onto Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Obviously, Japan had to surrender with no conditions.

When Japan lost the war, what happened to Korea? Korea was first happy, finally they're going to be independent, but that wasn't what happened. When the war ended, many countries gained great dominance of the world, such as USSR and USA. These two countries saw that Korea wasn't occupied by Japan anymore, and acted fast. USSR sent an army to invade the peninsula, taking over the upper half of Korea. When USA saw that, they weren't okay with it. USSR promoted communism while USA believed strongly in democracy. So, USA invaded and took over the lower half of Korean peninsula. That's how Korea was separated into two. With North Korea being dominated by communism and South Korea by democracy, when the independence came, there must be some disagreements. It also wasn't a 100% independence. The United States and the Soviet Union still had some influence over Korea. There was an attempt to create a system that will unify both countries, helping them to continue their lives. Just like the other countries that have been freed from imperialism. Because now Korea didn't have its own dynasty anymore, they had to form a government. The problem was, which kind of government they'd form? A communist kind the way USSR liked or a democratic kind to conform with USA?' There had been attempts to come to an agreement, but in the end, they failed to do so. Even though this is kind of the beginning of the Cold War, at this point in World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union are allies. So, the two just said, if we couldn't agree, let's just live as separate countries. That's how the border on the 38th parallel came to be. This border is drawn by humans' hands. It is perfectly straight, unlike other borders formed by natural causes. When we look at other countries' borders, there are often wavy because of mountains and rivers. After the division, the quarrel should have ended, but it didn't. The Soviets essentially install Kim Il Sung (father of current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un) to lead North Korea. He sets up a communist dictatorship in the North. And in the South, around 1948, there's an attempt at elections. But those elections are seriously rigged. And Syngman Rhee comes to power, supported by the United States. The other thing that happens is that the Soviets help build up the North Korean military. The United States is not as encouraging of a strong South Korean military. So, it starts having an imbalance between the military of the North and the South. either one of these parties, Kim Il Sung wants to unite Korea under his rule, under his communist rule. Syngman Rhee wants to unite Korea

under his authoritarian rule. So, they're both setting up the troops along the border. Korea is right next to China. What was going on there? China, in 1949, the Communists come to power. There was a civil war leading up to that between the Communists led by Mao Zedong, and the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek. Mao Zedong comes to power. He wants to support the communists in North Korea, especially because some of those communists in North Korea actually helped fight on the communist side during the Chinese Civil War. So, this is an important factor. Mao Zedong is interested in spreading Communism. He doesn't like the Americans in South Korea, and he feels some type of allegiance to the communists in North Korea.

Kim İl Sung - Wikipedia

Syngman Rhee - Wikipedia

Mao Zedong - Wikipedia

June 25,1950 a major event. North Korea decided to invade South Korea, in order to unite the country. The army in the North is disproportionately stronger than the South. They view this as their chance at unifying the peninsula. North Korea invaded quickly and brutally, supported by USSR, providing soldiers and weapons. Not only USSR, China, also a big supporter of communism, also sent many soldiers to North Korea, giving them more chance to invade South Korea. Seoul was then taken. The government had to run for their lives, even escaping to Busan. At this time, the world was in the Cold War. It was a war between communism and democracy. The great powers didn't get into fight with each other directly. [proxy wars] USSR and USA wanted every country in the world to use their own system, and they do so by sending representatives into each country, such as soldiers and weapons. Korea was one of the battlegrounds then. At first, USA didn't seem to be involved much in the situation, letting them fight however they wanted. But then, there was an issue that allowed USA to get involved in the matter, that is, USSR happened to boycott the United Nations Security Council.

USSR boycott the United Nations Security Council. Why? There was also a quarrel between communism and democracy in China itself. There was a democratic government, called Kuomintang, which lost, and was exiled to Taiwan. They established a republic of China in Taiwan, and continued until today. That's why Taiwan's official name is 'Republic of China,' the democratic China. And the China we know is called 'People's Republic of China,' the communist. Now, the UN back then, with USA as one of the great powers, happened to verify Kuomintang's China as China's representative in the UN. As we all know that USSR supported communism, they were displeased for what the UN did, verifying an outcast government. That's why USSR boycotted the UN. It affected Korea, by not having USSR in the UN, USA became the only

influence of the UN. When there's a vote to decide whether the UN should get involved with Korean War, then no one is going to argue with USA. The UN immediately starts supplying naval and air support for the South Koreans. But the disparity is so big that the North Koreans are able to just keep marching forward. Within a few days, by July 1,1950, the United States decides to commit ground forces, because USA had military substantial ground forces in Japan that they could send, and the USA enter the battle in a major way, very early on. But that doesn't stop the North Koreans for some time. So the North Koreans get all the way, they're able to occupy all of the Korean peninsula, except for the northeastern corner. They get around the city of Pusan. And this is called the Pusan Perimeter. At the Pusan Perimeter have a little bit of the United States and Korean forces combined are able to halt the North Koreans. The United States and especially the UN is able to build up significant troops within the Pusan Perimeter. At this point, the United States and the UN forces, go under the control of Douglas MacArthur, General Douglas MacArthur, he was able to rule Japan with an iron fist. And the president, Truman, has a little trouble controlling MacArthur, especially during the Korean War. And MacArthur oversteps his bounds during the course of this war. North Korea's on the verge of victory. But the US is able to build forces. Whenever it's North or South Korean turn, they're able to spread their forces. If one side get spread thin, and then the other side's able to come back. On September 15, 1950, MacArthur, instead of trying to fight way through the Korean forces. MacArthur outflank them use navy to do an amphibious landing of an army at Incheon, which is near Seoul. In any battle, there is a supply chain. North Korean have to get food and supplies and the further in they go into enemy territory, the more spread out they troops get. The strategy here is instead of fighting through, MacArthur lead a significant force outflank and immediately disrupt the supply lines of the North Koreans. And it was successful. He's able to retake Seoul, until North Korea retreated back far from the border. They almost got Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

Inchon invasion map showing approach route of U.S. troops Americans and the South Koreans are able to roll up and they're feeling good about themselves. The whole time, Truman's trying to keep MacArthur under check. MacArthur is excited. He's ultraconfident. He thinks that the troops are going to be home by Christmas. He doesn't think China is serious about supporting the North Koreans and even more, he wants to eliminate communism in China as well. He viewed it as he's on this mission to eliminate communism from all of Asia. So, Truman is saying limited war. Such as avoid to cross the Yalu River and don't start attacking Chinese and enrage them, otherwise they will enter the war. MacArthur doesn't take that too seriously. He plans to start bombing bombs across the Yalu River so that the Chinese won't be able to send troops and supplies to aid the North Koreans. He’s marching up, all confident, going up against the Yalu River. And this whole time, the Chinese, under Mao Zedong, are sending a substantial army.

Harry S. Truman - Wikipedia

Douglas MacArthur - Biography

They’re able to do it secretly, march at night. China have a policy where if any surveillance planes go overhead, all of the Chinese soldiers have to freeze and if they don't freeze, someone else is allowed to shoot them. Until the end of October, the Americans think that they're on the verge of winning the Korean War. Chinese cross the Yalu River. Americans didn't notice that the Chinese had major forces ready to cross. They ns ious. So, they keep re-engaging them, but it becomes clear that the Chinese are serious.

The Chinese are able to push back the Americans and the South Koreans all the way back so that they are able to recapture Seoul. But once again, the Chinese are spread thin. The Americans and the South Koreans, and all the other UN forces are able to regroup. Seoul has changed hands four times. In March, they're able to retake Seoul again. At this point, MacArthur is ultra-confident. He's even trying to get permissions to use nuclear weapons against the Chinese. To some degree, he doesn't even think he needs the permission of Truman to stop. Even though China surprised him the first go around. Truman finally dismisses MacArthur in April of 1951. In 1952, an important event occurred. Joseph Stalin, the leader of USSR, died. The new government of USSR didn't want to support this war anymore. So, the weapons and soldiers were lessen. Both sides of the war, exhausted from always fighting, decided to sign a treaty of peace in the end. They established a demilitarized zone (DMZ) at the border, so there would be some space, around 4km wide. No one is allowed to cross, barrier that divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half. It was created by agreement between North Korea, China and the United Nations Command in 1953. It is established by the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement.

The Korean DMZ denoted by the red highlighted area. The blue line indicates the international border.

April 27th, 2018, since the end of Korean War, It's the first time in a historic moment, Kim Jong-un and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, come face to face at the demilitarized zone, shook hands and crossed the border between the two country.

Kim holding Moon’s hand as both step across to the North Korea side of the border (REUTERS)

Casualties of the Korean War Nearly 5 million people died. More than half of these–about 10 percent of Korea’s prewar population–were civilians. (This rate of civilian casualties was higher than World War II’s and Vietnam’s.) Almost 40,000 Americans died in action in Korea, and more than 100,000 were wounded. It is estimated that around 2.5 million people were killed or wounded during the war. There was a huge debate among the scholars on the causes of war. Some of the scholars emphasized the causes of war in terms of imbalance of the power, ethical and cultural disputes whereas other authors were more concerned with ideological aspect. There are no common consensuses to what the causes of war in international politics were. However, the war can be analyzed in three different levels such as individual, state and international system. The imbalance of Power Imbalance of power is one of the causes of war in the international politics where each state acts to preserve a balance of power in the world system. It was highly common in most of the states who involved in the war because of each state has increased their power for survival and increased the power to control the whole system. In the case of Korea, both (Kim Il sung and Syngman Rhee) leaders were power oriented. North had an intention to gain absolute power and wanted to promote their Communist belief. The trustfulness (because of power) of one and another state became very hard which was created a sense of mistrust and lead to the war.

If South Korea unifies with North Korea, what will happen? Korea’s economic will growth so fast. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) will no longer exist. The cease fire agreement will be void, as the two countries do not have a peace deal and are officially in war. They will be in war with either China or the US or both of them. A lot of family reunions will occur as the borders will no longer exist. The US will probably revoke the 90 days visa waiver, which is currently available to South Koreans citizens. Pyongyang will keep earning money as a tourist spot as its tourist-friendly and there is no longer any limitation on the tourists’ side. people will be curious about this unexplored city, depending on whether it is peacefully unified and remnants of previous attractions, houses, lifestyle still exists in the country. Resources 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Workman Publishing, “Everything you need to ace: World History”, 466 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreawar https://www.angryskipper.org/สสสสสสสสสสสสสสสสสสสสสสส/ http://pirun.ku.ac.th/~b5510801280/home3.html https://www.ancient.eu/article/982/ancient-korean--japanese-relations/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone...