Conflict Of Interests: The Korean War

"To what extent can the Korean War be regarded as a Cold War proxy war?"

When President Truman authorized the use of two nuclear weapons in 1945 against the Japanese in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, the nature of international security was changed irreversibly. At that time, the United States had what was said to have a monopoly of atomic bombs. Soon thereafter, the Soviet Union began working on atomic weaponry. In 1949, it had already detonated it first atomic bomb and tensions began to heat up between the two countries. With the information that the Soviets had tested their first bomb, the United States began work on more powerful weapons1, and a fight for nuclear superiority had begun.

The Korean War was a defining part of the United States foreign policy in the Cold War Era and was a response to threats from the Soviet Union. The Korean War was a culmination of tensions between North and South Korea that had resulted from the influences the United States and the Soviet Union inculcated into the countries during their occupation. When the Korean War was initiated, by the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, the United States and their allies in the United Nations perceived the invasion as a bold communistic expansion effort that occurred without provocation. (Document A). Further validating this idea was the fact that the attack was endorsed by the USSR, and partially lead by Red China, both of which were communist countries

In June 1950, 90,000 soldiers from the communist Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th Parallel into South Korea. The most important reason for a military response from the US was the document NSC 68, which stated that they must meet communism wherever it arises. Due to this document, it was the US assumption that the invasion on South Korea was not a Civil War due to the events in Korea, and the permanent divide in 1948. However, there was also US domestic policies, and Truman’s fear of being accused of being ‘soft on communism,’ as well as the US based organisation, the UN, which was a new institution, which Truman had to support. Furthermore, containment in Europe and Asia and the

The rising tension over the sinking of a South Korean ship reached to a serious conflict between South Korean and North Korea. South Korean is accusing North Korean for firing the torpedo on purpose which resulted in 46 sailors deaths. According to Yonhap news, North Korean military official accused the South of intruding into North Korean waters in the Yellow Sea. North Korea sends a warning message to South Korea by firing torpedo to warn South Korea to not intrude in to their waters in Yellow Sea. North Korea doesn’t want to admit to their mistake; instead they are threatening to retaliate with military actions if South Korea won’t stop with accusations.

Korea was temporarily divided into a Soviet occupied North Korea and an American occupied South Korea. These two countries supported two different Korean governments and when the secretary of state Dean Acheson declared that Korea was not inside “the United States’ sphere of interest” (Stranges, 195), North Korea attacked South Korea believing that the United States would not defend the democratic government of the south. The United Nations came to the backing of the south, which prompted China to send troops because they did not want the United States and South Korea to dominate the Korean peninsula. The war stalled at the 38th parallel in early 1951 and a 151 mile wide demilitarized zone currently divides the two sides.

1949 had been a bad year for the United States. In August 1949 the Soviet Union had successfully detonated its first atomic bomb, effectively destroying the State's monopoly on the atomic bomb (“Politics in the Korean War”). This was years earlier than American scientists had predicted, and the American public was thrown into fear at facing the possibility of atomic annihilation for the first time. Even still the public had no interest in the higher taxes that would come with the militarization of American Society. That is, until North Korea launched its first attack on South Korea. This was thought of by the West as communist aggression with no provocation from South Korea. President Truman earned a substantial increase in public support from his immediate sending of American forces to battle in Korea, and with multiple victories soon following, his approval ratings went up 40%. As said by Secretary of State Dean Acheson, “Korea, came along and saved us” (“Politics in the Korean

According to Document C, on June 25, 1950, North Korea suddenly invaded South Korea. North Korea was supported by the Soviet Union, while South Korea was being supported by the U.S. president, Harry Truman, and the United Nations promised to defend South Korea. After World War 2, on September 14, 1950, the U.S. and the U.N. were officially sent to protect South Korea, but the U.S. and the United Nation’s forces were almost pushed off the Korean peninsula. The leader of the Americans, was General Douglass MacArthur. On November 25, 1950, General MacArthur organized a dangerous, yet victorious retaliation at the port of Inchon. The Americans pushed the North Korean forces all the way back to the border of North Korea and communist China, but this battle got difficult again because China got involved and pushed the Americans back to South Korea. Over two million people died in this war as well as more than fifty thousand American soldiers. This act of containment in a way made the U.S. look kind of weak, because there were a lot of deaths and suffering before it ended therefore making their system look

The Korean War changed the face of American Cold War diplomacy forever. In the midst of all the political conflict and speculation worldwide, the nation had to choose between two proposed solutions, each one hoping to ensure that communism didn?t sweep across the globe and destroy American ideals of capitalism and democracy. General Douglas MacArthur takes the pro-active stance and says that, assuming it has the capability, the U.S. should attack communism everywhere. President Harry Truman, on the other hand, believed that containing the Soviet communists from Western Europe was the best and most important course of action, and that eliminating communism in Asia was not a priority.

The Korean War was part of the U.S. system of containment. The Korean War began in 1950 and ended around 1953, it was a case of the US Cold war approach of control. The policy of containment was a foreign policy plan of preventing other countries from becoming Communist-controlled. In other words, it was a policy for containing the spread of Communism. America had one noteworthy objective all through the Cold War which was to stop the spread of socialism. A noteworthy outside strategy that the US advanced all through the twentieth century named it Containment. The Containment Policy expressed that the US would bolster any country that is mistreated by socialism and would not be able to shield themselves from it. This turned into America's real motivation to intercede in the Korean War.

This was known as the Truman Doctrine. This meant that if a Capitalist country (South Korea) was being attacked, it was America's duty to give military and economic aid. In addition, the United States would fear the “domino effect” this was where communism/USSR would take over one country after another. Also Mao had won the Chinese Civil War by 1949 and China had become communism. This led the people to believe that America was weak and could stop communism. This would of lead to America having to prove themselves by not only pushing back communism, but getting close to

I believe that the United States’ involvement in the Korean war was worth it in the end. If we had not stepped in, South Korea would have been completely taken over by North Korea. The people of North Korea today, deal with a very restricting lifestyle. None of North Korea’s citizens are allowed access to the internet and all radio and television stations, newspapers and magazines are government monitored. There are also North Korean concentration camps with around 200,000 to 250,000 prisoners in entirety, with the annual casualty rate of 25%, and the enforcement of loyalty and obedience through its Ministry of People's Security (Head). With how the war was headed, without our assistance, Korea possibly, as a whole would be living under these

Russia and the United States began their relationship as allies when Russia disregarded the non aggression pact they signed with Germany in 1939, effectively sealing Germany’s fate in World War II.

The Korean War was a trying time for America. The nation was getting involved in a war that had little or no possibility of a fortunate outcome. The Korean people were divided among how the country should be run. A uniform system of government looked like it may never come to be. In order to protect one of its vital interests as well as to prove to the rest of the world that America didn’t stand for communism, the United States began taking up arms. The war would prove a most difficult task to achieve successfully. In fact, it was almost impossible to continue fighting what seemed to be far from a worthy sacrifice of American lives.

While the occupant powers were struggling to set ground for securing their interests, the Korean nationalism was at the most heated phase. Suffered through the Japanese colonial rule since 1910, the leaders of the two governments were determined to reunify Korea under their political regimes, and from their point view the only way to reach their aims was war. However, the United States and the Soviet Union were cautious not to take a role in initiating the war since neither of them was eager to prompt another to intervene. Being aware of their dependence on the superpowers, both leaders first had to gain the support of these countries to reach their goals. Until the beginning of the war, Kim Il-Sung particularly struggled hard to convince his mentor Stalin to provide him support in the war against the south.