Was The Korean War Justified?

The Korean War was an influential event that started in 1950 and caused a lot of controversy among Americans and Koreans. The war was caused by the US trying to preserve the Democratic side of Korea, the south side. The Koreans were not happy, however, and the Viet Kong and North Korean soldiers fought tooth and nail to get the Americans out of the country. There was eventually an end to the war of course but not without lots of casualties on both sides and a hostile environment around the border of the two countries.

The Korean War was fought between North Korea (aid of China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (aid of the United States). The Korean War started June 25, 1950 when North Korean forces invaded South Korea. The Korean War ended on July 27, 1953 with the Korean War armistice.

The Korean War was Kim’s idea of reunification through the use of military force. * Soviet Union did not even want to be involved in a war. It was Kim’s idea to get the go ahead with the war and launch the attack against the South. * Most of the soldiers involved were Korean and Chinese, and fought for their own cause of reunification or liberation. 260,000 North Korean, 926,000 Chinese and 590,911 South Korean soldiers involved. * Soviet and American soldiers were not as heavily involved in the fighting, and mostly did so for their political security rather as a desire to fight each other. 480,000 Americans and 26,000 Soviet soldiers involved.

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

mmunism. After North Korea’s invasion of South Korea, it became evident that South Korea’s survival required outside intervention. The United States was to take action alone, but reconsidered due to the high risk of a Soviet and Chinese response and then referred the issue to the United Nations where member nations were asked to provide assistance to South Korea. Therefore, the Korean war was an international war in which the United States used the United Nations to Further its anti-communist policies due to the fact that communism was democracy’s greatest enemy.

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

B-Summary of Evidence It was just five years before, that World War II had ended and no one was expecting another war to happen. Korea was on its own with no money and government or army. The United States and Soviet Union were allies at that time and they agreed to occupy different parts of Korea. The Soviet Troops occupied the area north of the 38th parallel and the United States occupied the south of the 38th parallel.

The Korean and Vietnam war are very similar in that both were the US's attempt to fight communism by waging war in a distant third world country. Both wars were unpopular in the US and both led to a lack of victory.

A difference between the wars were that the United Nations took a vital part in the Korean War. This made the Korean War in which an international organization played a major role. After the North Korean Invasion, the United Nations adjured member countries to come to the assistance of South Korea. Sixteen countries responded by sending troops, while forty-one countries sent food, equipment, and other supplies (Korean War). With the assistance of the U.N., South Korea was provided with core military strategic direction, fighting units, weapons, tanks, and medical assistance for the anti-communist war effort

The Vietnam War was the longest war in the history of the United States it lasted from 1959-1975. Billions of dollars was spent trying to win and unwinnable war. Countless of lives were lost and America failed to achieve its objective. The origins of the war stem from the Indochina wars that occurred in the late 40s and early 50s. After many years of colonial war, the Viet Minh a communist group led by Ho Chi Minh sought independence for Vietnam. The French were not reluctant to let go of their crowning jewel without a fight. The French were aided militarily by the Unites States who sought the membership of France to the NATO and were willingly to provide as much aid to ensure that they won the war and Vietnam did not fall to communism. This led to an eight year war which culminated with the defeat of the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. A cease fire was issued and peace agreements known as the Geneva Accords where drawn during the 1954 Geneva Conference. The agreement issued a temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel which created a Communist North Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh and a democratic South Vietnam led by prime minister Ngo Dinh Diem. Vietnam was supposed to unify after the nationwide election of 1956 which Diem refuse to acknowledge.

America's Involvement in the Korean War The USA emerged from WWII as the dominant Western, democratic superpower. She quickly established for herself a role as world policeman, and defender of the "free world". When, on June 25th 1950, Communist North Korean forces invaded the South of the country, the USAwas quick to step in, and with UN support and approval, sent in military forces to restore the balance. However, it is questionable whether moral principles were the only reason for America's involvement in the Korean War, or whether perhaps the Truman administration had other validation for such a huge scale military campaign.

Some positive effects of sending United nation troops to fight in the Korean War include preventing a World War 3. South Koreans had little weapons and military because the Korean War took place soon after World War 2. Homes were destroyed and children were separated from their parents and left on the streets (Korean, 2011). Temperatures got as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. The South Koreans didn’t have the correct clothing to withstand the cold temperatures. North Korean troops were better trained and better equipped. North Korean troops almost pushed the UN troops out of South Korea in the first six weeks of fighting (Brownstone and Franck p.958). But without the UN forces, North Korea would have advanced and taken over South Korea. The United States provided the majority of the UN military forces which drove the North Koreans out of South Korea and still stand guard along the border today (Snippets, 2011). Without the help of the United States, a World War 3 would have occurred, and South Korea would have become a communist country.

The Causes of the Korean War On 25th June 1950, ninety thousand North Korean soldiers invaded South Koreas border defences, The Korean war had begun, this small scale civil war would escalate into an international conflict. Historically Korea had once been a united country, under Japanese rule for between 1905 and 1945 however, the Japanese were unruly and did not treat the Koreans well. At the end of the Second World War it was decided that the country would be divided along the 38th parallel and occupied by soviet troops in the North and American troops in the South. Syngman Rhee, who had spent some years exiled in America, became the president of South Korea in 1948, while Kim Il Sung, having

“ Here is a task truly of, by and for the world, one that should rally nations. The nature of this task however, must be clearly understood; only then can suitable means for accomplishing it be formulated, only then can the role that the United Nations could and should play be appreciated” ( Wilcox/Haviland, 29). There are many international organizations that have been talked about throughout this semester. One of the most important ones is The United Nations. The United Nations was established October 24, 1945, and has since then been impacting the country. The United Nations main purpose according to the lecture notes is “ to provide a global additional structure through which states can sometimes settle conflicts with less reliance on the use of force , for whole purpose of the United Nations is to provide the globe a forum by which countries may settle disputes through this forum peacefully as opposed to relying on a force which has been the case historically” ( Kopalyan, Module 8). Thus meaning The United Nations was set up to handle problems peacefully rather than going to war to try and solve problems. “Powerful economic as well as political forces are at work to bring about a growing integration of the world community, and the United Nations and its related agencies are uniquely fitted to assist in the task” (Wilcox/Haviland,45). This was some of the reason that the United Nations was created.