South Korea Communism

Before 1945 Korea was controlled by Japan. After the second World War, USA and Soviet Union split Korea in t two. This cause the divide in the country and another divide in the ideals. USA was preaching capitalism and democracy. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, was looking to spread communism. North Korea invaded South Korea to try to form a stable, united Korea as it was before the end of the Second World War. USA acted decisively to defend the South to stop the threat of communism and to continue their policy of containment. They did not want communism to spread.

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

Americas trooper along with South Korea's troopers pushed North Korea back. According to Cnn (Cnn.com) America sent 90% of the troops that were sent to help South Korea , the U.S. spent almost $67 billion during the Korean war,Along with 103,300 (roughly) soldiers were injured from the U.S. alone..and the soviet Union wasn't to happy with this (Josef Stalin their dictator).The U.S.S.R. sent in more troops to back up North Korea.Now the U.S.S.R and North Korea were against America and South Korea millions of people were killed in this battle/war on the both sides.

While World War II ended all worries and hardships Americans faced, events gradually initiated signs of the Cold War which created an increased state of tension that swept all of America and Korea. During the 1940s, the potential Communist invasion of nations worldwide began to create a frightening reality to the people of the United States. The Soviet Union’s exportation of Communism greatly worried America as they wanted to contain Communism from all nations, especially nations in Asia. The Korean peninsula divided into two territories: a north, Soviet supported government, and a south, American supported government, a separation as a result of World War II. The Soviet Union invaded Korea, which had been under Japanese control since 1900; fearing the Soviet’s intention to seize the entire peninsula, the United States responded by quickly sending in their troops to South Korea. Truman’s decision to become involved in conflicts in Korea grew out of the Soviet Union’s radical actions, events in Asia, and internal criticism in the Truman Administration in America, providing him with an opportunity to defend a nation from a communist invasion.

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

Efforts to unify Korea resulted in more than 100,000 deaths due to guerilla warfare. In April 1950, North Korean leader Kim II Sung persuaded Joseph Stalin to back an invasion of South Korea, convincing Stalin that the United States would not intervene. Stalin agreed to provide arms, equipment, and advisors to the North Koreans (“Korean War”). Kim II Sung did not stop there as he also persuaded the newly communist Chinese to aid the North Koreans. The Korean War, (June 25,1950 – July 27, 1953), occurred when over 75,000 North Korean Army invaded the land across of the 38th parallel. American president Harry Truman was feeling heat after “letting China fall”, so Truman ordered American troops into action on South July, the United Sates entered the conflict on South Korea’s behalf. The next three years would be the darkest and most horrific in Korean history. As seen in American reporter Bill Shinn’s account, “the North Koreans were gruesome…during the occupation of South Korea, they killed over 165,000 civilians. Also, I witnessed a South Korean mass execution of civilians suspected of having helped the communists. Korea was a mess” (“The Forgotten War Remembered: Korea, 1950-1953). This shows the depths of the horror that was perpetrated in Korea for three years.

The United States and China were eagerly ready to be drawn into the Korean War. Why wouldn’t they be? After WWII, Japan was forced to relinquish Korea, among other territories that it claimed , and Korea was left to fend for herself. Korea was managing but the country could not come to an agreement on a major topic: The type of government the country should fall under as a unified nation. The northern half, lead by Kim II Sung, wanted to operate under the communist rule; but the southern half, lead by Syngman Rhee, wanted to operate under a democracy (non-communist and independent ruling). This was like a set of twin siblings arguing and fighting over which of the two of them should carry the basketball as they walk down the street to the basketball court. They are that they both want to play basketball together but they can’t agree on who should be in charge and carry the ball. Well, the older and more experienced neighbors, The United States and China, wanted to play too but since it was Korea’s court, they decided to just sit back and await a decision but could only bear to watch the argument and fight for so long. They too had an opinion about who should carry the ball or should I say which governmental theory to abide; therefore, they wanted to intervene.

Korea, like Germany, had been occupied by Soviet and United States forces at the end of World War II. Korea was split in half via the 38th parallel after the Japanese Empire fell near the end of the conflict. The soviets occupied the north side of the line and the Americans occupied the south. “By the end of the decade, two new states had formed on the peninsula. In the south, the anti- communist dictator Syngman Rhee (1875-1965) enjoyed the reluctant support of the American

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.

The Korean War began on June 25th, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. On June 27th, 1950, American United Nations forces intervened to stop the advance. This action has positively and negatively affected both the United States and Korea. Deciding to aid South Korea in the Korean War has drastically changed the lives of many people.

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.

I will now tell you a little bit on the Korean War and what it was all about. So, as I told you before North Korea invaded South Korea. “After that, North Korea headed quickly to the capital city of Seoul. The United States then responded by pushing a resolution U.N.’s SC( Security Council) calling for military assistance to South Korea. When Harry S. Truman found out he did the ‘police action’. The ‘police action’ was when Harry S. Truman rapidly dispatched U.S. land, air, and sea forces to Korea. Then, the South Korean people and the U.S. marched into North Korea where it prompted Chinese forces in the late 1950’s. In 1953, North Korea and the United States signed a ceasefire which ended the conflict. The cease fire agreement also put South and North Korea back where they were in the beginning of the conflict” According to (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/korean-war-begin. )

Prior to 1950 the small country of Korea had been split laterally across the 38th Parallel, the Soviets supporting the north and the United States supporting the south. The country was patchy in culture, the north with a communist center under the Democratic People’s Republic (DPRK), and the south being republican under the Republic of Korea (ROK). Both governments sought to unify the country under one leadership. In the summer of 1950 the north sent an attack below the 38th Parallel, advancing towards Seoul the capital of South Korea. The United Nations Security Council requested military support in Korea. Without hesitation President Harry Truman sent American troops to South Korea. The war persisted over three years and cost the lives of many American troops. The restrictions that would prevent the United States from attaining complete and swift success in Korea were the changes amid military and political objectives, misguided leadership, forgoing the use of nuclear weapons, independent foreign actors, and prisoners of war at war termination.