The Korean War Essay

The Korean War was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China (PRC), with military material aid from the Soviet Union.

The division of Korea into South Korea and North Korea was the result of the 1945 Allied victory in World War II, leaving the countries in disagreement with a 2.5 mile gap separating the countries. Following this, the Korean War occurred between North and South Korea, in which a United Nations force led by the United States of America fought for the South, and China fought for the North, making the USA an instant enemy of North Korea. In July 1953, the Korean War came to an end.

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

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.

Overshadowed by the previous, long and devastating Second World War, the Korean War became known by Canadian veterans as the "Forgotten War". After Japan's defeat in World War II, Korea was split into two parts, North Korea and South Korea. North Korea was occupied by the communist country of USSR while South Korea was held by the Americans and other democratic nations. War officially broke out on June 25, 1950, when the North Koreans assaulted across the country's division on the 38th Parallel with their men and artillery behind them. North Korea and its leaders wanted to unify the whole country from its division by taking over South Korea under their government. North Korea was allied with China and the Republic of Korea was

On December 7, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It became clear to the U.S. that Japan was a threat and was an enemy so thus began the war between the two. When Japan had finally collapsed in 1945 the Soviet Union troops accepted Japan’s surrender north of the 38th parallel line on the Korean peninsula as the U.S. troops also had done south of it. But after World War II ended; just as Vietnam was, it left Korea split into two separate political groups, with the communist North Korea which was led by a man named Kim Il Sung and the anti-communist South Korea being led by its leader Syngman Rhee. The two territorial groups often fought against each other but the conflicts between the two rarely resulted to outbursts of attack to each other. So, even though they were at odds the two were supposed to reunite with each other as the United Nations had previously planned and thought out. Sung and Rhee were nationalists and meant to bring Korea together upon their two sides but to no avail since they both had a completely distinct ideology on what was best for their country. It was merely a civil war only between North and South Korea until the war itself went international, with the United Nations under the leadership and orders of the United States decided to aid South Korea and with the PRC

Most nations joined the war effort after “Truman asked the UN Security Council to intervene”.(Berkin, 698) South Korea had the aide of the United Nations which included american and british forces while North Korea had the aide of the Soviet Union.This showed just how intense the war was going to become as some of the world's largest nations were going to clash against each other. Almost all americans sought to unify korea and then “the United Nations on October 7 approved a new goal to liberate North Korea of Communist rule”.(Berkin, 700). When liberating Communism from North Korea, China got involved once UN forces moved towards the Chinese/Korean border. As a result, warfare intensified and casualties grew in numbers which made President Truman give up all hope on a unified Korea and so peace talks began. Later on during the peace talks, “The Eisenhower Administration finally concluded a ceasefire in july 26, 1923”. (Berkin, 701) . The United States ended up expanding its

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 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.

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.

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 third source that I decided to use was an English newspaper. The headline from the article was the first thing that stood out, suggesting that Trump might bomb North Korea next. The article barely covers the event, instead, it covers Eric Trump's comments and the possibility that North Korea can be next. The newspapers instigates that the United States might use military action against North Korea though including Eric Trump's statement hinting that his father is not afraid to make "North Korea...next on the hit list if Kim Jong-Un carries on developing atomic weapons" (Daily Mirror, April 14, 2017). The newspaper just adds more fuel to the existing tension between the United States and North Korea with such a provocative statement.

In 1949, China fell into Mao Zedong’s communist forces. More than 500 million Chinese and 220 million soviets lived under communist rule. Japan ruled Korea from 1905 until the end of World War 2. Most Americans had barely even heard of Korea. After World War 2, Korea was divided into North and South (Brownstone and Franck p.238). On June 25th, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. North Korea wanted

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.

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