The Korean War 1950-1953 and its impact to 1977
Before the war (1945-1950)
Key issues
The occupation of a divided Korea and UN involvement (1945–1949)
The occupation of a divided Korea and UN involvement (1945–1949)
Over the last millennium, the Korean Peninsula was unified and governed by two successive dynasties, each lasting for about five centuries (Goryeo, 918-1392 and Joseon, 1392-1897). With its immediate neighbours, Korea maintained a tributary relationship with China (apart from a short period when it was directly controlled by the Mongols or Yuan in the 13th-14th century), and both economic and diplomatic ties with Japan (interrupted by occasional wars). This ‘hermit kingdom’ was forced into the modern world by approaching global powers at the turn of the twentieth century, following a similar situation in China and Japan in earlier decades. The decisive force here was Japan, who – after emerging as an imperial power due to the Meiji Restoration – sought overseas expansion. Korea thus became one of the first major colonies of modern Japan (1910-1945), and underwent significant social and economic changes that only ended with the defeat of Japan in WW2.
Shortly after the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel between USSR control in the north and the US in the south. By then, the domestic tensions between the upper and lower classes, and between the left (who embraced Socialism and Communism from the 1920s in and outside of colonial Korea) and the right (who benefited from collaboration with the Japanese) intensified. The US army entered the South and started a 3-year occupation (1945-1948). It supported Syngman Rhee, a conservative nationalist who spent long years as an exile in the US and represented the anti-communists, landlords, and capitalists.
Despite uprisings of left-wing People’s Committees (1946), protests against a separation election to form a government under Rhee (1948), mass rebellions in Jeju (1948-49) and Yeosu (1948), Rhee managed to consolidate his foundation in the South by relying on US support. A significant American military presence continued until mid-1949, also bolstered by major bases in Japan. Most of those who were against Rhee in the South were local recruits, operating with little direct connection with the North despite their political similarities. Indeed, their agitation resembled a continuation of colonial-era guerrilla warfare rather than a new, communist insurgency initiated by the North. These armed forces would continue to harass the South Korean and US armies during the war, only then coordinating with the North. |
Internet Resources An audio interview of Dean Rusk, one of the US officers who drew the 38th line (later the United States Secretary of State under both Kennedy and Johnson during the Vietnam War). Jiseul (2013), a South Korean film on the Jeju Uprising (trailer, with English subtitles) David Fields, Syngman Rhee: Socialist, CWIHP Working Paper No. 82, Wilson Center (2017) Wilson Center Digital Archive collections: |
In the north, Kim Il Sung returned from exile in China. Kim represented a younger generation of nationalists with extensive military experience in Manchuria, who hailed him as an anti-Japanese war hero. He and his core groups had worked with China in the past (having participated in both the anti-Japanese campaigns and civil wars under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party) as well as the USSR (albeit to a lesser degree). Like Rhee, Kim consolidated his leadership by manoeuvring sympathetic factions; though in Kim's case, these consisted of pro-China, pro-USSR, and underground-Korean groups.
Both Rhee and Kim hoped and actively prepared for a united, independent Korea. Yet, from the onset, Korea was a site for competing post-war superpowers with different ambitions. The Tripartite Moscow Foreign Ministers’ Conference (attended by the USA, UK, and USSR in 1945) delayed the independence of a united Korea. The UN Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK), under the nominal direction of the UN, was in reality dominated by the US. Multiple major border conflicts occurred one year before the war in June 1949, all precisely on the same location (Ongjin). For regional actors, the outbreak of the Korean War had its own implications. Armed conflict in Korea significantly reduced the possibility of a Communist China’s military attack on Taiwan in the summer of 1950, therefore safeguarding Jiang Jieshi’s regime; it also boosted the Japanese economy and helped spark the so-called 'Japanese economic miracle.'
Both Rhee and Kim hoped and actively prepared for a united, independent Korea. Yet, from the onset, Korea was a site for competing post-war superpowers with different ambitions. The Tripartite Moscow Foreign Ministers’ Conference (attended by the USA, UK, and USSR in 1945) delayed the independence of a united Korea. The UN Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK), under the nominal direction of the UN, was in reality dominated by the US. Multiple major border conflicts occurred one year before the war in June 1949, all precisely on the same location (Ongjin). For regional actors, the outbreak of the Korean War had its own implications. Armed conflict in Korea significantly reduced the possibility of a Communist China’s military attack on Taiwan in the summer of 1950, therefore safeguarding Jiang Jieshi’s regime; it also boosted the Japanese economy and helped spark the so-called 'Japanese economic miracle.'
The War (1950-1953)
Key issues
Causes and outbreak of the Korean War; the aims of Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee; US and UN involvement in the war: Russian support for Kim, the Inchon landing, the UN crossing of the 38th parallel and advance to the Yalu river, Chinese intervention in Korea and its impact; reasons for Truman’s dismissal of MacArthur; causes of stalemate 1951–1953; US public opinion; the changing nature of the war; difficulties in reaching a settlement; the outcome for the participants, the situation in Asia in 1953
Causes and outbreak of the Korean War; the aims of Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee; US and UN involvement in the war: Russian support for Kim, the Inchon landing, the UN crossing of the 38th parallel and advance to the Yalu river, Chinese intervention in Korea and its impact; reasons for Truman’s dismissal of MacArthur; causes of stalemate 1951–1953; US public opinion; the changing nature of the war; difficulties in reaching a settlement; the outcome for the participants, the situation in Asia in 1953
TV documentaries
Films
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Selected topics during the war
Atrocities against civilians: both sides committed atrocities against civilians, and historians have yet to fully document their scale and impact.
Germ/biological warfare: the US allegedly conducted germ warfare in Korea and northeastern China, comparable to Unit 731 of the Japanese Army's actions in WW2 in this same region.
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Prisoners of War (POWs): A major issue during peace talks, as the parties involved could not agree on how to enable 'voluntary repatriation,' especially among the Chinese POWs held in the South.
- The POW Investigative Project traces missing American soldiers, including those in the Korean War and the Vietnam war. Also, see its YouTube channel.
- New Yorker, 'The Korean War Prisoners Who Never Came Home'.
- David Cheng Chang, The Hijacked War: The Story of Chinese POWs in the Korean War is a forthcoming book on Chinese POWs.
Nuclear armaments: The Korean War 'going nuclear' was a distinct possibility. Voices within the American armed forces lobbied for the use, particularly General Douglas MacArthur, though ultimately the policy was not pursued.
- Air and Space, 'How the Korean War almost went nuclear'.
- The Diplomat Magazine, 'What If the United States had Used the Bomb in Korea?'
Internet Resources
Milestones, Office of the Historian, US Department of States: Korean War and Japan's recovery Internet History Sourcebooks (Fordham University) on Korea Articles from the Japan-based Diplomat magazine on the Korean War Articles about the Korean War from Warfare History Network Books on the Korean War from the U.S. Army centre of military history |
Primary sources (U.S.) Wilson Centre Program: Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy Wilson Centre Digital Archive collections:
North Korea and South Korea (CIA World Fact Book) CIA analysis of the Korean War (CIA Electronic Reading Room) |
Teaching Resources
New York Times Learning Network
EAA archives, search by country:Korea. Among the results, the followings are of particular interest:
Expanding East Asian Studies Program (ExEAS) from Columbia University has a huge collection of teaching materials for US undergraduates, including many relevant resources for this module. Search by country in 'Teaching materials and resources', 'Syllabi' and 'Links'. The syllabus of Cold War in East Asia is especially relevant.
Teaching with documents: US Enters the Korean Conflict (US National Archives)
MOOC:
Course offered by the Seoul National University, International Politics in the Korean Peninsula (2 parts)
Course offered by the Yonsei University, Modern Korean History: Liberation, War and Nuclear Ambitions (this MOOC is no longer running, but a few excerpts are still available as a sample)
New York Times Learning Network
- The Korean War on Its 60th Anniversary, with reports from the Times archive
- Resources for teaching about North Korea and Kim Jong Il
EAA archives, search by country:Korea. Among the results, the followings are of particular interest:
- The Cold War in Northeast Asia
- The Korean War 101: Causes, Course, and Conclusion of the Conflict
- An Unpromising Recovery: South Korea's Post-Korean War Economic Development: 1953-1961
- School Textbooks and East Asia's "History Wars": A Comparative Approach to Teaching About Perspective, Bias, and Historical Memory
Expanding East Asian Studies Program (ExEAS) from Columbia University has a huge collection of teaching materials for US undergraduates, including many relevant resources for this module. Search by country in 'Teaching materials and resources', 'Syllabi' and 'Links'. The syllabus of Cold War in East Asia is especially relevant.
Teaching with documents: US Enters the Korean Conflict (US National Archives)
MOOC:
Course offered by the Seoul National University, International Politics in the Korean Peninsula (2 parts)
Course offered by the Yonsei University, Modern Korean History: Liberation, War and Nuclear Ambitions (this MOOC is no longer running, but a few excerpts are still available as a sample)
SEATO, Bandung, and the Non-Aligned Movement
Key issues
The creation of SEATO in 1954 and its failure to 1977; non-alignment: the Bandung Conference 1955 and its development from 1961
The creation of SEATO in 1954 and its failure to 1977; non-alignment: the Bandung Conference 1955 and its development from 1961
SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation)
Indeed, only two Southeast Asian countries joined SEATO (Thailand and the Philippines), plus one South Asian nation (Pakistan, but notably not India); and its nature as a US device to keep strong influence (and military capacities) in the region was clear. It was eclipsed by ASEAN (est. 1967), another regional organisation with more local members (5 initially, now includes 11 nations) and less direct external intervention. SEATO was finally dissolved in 1977 after the Vietnam War. Although initially set up in response to the Korean War, SEATO had a larger impact on the Vietnam War, bringing international troops from from Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea, and Australia and New Zealand. For overviews and evaluations, see:
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Bandung 1955
Non-Aligned Movement
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