The Korean War: A Global Struggle between East and West

1. THE KOREAN WAR

2. U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson(1893-1971) • If the best minds in the world had set out to find us the worst possible location in the world to fight this damnable war, “the unanimous choice would have been Korea.”

3. President Harry Truman(1884-1972) • “If we let Korea down, the Soviet[s] will keep right on going and swallow up one [place] after another.” • The fight on the Korean peninsula was a symbol of the global struggle between east and west, good and evil. 

4. Did you Know ? • Unlike World War II and Vietnam, the Korean War did not get much media attention in the United States. • The most famous representation of the war in popular culture is the television series “M*A*S*H,” which was set in a field hospital in South Korea. • The series ran from 1972 until 1983, and its final episode was the most-watched in television history.

5. Did you Know ? • The first war in which the United Nations played a role. • When asked to send military aid to South Korea,16 countries sent troops and 41 sent equipment or aid. • China fought on the side of North Korea, and the Soviet Union sent them military equipment.

6. Did you Know ? • The U.S. sent about 90% of the troops that were sent to aid South Korea. • The first war with battles between jet aircraft. • The U.S. spent around $67 billion on the war. • The truce talks lasted two years and 17 days. • The casualty toll had been reported as 54,246 until June 2000, when the Pentagon acknowledged that a clerical error had included deaths outside the Korean War theater in the total.

7. Did you know • There are more than 7800 Americans unaccounted for from the Korean War as of June 2016. • There has never been a peace treaty, so technically, the Korean War has never ended.

8. Did you Know ? • Even so, the North Korean invasion came as an alarming surprise to American officials. • As far as they were concerned, this was not simply a border dispute between two unstable dictatorships on the other side of the globe. • Instead, many feared it was the first step in a communist campaign to take over the world

9. THE KOREAN WAR A grief stricken American infantryman whose buddy has been killed in action is comforted by another soldier. In the background a corpsman fills out casualty tags, Haktong-ni area, Korea.

10. Background of The Korean War

11. Timeline of Events • Korea had been controlled by the Japanese from 1905 to 1945. • In 1945, • Two young aides at the State Department decided what to do with their enemy’s imperial possessions • They divided the peninsula in two: • Soviets occupied the NORTH, • America the SOUTH • The two halves were divided by the 38th Parallel

12. 1910 - 1945 • Korea used to have some of Asia's most prominent communist groups and activists • These organizations worked underground to reestablish Korea's independence during Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula (1910-1945)

13. MAPS

14. Occupation • In 1945 Korea was occupied by Soviet forces in the north and American forces in the south. • The line that was chosen to separate the two was the same one that Japan and Russia used in the early part of the 20th century. • It was called the 38th parallel. • DMZ ( demilitarization zone)

15. 1948 • UN organized elections in South Korea and in 1948 the Republic of of Korea was established. • BY 1948, the Soviets had evacuated their zone • In the North, the Communists created the Democratic Republic of Korea • Americans left North

16. South Korea Non-Communist Fertile Temperate Rapidly Industrialized Seoul is the Capital North Korea Communist Mountainous Cold Little Industry or Farmland The Two Koreas

17. Armies • The North Korean army was well-disciplined, • well-trained • and well-equipped • Rhee’s forces, by contrast, were frightened, • confused, • and seemed inclined to flee the battlefield at any provocation

18. Summer 1950 • It was one of the hottest and driest summers on record, and desperately thirsty American soldiers were often forced to drink water from rice paddies that had been fertilized with human waste. • As a result, dangerous intestinal diseases and other illnesses were a constant threat.

19. Timeline of Events • North: • communist government • supplied with weapons by the Soviets. • South: • capitalist system • supported by the U.S. • 1949- Both the US and the Soviet troops withdraw from Korea. North Kim Il Sung South Syngman Rhee

20. Kim II Sung • 33-year-old, soviet army captain, Kim II Sung became known to be a heroic guerrilla commander. • In early 1946, Soviet occupying forces chose him to head the provisional government for North Korea. • 3 weeks after the Southern Republic of Korea was made, Syngman Rhee was named premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on September 9th 1948.

21. Progression & Economy Kim didn't want a Soviet satellite state and instead embraced Korean nationalism. The focus of which was the Korean People’s Army. Under Kim's rule: • over 2 million acres of land were redistributed in under a month • women were guaranteed equality under the law • political action cells were formed to educate the population It was clear that under his rule, North Korea had become economically well-endowed in comparison to South Korea. In June of 1949 both the Soviets and Americans had left the peninsula, this is when Kim's plan to unite Korea became evident.

22. On the Brink of War • South Korea obviously appeared to be faltering, but President Syngman Rhee (South Korea) unleashed a brutal campaign against suspected communists and leftists. • At first Kim wanted to use force, however he needed support and so he turned to Stalin for help. Stalin supported his invasion plan, and advised him to get support from China’s new communist leader, Mao Zedong. He did and was now on the brink of war.

23. Causes of the Korean War

24. Leading Causes of the Korean War • Reputation • American Army had recently upped the anti as far as the arms race went and Truman wanted to display the power and wealth of America internationally. • The USSR wanted better results and a chance to prove themselves after the Berlin Blockade. This was particularly important to Stalin. • They felt that the Korean war was their way of proving their reputation.

25. Back in America • Strong Containment Success in Europe • McCarthyism and Strong Anti-Communist Movement • “Loss of China”-Truman Administration Blamed

26. Truman’s Asia Policy after the Fall of China • Strong Pressure to Assist Taiwan and Chiang Kai-shek • Truman Administration Contemplates Not Helping Chiang Kai-shek and allowing China to Conquer Taiwan

27. Dean Acheson’s Speech to the National Press Club • Truman’s Secretary of State • January 12, 1950 Speech on US Policy in Asia • Does not Mention South Korea in Outlining US Defensive Perimeter in Asia

28. Question • Why did North Korea want South Korea?

29. Leading Causes of the Korean War • Support • The USA wanted to support Syngman Rhee because he was a democrat surrounded by communism • USA: supported South Korea. • The USSR wanted to support the communist nation, because of the same political ideals. • USSR: supported North Korea. • They could not get involved in a war against communism without directly fighting the USSR.

30. Leading Causes of the Korean War • Cold War • Stalin encouraged the spread of communism as long as it did not result in a war with America. He soon realized that nuclear war might be a possibility and wanted to avoid that and beat the USA using more indirect means. • The Domino Effect - Truman believed that if Korea fell to communism, Japan (a major trading partner) would follow. • The Truman Doctrine stated that the USA would lend aid to any country not wishing to be suppressed by the political ideals (communism) of any other country. • April 1950 the American National Security Council issued a report recommending direct involvement (a proxy war) against communism. • Stalin saw that the Korean War Was a chance for a war by proxy. Kim II Sung visited Stalin to persuade him that he could conquer South Korea.

31. Situation in China • Want to Invade Taiwan and Tibet • Tired from Japanese Invasion in WWII and Chinese Civil War • Army is weak with new soldiers from poorly trained captured Nationalists • Lack of Equipment

32. China • 1949 – China became Communist – supported N Korea

33. This map is from an American magazine from 1950. This shows how much the US feared communism in the far east.

34. United States, United Nations, and the Soviet Union’s Response to the Korean War

35. Who Started the Korean War?

36. North Korea • North Korea Wants South Korea • Wants South Korean Resources • Wants a Unified and Communist Korea • Goes to Stalin and Mao for Support for Invasion

37. War Begins • June 25th, 1950—North Korea invades South Korea with the Soviet Union’s approval.

38. North Korean Army moving into Seoul (Capital), S. K. T-34 Tanks Yak Fighters

39. To Contain or not contain, that is the question? • US President Truman—not wanting to repeat the mistake of appeasement used during WWII, promises to help South Korea. But How???

41. U.N. or U.S.? • South Korea asks the newly created United Nations for help. • Most of the troops are American. • Douglas MacArthur • command of the 15 nation UN forces.

42. United Nations The United Nations now had to formulate a plan. Sixteen member states would provide troops under a United Nations Joint Command. It would fight with the South Korean army. This United Nations force was dominated by America even to the extent of being commanded by an American general – Douglas MacArthur On September 15th 1950, United Nations troops landed at Inchon. The landing was a huge success and the United Nations effectively cut the North Korean army in half and pushed them out of South Korea. Note: MacArthur was later fired by Truman for getting the Chinese involved in the war.

43. Stage One • By the end of July 1950, only a small section of the Korea was in the hands of the UN forces (Pusan). • Stand or Die!

44. Stage Two • MacArthur orders an amphibious invasion at the port Of Inchon • Take Seoul and cut of supply lines

45. Stage Two • N Koreans pushed back into N Korea • MacArthur believes he will be able to “Get the boys home by Christmas”

46. Too close to home…

47. Stage Three • Oct 1950 Chinese invaded N Korea • 300,000 Chinese troops • UN troops pushed back to S Korea

48. “We face an entirely new war” MacArthur said. He called for nuclear attacks on Chinese cities. President Truman had different opinion “We are trying to prevent a world war, not start one” At odds…

49. “NO SUBSTITUTE FOR VICTORY”? • This was something that President Truman and his advisers decidedly did not want: • They were sure that such a war would lead to Soviet aggression in Europe, the deployment of atomic weapons and millions of senseless deaths. • To General MacArthur, however, anything short of this wider war represented “appeasement,” an unacceptable knuckling under to the communists.

50. As President Truman looked for a way to prevent war with the Chinese, MacArthur did all he could to provoke it. • Finally, in March 1951, he sent a letter to Joseph Martin, a House Republican leader who shared MacArthur’s support for declaring all-out war on China–and who could be counted upon to leak the letter to the press. • “There is,” MacArthur wrote, “no substitute for victory” against international communism.