Korean War

The Korean War was an armed conflict fought between North Korea, supported by China, and South Korea, which was backed up by the United Nations. The UN forces were in turn led by the United States of America. It took place on the Korean Peninsula from June 25, 1950, when the North Korean Army crossed the 38th Parallel as they pushed south, to July 27, 1953, when the armistice agreement was signed.

US Marines on a hill on the Pusan Perimeter on the Naktong River in August 1950

Cause

The main cause of the Korean War was the stark ideological differences between North Korea and South Korea; the former ruled by a communist government, while the latter under a conservative capitalist regime. However, the armed struggle historical background was the Japanese invasion of Korea and its annexation in 1905, after the Russo-Japanese War. Japan needed its natural resources, such as coal and iron ore.

As a result, Japan established a protectorate there.During the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union and the United States had agreed that the Red Army would invade the northern half of the peninsula of Korea, attacking the Japanese strongholds, thus relieving the American war effort in the Pacific, while the US Army would invade the southern half of the peninsula, which would take place in September 1945. The 38th parallel had been set as the boundary line between the two halves, which would simply be referred to as North Korea, whose capital would be Pyongyang, and South Korea, politically revolving around Seoul.

Supported by the Soviet Union, the communist party of North Korea had set up a socialist government led by Kim Il-Sung in 1948. In South Korea, on the other hand, Syngman Rhee had been elected president of the Republic of Korea (ROK) by a national assembly, influenced by Washington, also in 1948. The following year, both the Soviet Union and the United States withdrew their troops from the peninsula.

Summary

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when the North Korean Army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded South Korea, with the main units advancing down along the Uijongbu corridor. They moved towards Seoul, the southern capital, in an attempt to reunite Korea. Although the South Korean Army fought back and tried to hold their ground, they were overwhelmed and forced to retreat by superior communist forces.

As the North Koreans advanced relentlessly southwards, all the roads would soon get choked by crowds of refugees and disoriented South Korean troops. On June 27, the communist forces captured Seoul after heavy fighting. On July 5, they defeated a small unit of US Army that had been left behind. On July 20, they beat more determined South Korean forces at Taejon. Meanwhile, the United Nation Security Council had condemned the invasion and appointed General Douglas MacArthur commander of UN multinational forces.

US Army and British and commonwealth forces began to pour in the Pusan Perimeter, in which the routed South Korean Army had been cornered at the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. The Battle of Pusan Perimeter began on July 31. By September 16, all communist attacks on the UN armies positions on the perimeter had been repelled. Thus, the Pusan Perimeter had been the farthest advance of the North Korean Army. From then on, the American, British, and South Korean troops would launch counteroffensives to regain enemy-held territory.

On September 15, 1950, a US amphibious force, under MacArthur, stormed ashore on the west coast of the Korean peninsula at Inchon. After ferocious fighting, the Americans managed to recapture Seoul, the capital, on September 26. Meanwhile, UN mechanized divisions moved northwestwards from the south and linked up with American troops at Seoul, encircling large numbers of North Korean troops in a cauldron.

On November 24, 1950, MacArthur launched a powerful offensive against North Korea, crossing the 38th parallel. However, the following day, his central front was breached by a massive communist onslaught carried out by Chinese forces that advanced southwards. The UN troops fell back across the 38th parallel into South Korean. By mid-December, American, British, and Australian divisions were able to organize a defensive line roughly on the 38th parallel, holding off the Chinese onslaught.

By the end of 1950, the initial mobile warfare, which had characterized the first phase of the armed struggle, had become a static war of attrition, which was centered around the 38th parallel.

At dawn, on January 1, 1951, the communists attacked all along the front, pushing UN troops back. Seoul was abandoned once more. However, by January 15, the front had gotten stabilized 40 miles south of the capital under appalling winter weather conditions, with snowstorms and freezing temperatures. On January 25, the UN armies began to push slowly yet relentlessly northwards until April 21, with exhausted Chinese and North Korean troops retreating before them. On March 15, Seoul was retaken once again as American and British troops moved into North Korea. MacArthur had been replaced by Mathew Ridgway in April that year.

By July 1952, both armies had built such strong defensive lines that neither side could undertake major offensives without incurring into unacceptable losses. Supported by artillery, the communists would send infantry units and tanks against tactically important hills along the UN defensive line. When a hill fell into enemy hands, the American and British forces would launch counteroffensives to take it back. These attacks and counterattacks were called the Battles of the Outposts, such as the Battle of White Horse, Battle of Hill Eerie, and the Battle of Pork Chop Hill.

Finally, after costly and vicious fighting, with neither side winning, UN, North Korean and Chinese representatives signed the Armistice at Panmunjom on July 27, 1950, putting an end to the Korean War. Casualties had been high, with 90,000 UN and South Koreans, and 135,000 North Korean and Chinese soldiers killed in action, plus two million civilians.

Below, US Marines watch the F4U Corsairs attack enemy positions with napalm.

General MacArthur, far right, and General Mathew Ridgway, center, with sunglasses, observing the front line in January 1951.

Below, Chinese troops advancing at night to take an American-held hill.

Map of Korean peninsula, which shows the communist forces farthest advance in early September 1950 and the Pusan Perimeter at the beginning of the war. You can also see the site of US Marines landing At Inchon.