FREE ESSAY ON KOREAN WAR

KOREAN WAR

Begun as a war between South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic
People's Republic of Korea), after the North's invasion of the South, the conflict
swiftly developed into a limited international war involving the U.S. and 19 other
nations. From a general viewpoint, the Korean War was one of the by-products of the cold
war, the global political and diplomatic struggle between the Communist and non-Communist
systems following World War II. The motives behind North Korea's decision to attack South
Korea, however, had as much to do with internal Korean politics north and south of the
38th parallel (the boundary between the two republics) as with the cold war. Contrary to
the prevailing view at the time, North Korea apparently attacked South Korea without the
knowledge of either the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China. The Soviet Union,
which expected a war at a later time, was boycotting the UN when the attack occurred. The
Communist government of China, meanwhile, was hoping to invade the island of Taiwan
without having to deal with a military response from the U.S. 
Considerable civil strife south of the 38th parallel and growing opposition to South
Korea's president, Syngman Rhee, persuaded the North Korean leader, Kim Il Sung, that he
would be welcomed by many South Koreans as a liberator intent on overthrowing the Rhee
government and reuniting the two Koreas. As a champion of Korean unification, Kim would
also undermine ongoing opposition to his own regime in North Korea. 
The war began on June 25 when the North Korean army, substantially equipped by the Soviet
Union, crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. The U.S. immediately responded
by sending supplies to Korea, and it quickly broadened its commitment in the conflict. On
June 27 the UN Security Council, with the Soviet Union voluntarily absent, passed an
U.S.-sponsored resolution calling for military sanctions against North Korea. Three days
later, U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered combat forces stationed in Japan deployed
to Korea. American forces, those of South Korea, and, ultimately, combat contingents from
Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Great Britain,
Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and
Turkey, with medical units from Denmark, India, and Sweden, were placed under a unified
UN command headed by the U.S. commander in chief in the Far East, Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
The participating ground forces of these nations, the U.S., and South Korea was grouped
in the U.S. Eighth Army. The action was unique because neither the UN nor its
predecessor, the League of Nations, had ever used military measures to repel an
aggressor. 
Even after Truman committed American ground forces to Korea, the war continued to go
badly. Before the North Koreans were stopped in August, they had captured Seoul, the
capital of South Korea, and the Americans and South Koreans had been pushed back to a
small perimeter around the southern port city of Pusan, extending about 129 km (about 80
mi.) from north to south and about 80 km (about 50 mi.) from east to west. American
reinforcements were able to hold this small area, however, and on Sept. 15, 1950, Gen.
MacArthur launched a brilliant amphibious invasion behind enemy lines, striking at the
port city of Inch'on on South Korea's west coast, about 40 km (about 25 mi.) west of
Seoul. In a coordinated move, UN forces broke out of the Pusan perimeter. Very quickly
the North Koreans were routed and forced above the 38th parallel. 
Sensing an opportunity not only to stop but also to roll back Communist expansion,
President Truman approved orders for UN forces to cross the 38th parallel and push the
enemy above the Yalu River, which separated North Korea from China. Despite repeated
warnings from the Chinese that they would enter the war if the Americans came near the
Yalu, UN forces crossed into North Korea on October 7 and later captured P'yongyang, its
capital city. By October 25 some advance units had reached the Yalu; there they came into
contact with Chinese volunteers who had moved into North Korea. After hard fighting in
which MacArthur's units had to fall back, the Chinese retired and MacArthur continued his
offensive. 
Shortly thereafter, the Chinese struck again, this time in massive numbers. UN troops,
overextended, outnumbered, and ill equipped to fight a fresh enemy in the bitter Korean
winter was soon in general retreating. On November 26 the Communists cut the escape route
of some 40,000 U.S. soldiers and marines in northeast Korea, who fought their way out and
were later evacuated from the port of Hungnam. The Communists reoccupied P'yongyang on
December 5 and, sweeping into South Korea, recaptured Seoul on Jan. 4, 1951. Because they
had overextended their supply lines and had vastly inferior firepower, they were not able
to press their advantage. The Communist offensive was halted by January 15 along a front
far south of Seoul. 
Even as the Chinese were advancing southward, Truman again redefined American policy in
Korea. Unwilling to engage in an all-out war with China, which could have led to a world
war involving the Soviet Union and certainly would have alienated the European allies of
the U.S., the president abandoned as his objective the military reunification of Korea.
He returned to his original goal of stopping Communist aggression in Korea. 
The U.S. Eighth Army took the offensive on January 25, and the entire UN command mounted
the powerful attack known as Operation Killer on February 21. Under pressure of superior
firepower, the Chinese slowly withdrew from South Korea. Seoul fell to the UN again on
March 14. By April 22 UN forces had occupied positions slightly north of the 38th
parallel along a line that, with minor variations, remained stationary for the rest of
the war. Meanwhile, on April 11, Gen. MacArthur, who had publicly advocated a very
aggressive military strategy that differed from the president's policies, had been
relieved of his command by Truman. Under his successor, Lt. Gen. Matthew Ridgway
(1895-1993), for the next two years the UN forces engaged mainly in a series of probing
actions known as the active defense. 
Periods of heavy fighting continued, however, both on the ground and in the air. U.S.
troop strength remained at around 260,000. Forces from other UN nations stayed at about
35,000, while Republic of Korea (ROK) forces grew from some 280,000 to about 340,000. The
Communist forces increased from approximately 500,000 to 865,000, and their armored
strength grew from almost nothing to one North Korean and two Chinese armored divisions
and one mechanized division, with an estimated 520 tanks. Although the Communists could
not sustain another major offensive, their well-entrenched forces made even the UN's
active defense strategy very costly. Some of the most desperate battles took place on the
hills called Old Baldy, Capital, Pork Chop, T-Bone, and Heartbreak Ridge. 
Air power played a key role in the war, which proved to be the first battlefield in
history for supersonic jet aircraft. The Chinese had developed into a major air power.
Half of their 1400 aircraft were Soviet-built MiG-15s, generally regarded by military
experts as the finest jet aircraft in the world. Operating from bases in Manchuria and
seldom venturing over UN lines, the MiG-15s, nevertheless, threatened UN air supremacy
over so-called MiG Alley in northwest Korea. Not until the U.S. responded with a crash
program that produced the formidable F-86 Sabres did UN forces have aircraft capable of
challenging the MiG-15s on approximately equal terms. Large-scale air battles resulted
ultimately in the loss of some 58 Sabres and 800 MiGs. 
UN aircraft were also instrumental in support of ground forces, in destroying Chinese
supply lines, and in crippling North Korean airfields. The UN air force, retaining
command of the skies despite opposition from enemy interceptors, devastated North Korean
supply bases, railroads, bridges, hydroelectric plants, and industrial centers. UN naval
units systematically pounded North Korean coastal points. The war was marked also by
violent riots and demonstrations in the UN prisoner-of-war compounds; by Communist
charges, never substantiated, that the U.S. had waged germ warfare against North Korea
and China; by the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war; and by disclosures that
the Communists had been guilty of atrocities against captured UN personnel. 
In June 1951, as the positional-warfare pattern began to crystallize, the Soviet delegate
to the UN formally proposed that the belligerents in Korea open discussions for a
cease-fire. On July 10, 1951, following preparatory talks, representatives of the UN and
Communist commands began truce negotiations at Kaesong, North Korea. Talks continued
intermittently for two years. 
Although conducted in an atmosphere of mutual suspicion, negotiations finally resulted in
settlement of all but one major issue: Communist refusal to accept the principle, adhered
to by the UN, that a prisoner of war should not be returned against his will to his
respective army. Negotiations broke down in October 1952 and were not resumed until April
1953. In late spring, the two sides agreed that prisoners unwilling to return to their
own countries would be placed in the custody of a neutral commission for a period of 90
days following the signing of a truce. During this period, each nation could attempt to
persuade its nationals to return home. The two sides agreed to hold a top-level peace
conference within three months of the effective date of the armistice, but this was later
postponed until April 1954. 
In July 1953, the truce agreement was signed at P'anmunjom. Thus, pending ultimate
settlement at the projected peace conference, the Korean War was terminated after more
than three years of conflict. The U.S. suffered 157,530 casualties; deaths from all
causes totaled 33,629, of which 23,300 occurred in combat. South Korea sustained
1,312,836 military casualties, including 415,004 dead; casualties among other UN allies
totaled 16,532, including 3094 dead. Estimated Communist casualties were 2 million. The
economic and social damage to the Korean nation was incalculable.