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Korean War

Korean War. Context in the pacific. Imperial Japanese rule (1910–1945). Upon defeating the Qing Dynasty in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–96), the Empire of Japan occupied the Korean Empire then annexed it with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910.

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Korean War

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  1. Korean War Context in the pacific

  2. Imperial Japanese rule (1910–1945) • Upon defeating the Qing Dynasty in the FirstSino-Japanese War (1894–96), the Empire of Japan occupied the Korean Empirethen annexed it with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910. • 1937:Banning of the use and study of Korean language, literature, and culture. • During WWII :Japan used Korea's food, livestock, and metals for their war effort. They also conscripted 2.6 million forced labourers. • At the Cairo Conference (November 1943), the Republic of China, the U.K., and U.S.decided "in due course Korea shall become free and independent". As agreed with the Allies at the Tehran Conference (November 1943) and the Yalta Conference (February 1945), the Soviet Union declared war against Japan within three months of the end of the war in Europe, on 9 August 1945. By 10 August, the Red Army occupied the northern part of the Korean peninsula as agreed, and on 26 August halted at the 38th parallel for three weeks to await the arrival of US forces in the south.

  3. At the Potsdam Conference (July–August 1945), the Allies unilaterally decided to divide Korea, without consulting the Koreans, in contradiction of the Cairo Conference. • The Korean War begins (June 1950) • In April 1950, Stalin gave Kim permission to invade the South under the condition that Mao would agree to send reinforcements if they became needed. • The North Korean army, receiving help from China and the USSR, was better equipped and outnumbered the South Korean army. • The KPA crossed the 38th parallel behind artillery fire at dawn on Sunday 25 June 1950. The South Koreans did not have any tanks, anti-tank weapons, or heavy artillery. Seoul was lost.

  4. Factors in U.S. intervention • U.S. East Asian experts saw Japan as the critical counterweight to the Soviet Union and China in the region. Its proximity to Japan pushed South Korea to the fore. The U.S. was working to shore up Japan which was its protectorate. • Also there was suspicion that this was a diversion that if left unchecked would lead to a war in Europe. • However there was fear that an intervention could escalate into another world war.

  5. Course of the War • US Air force and Navy crippled the overextended KPA and destroyed supply routes. • KPA forces were forced to hide in tunnels by day and move only at night. • Meanwhile, U.S. garrisons in Japan continually dispatched soldiers and matériel to reinforce defenders in the Pusan Perimeter. Tank battalions deployed to Korea directly from the U.S. mainland from the port of San Francisco to the port of Pusan, the largest Korean port. By late August, the Pusan Perimeter had some 500 medium tanks battle-ready. • In early September 1950, ROK Army and UN Command forces outnumbered the KPA 180,000 to 100,000 soldiers. The UN forces, once prepared, counterattacked and broke out of the Pusan Perimeter. • ROK Army and UN Command forces advanced till the 38th parallel (capturing Seoul).

  6. China intervenes (October – December 1950) • China justified its entry into the war as a response to "American aggression in the guise of the UN". • A series of offensives pushed South Korea back. • The Chinese New Year's Offensive overwhelmed UN forces, allowing the PVA and KPA to conquer Seoul for the second time on 4 January 1951. • These setbacks prompted General MacArthur to consider using nuclear weapons against the Chinese or North Korean interiors, with the intention that radioactive fallout zones would interrupt the Chinese supply chains. • Operation Killer concluded with I Corps re-occupying the territory south of the Han River, and IX Corps capturing Hoengseong. • Operation Ripper: expelling the PVA and the KPA from Seoul on 14 March 1951. This was the city's fourth conquest in a years' time, leaving it a ruin; the 1.5 million pre-war population was down to 200,000, and people were suffering from severe food shortages. • The UN's "Line Kansas" halt and subsequent offensive action stand-down began the stalemate that lasted until the armistice of 1953.

  7. Stalemate (July 1951 – July 1953) • For the remainder of the Korean War the UN Command and the PVA fought, but exchanged little territory. Chinese troops suffered from deficient military equipment, serious logistical problems, overextended communication and supply lines, and the constant threat of UN bombers. All of these factors generally led to a rate of Chinese casualties that was far greater than the casualties suffered by UN troops. • Armistice (July 1953 – November 1954) • With the United Nations' acceptance of India's proposed Korean War armistice, the KPA, the PVA, and the UN Command ceased fire with the battle line approximately at the 38th parallel. • Upon agreeing to the armistice, the belligerents established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which has since been patrolled by the KPA and ROKA, US, and Joint UN Commands.The Demilitarized Zone runs northeast of the 38th parallel; to the south, it travels west. • The war is considered to have ended at this point, even though there was no peace treaty. North Korea nevertheless claims that it won the Korean War. • Recent scholarship has put the full battle death toll on all sides at just over 1.2 million.

  8. Civilian deaths and massacres • There were numerous atrocities and massacres of civilians throughout the Korean war committed by both the North and South Koreans. • South Korean President Syngman Rhee ordered the Bodo League massacre on 28 June beginning numerous killings of more than 100,000 suspected leftist sympathizers and their families by South Korean officials and right-wing groups. • In occupied areas, North Korean Army political officers purged South Korean society of its intelligentsia by executing every educated person—academic, governmental, religious—who might lead resistance against the North; the purges continued during the NPA retreat.

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