Widening of the Cold war ; The Korean War

causes, position and aims of Kim ll Sung and Syngman Rhee; attitudes and actions of the UN, USA, USSR and China; military involvement and settlement

Korean War, June 1950 - July 1953

Korean War, June 1950 - July 1953

• 25 June 1950: following approval from Stalin, Kim Il Sung invades S Korea and captured Seoul (after he asked 48 times)

• July: USSR’s boycott of the UN allows UN military support to be approved for S Korea

• Aug: MacArthur advances northwards, leading to Chinese forces joining war

• Aug 1951: stalemate and peace talks begin

• 27 July 1953: armistice signed = end of war

Context of the Korean War - 38th Paralell

1945 - was agreed at Potsdam that Korea would be divided into two zones of occupation

North - Soviet Union

South - USA

This division was known as the 38th parallell

August 1948 - Democratic (capitalist) Republic of South Korea

September 1948 - Communist Republic of North Korea

Kim II Sung - communist leader , in order to deter possibility of a non communist coalition.

Synghman Rhee - anti communist leader

Synghman Rhee - aims

To create a united Korean front under one leader - establishing Korea as a non communist state and in the process establishing a strong state which would resist any threats from the USSR

A border with Manchuria was better than defending a border at the 38th parallell

Rhee also wanted a guarantee from the USA that it would protect South Korea from an attack from the North and provide military aid to enable the South Korean army to enforce the national reunification of Korea

Kim II Sung : aims

Committed to using force as the vehicle to achieve unification - this began with the development of extensive guerilla action by the North

Developed a strategy based on winning external support. He wanted to use the collective power of the communist world in order to increase the North’s strength against South Korea and its Western allies.

He focused on four issues in order to persuade Stalin to support an attack on the South:

• it would be a rapid and decisive victory

• there was a hard core of 200,000 communist supporters already in the South

• well organised communist guerilla force operating in the South

• the USA would not have time to intervene

March 1949 - Kim II Sung turns to Stalin

Kim II Sung turns to Stalin for soviet support for a North Korean assault on South Korea

Stalin rejects this, aware of the 7500 US troops still in South Korea

• Stalin suggests that Kim II Sung should strengthen the guerrilla forces in the South in order to undermine the government there

February 1950 - Stalin’s position on the invasion

By February 1950, Stalin’s position had shifted

October 1949 - Chinese communists defeat the nationalists and set up the PRC

January 1950 - USA did not include South Korea in the Defensive Perimeter Strategy

Therefore:

• Stalin provides NK with 1600 pieces of artillery

• 178 military aircraft

• 258 T - 34 tanks

But he was not prepared to commit Soviet troops to participate in a war

Mao’s position in the Korean War

China’s involvement in the war was activated by Truman ordering the US 7th fleet to defend Taiwan by positioning itself between China and Taiwan

In an official statement by Mao , issued on 28th June , 1950, in which he defined China’s position regarding North Korea’s invasion of the South :

• ‘the US is unable to justify in any way its intervention in the internal affairs of Korea’

US position in Korea

The North Korean invasion fundamentally re orientated US policy towards Korea.

• In May 1951 , Dean G Acheson took the view that North Korea’s purpose was to destabilise Japan, Southeast Asia and the Phillipines and even to influence the position in Europe.

Acheson believed that areas in the Far East would become unsettled if a communist assault on South Korea was succesfull.

A speech delivered by President Truman to US Congress , on 27 June 1950 , in which he announced his plans to address the crisis in Korea:

‘The attack upon Korea makes it plain beyond all doubt that communism has passed beyond the use of subversion to conquer nations and will now use armed invasion and war’

‘The United States will continue to uphold the rule of law’

27th June 1950 - the United Nations Security Resolution (UNSCR)

The UNSCR declared North Korean actions constituted a breach of peace, recommending UN members to provide assistance to South Korea to repel the attack and restore peace on the Korean pennisula

Second resolution to North Korea issued by the United Nations on 27th June 1950

‘having noted that the authorities of North Korea have neither ceased hostilities nor withdrawn their armed forces to the 38th parallell’

‘urgent military measures are required to restore international peace and security’

Significance?

This resolution effectively endorsed US policy. It offered international credibility to the USA’s intent to intervene and enhanced this by widening the intervention to an international scale

How did UN involvement escalate the Korean War?

Truman asked the UN to help him protect South Korea from the North. The UN asked North Korea to remove its troops from the South, but this request was ignored so the UN sent troops to fight

Phase 1: June - September 1950 (offensive)

Forces of the DPRK advanced into South Korea and reached a perimeter point close to Pusan

Chinese troops were massed in Manchuria in readiness for a move into Korea

• Through the UN , 29 states committed to military , economic or medical aid

Phase 2: September - November 1950 (counter offensive/ offensive)

MacArthur landed at Inchon and succeeded in forcing North Korean forces back across the 38th paralell

In October , Mao sent 300,000 Chinese troops across the Yalu River into North Korea

October 1950 ; UN invasion

UN forces invaded North Korea in October 1950 and moved rapidly towards the Yalu River—the border with China—but on 19 October 1950, Chinese forces of the People's Volunteer Army (PVA) crossed the Yalu and entered the war. The UN retreated from North Korea after the First Phase Offensive and the Second Phase Offensive.

Phase 3: December 1950–June 1951 (stabilisation and negotiation)

By January, Chinese forces had pushed across the 38th parallel and captured Seoul.

In February, the UN condemned China as an aggressor

MacArthur dismissed by Truman April 1953

Dismissed due to demands that US forces should push into North Korea and engage the Chinese, use air strikes and nuclear weapons against them.

Phase 4: June 1951–July 1953 (stalemate and peace)

• Neither side mounted any significant military offensives during this period. The lack of UN action convinced Mao and Stalin that there was a genuine desire for a peace settlement.

A natural disinclination to cooperate with each other plus very protracted negotiations on post-war prisoner release arrangements led to long delays in reaching a final settlement.

July 1953 - armistice signed in Panmunjom

The agreement confirmed :

• There was to be a military demarcation line with a demilitarised zone of two kilometres on each side

• All military forces should withdraw to their respective territories

• The repatriation of prisoners would begin