Korean War

Kim Il-Sung

leader of North Korea

Syngman Rhee

leader of South Korea

PRK (People’s Republic of Korea)

official name of North Korea

ROK (Republic of Korea)

official name of South Korea

38th parallel

the line of latitude that forms the border between North and South Korea

Harry S. Truman

president of the United States

Joseph Stalin

leader of the Soviet Union

Mao Zedong

leader of Red China

General Douglas MacArthur

the man put in charge of the UN troops

USSR and USA

the two countries that took control of Korea after the Second World War

Democrats

the US political party that Truman belonged to

Andrei A. Gromyko

the Soviet Ambassador to North Korea

Pusan Perimeter

the furthermost point of the North Korean advance into South Korea

90%

the proportion of UN troops provided by the USA

Republican

the US political party that General MacArthur belonged to

CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)

the intelligence agency that predicted to Truman that “there will be no Soviet or Chinese communist intervention in Korea”

Yalu river

the river that marked the natural border between North Korea and China

Pyongyang

the capital city of North Korea

Seoul

the capital city of South Korea

General “Bulldog” Walker

the man in charge of the small US army that remained in Korea after the majority of US and Soviet forces had pulled out in 1949

3

the number of days it took Kim Il-Sung’s forces to capture Seoul after the start of their invasion

stand or die

the famous order that General Walker gave to his men after the invasion

25th June 1950

the date of the start of the Korean War (the invasion by North Korea)

USSR

this country was notably absent at the UN Security Council meeting after the invasion of Korea

December 1950

when General “Bulldog” Walker died

a Korean lorry

what killed General “Bulldog” Walker

General “Old Iron Tits” Ridgway

who replaced General “Bulldog Walker” as head of the UN ground forces

General Van Fleet

who replaced General “Old Iron Tits” Ridgway as head of the 8th Army in 1950

North Korea

the part of Korea controlled by the USSR after WWII

South Korea

the part of Korea controlled by the USA after WWII

John Muccio

the US Ambassador to South Korea

China

the country whose communist government wasn’t recognised by the UN, prompting Stalin to boycott the UN

Joe McCarthy

the US senator that put pressure on Truman to intervene in Korea by accusing him of being “soft on communism”

Inchon

the place where MacArthur famously landed his troops using an amphibious assault

15th September 1950

the date of the Inchon Landing

11th April 1951

the date of General MacArthur’s firing by Truman

General Eisenhower

the person who became President after Truman and negotiated a truce with North Korea

Republicans

the US political party that General Eisenhower belonged to

27th July 1953

the date that the Korean Armistice Agreement (a truce between both sides) was signed

19th July 1965

the date of Syngman Rhee’s death

Jacob Malik

the Soviet delegate at the UN who first called for a negotiated ceasefire on June 23rd 1951

rollback

the policy that General MacArthur wished to pursue in Korea (pushing past the 38th parallel)

containment

the policy that Truman wished to pursue in Korea (pulling troops out of the country)

16

the number of member states of the UN that contributed troops to Korea

Wake Island

the place where Truman met MacArthur during the Korean War (hint: in the Pacific)

15th October 1950

the date of the Wake Island Conference

Japan

the country that controlled Korea at the start of WWII

Marshall Peng Duhai

the Chinese general who led the Chinese troops across the Yalu river for the counter-attack against the Americans

NSC (National Security Council)

the state department that advised Truman that he should only take the fight into North Korea if “general war with the Soviet Union or Communist China” could be avoided

180,000

the number of Chinese communist troops that attacked alongside North Korea in 1950

5th March 1953

the date of Stalin’s death

Joseph Stalin

the death of this person in March 1953 accelerated the signing of an armistice

Panmunjon

where the Korean Armistice Agreement (truce between North and South) was signed

1.5 million

the number of North Koreans that died in the Korean War

Dean Acheson

the US Secretary of State who announced on 12th January 1950 that Korea was outside of the USA’s defendable regions

Defence Perimeter Speech

the speech made by US Secretary of State Dean Acheson that caused Stalin to give Kim the green light for the invasion of South Korea

12th January 1950

the date of the Defence Perimeter Speech by US Secretary of State Dean Acheson

6 weeks

the time that passed between General Walker’s “stand or die” speech and the arrival of UN troops under General MacArthur

Pork Chop Hill

location of some of the fiercest fighting at the 38th parallel

Geneva

the place where peace talks were held between North and South Korea in 1954, however no peace treaty was agreed on or signed

26th April-21st July 1954

the dates of the Geneva Conference

2 million

the number of people killed in the Korean War

Syngman Rhee

the person who threatened North Korea with invasion, prompting them to launch a pre-emptive strike

500,000

the number of Chinese communist troops that crossed the Yalu river into North Korea

19th October 1950

the date of the Chinese PVA (People’s Volunteer Army) crossing into North Korea to fight the Americans

PVA (People’s Volunteer Army)

the name of the Chinese communist army that crossed into North Korea via the Yalu River on 19th October 1950

50

the number of atomic bombs that General MacArthur asked Truman for

Nikita Khrushchev

the person who replaced Stalin as leader of the Soviet Union

6000

the number of American soldiers that died in brutal winter battles after the Chinese attack in North Korea

Sino-Soviet Pact

the name of the treaty signed in 1950 between China and the Soviet Union that stipulated that if China were to be attacked by a third party with atomic weapons the USSR would give them atomic weapons to defend themselves

14th February 1950

the date on which the Sino-Soviet Pact was signed

tanks, artillery, trucks and 15,000 tonnes of oil

the things that Stalin provided Kim and the KPA (Korean People’s Army) with to aid in their invasion of South Korea

Formosa

the place where General MacArthur visits the nationalist leader of China (now exiled in Taiwan) Chiang Kai-Shek

limited war

the kind of war that Truman wants in Korea

US Congress

the place where General MacArthur made a speech after being fired

1/2 million

the number of people that celebrated General MacArthur’s return in a ticker-tape parade in New York

son of a bitch

what Senator Joe McCarthy described Truman as for firing General MacArthur

26%

the approval ratings of President Truman after his firing of General MacArthur

General “Old Iron Tits” Ridgway

the general who replaced General Douglas MacArthur after he was fired on 11th April 1951