6 - The Korean War, 1950 - 1953

What happened February 1950?

Stalin agrees to provide North Korea with military equipment

What happened June 1950?

North Korea invades South Korea

the UN demands the withdrawal of North Korean forces

What happened October 1950?

Chinese forces enter the war on the side of North Korea

What happened April 1951?

Truman dismisses MacArthur

What happened June 1951?

the first attempts at peace negotiations are proposed

What happened March 1953?

Stalin dies

What happened July 1953?

a final peace agreement is reached

What happened to Korea at Potsdam in August 1945?

Korean Peninsula taken from Japanese control, divided along the 38th parallel into two zones of occupation

North - Soviet Zone

South - American Zone

but unlike Germany appeared to be of marginal interest to the superpowers

What happened to Korea August - September 1948?

US orchestrated creation of the (capitalist) Republic of Korea from its zone

USSR identically created (communist) Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Who were the leaders of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea?

Soviet Zone - Kim Il Sung - chairman of the newly formed Korean Provisional People’s Committee (NKPPC) - acted as provisional communist government

Syngman Rhee - leader of anti-communist provisional government (USA approved)

What were both Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee committed to?

the restoration of a united Korea under a single leader

What were Rhee’s political stances?

• nationalist

• anti-communist

• wanted to reunite Korea as an anti-communist sovereign country - meant removing communist from North + establishing in process a stronger state that could resist any threat from USSR

• needed guarantee from USA it would protect South Korea from an attack from the North + provide military aid to enable South Korean Army to enforce the national reunification of Korea

• determined to use force both to defend itself + attack the North

What were Kim Il Sung’ political stances?

• committed to using force to achieve unification - began with development of extensive guerrilla action by North - aimed to destabilise South + undermine Rhee’s regime

What strategy did Kim Il Sung develop based on winning external support?

wanted to use collective power of communist world to increase North’s strength against South Korea + Western allies, pressurised both USSR + China

What four issues did Kim Il Sung focus on to persuade Stalin + Mao to support an attack on the South?

• it would be a rapid + decisive victory

• already 200,000 communist supports in the South

• there was a well-organised communist guerrilla force operating in the South

• USA would have no time to intervene

attempted to undermine Stalin’s support when talking to Mao, and Mao’s support when talking to Stalin

How did Stalin’s thinking on supporting North Korea change between March 1949 + February 1950?

March 1949 - told Kim Il Sung to strengthen guerrilla forces in South to undermine government there, rather than launch an assault on South Korea

away of presence of 7500 US troops still in Korea

February 1950 - Chinese communists had defeated nationalist and set up People’s Republic of China, Americans had not included South Korea in their Defensive Perimeter Strategy

STALIN AGREED TO PROVIDE NORTH KOREA WITH ARTILLERY, MILITARY AIRCRAFT AND TANKS, WASN’T PREPARED TO COMMIT SOVIET TROOPS TO PARTICIPATE IN WAR

What were Stalin’s priorities that influenced his thinking in agreeing to provide North Korea with military resources, but not commit Soviet troops to participate in a war?

• war in Korea might bring in USA, leading to US-Soviet conflict that could spread into Europe

• a united communist Korean state as ally of USSR would be positive outcome - strengthen Soviet borders, put pressure on Japan - USA’s principle ally in Asia - + provide economic opportunities for USSR

• if stalled on supporting North Korea, Kim Il Sung could turn to China for primer support, might undermine Soviet influence in region

• USSR had nuclear technology by 1950

Was Stalin willing to commit his own troops against the Americans?

NO

accepted that indirect military support for North Korea was best option for USSR, particularly in context of nuclear weapons + USSR’s inferior position at this time compared to the USA

What were Mao’s immediate priorities in 1949?

How did this impact China’s approach to Korea?

• consolidating communist control in China

• consolidation of Chinese territory through regaining control of Taiwan from the nationalists

NOT concerned with future of Korea, so when North Korea invaded the South initially China didn’t intervene or offer any form of overt support

as late as April 19950 determined to take no action that might inflame USA - ordered less emphasis to be placed on China acting as prime mover in global struggle between communism + capitalist Western imperialism, greater focus on addressing China’s more immediate geostrategic priorities - especially future of Taiwan

What eventually activated China’s involvement in the Korean War?

Was there any opposition in China to Mao’s view?

Truman ordered the US 7th Fleet to defend Taiwan by positioning itself between China and Taiwan

YES - there was opposition, Zhou Enlai pushed for domestic emphasis + argued that internal consolidation of communist revolution without external distractions must prevail

August 1950 - Mao argued that if US imperialists won the war they would become arrogant + threaten China

How did Mao rationalise China’s involvement in the Korean War?

• August 1950 - Mao argued that if US imperialists won the war they would become arrogant + threaten China

• discounted significance of USA’s nuclear strength as said Manchuria - region Chinese forces could amass in - too near Soviet Union, preventing risk of USA using nuclear weapons

• + using nuclear weapons in Korea might place US forces at too great risk considering conventional nature of conflict

In what way were Mao’s options limited to some extent regarding getting involved in Korea?

• if didn’t China’s image would be permanently tarnished in eyes of communist world, China had to be seen supporting fellow communist comrades in struggle against capitalist imerpalism

When was China eventually compelled to intervene due to pressure from Stalin?

November 1950

Until 1949, what was the USA’s national security priority in Asia?

Was the main focus on Asia though?

Japan

emerging struggle in Korea was of secondary importance compared to need to strengthen USA’s national security by protecting Japan + reviving its economic strength

regarded USSR as greatest threat + focus was on Europe rather than Asia, assuming Japan + Defensive Perimeter States were secured

What did the North Korean invasion do to US policy in Asia?

fundamentally re-orientated US policy towards Korea

Why did the North Korean invasion alarm the USA?

because of what it represented

Acheson took view that North Korea aimed to destabilise Japan, Southeast Asia + Philippines, even to influence the position in Europe - these areas according to Acheson would became unsettled if communist assault on South Korea was successful

also feared the stability established in Europe may also become weakened through a communist victory

What did the USA do as soon as the invasion was made known?

• requested a special session of UN Security Council

• USSR boycotting Security Council due to majority decision to recognise Republic of China under Jiang Jieshi rather than People’s Republic of China under Mao - meant USSR couldn’t veto

• a resolution requiring an immediate ceasefire was passed without opposition

• North Korea didn’t withdraw or commit to a ceasefire - UN issued resolution endorsing UN giving assistance to South Korea

How did Truman avoid the possibility of the USA appearing to be unilaterally implementing containment on a global scale, despite intervention in Korea?

by turning the process into a UN intervention

intervention under guise of UN action removed responsibility from USA while enabling it to ensure an international response was coordinated to achieve the protection of South Korea

UN resolution after failure to commit to ceasefire gave international credibility to the USA’s intent to intervene + enhanced this by widening the intervention to an international scale

Who led the UN force that prevented a rapid North Korean victory?

General Douglas MacArthur

What was the first of the four phases of the Korean War?

JUNE - SEPTEMBER 1950 - OFFENSIVE

• North Korean forces advanced into South

• Chinese troops massed in Manchuria in preparation to move into Korea

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

What was the second of the four phases of the Korean War?

SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 1950 - COUNTER-OFFENSIVE/OFFENSIVE

• MacArthur arrived + succeeded in forcing North Korean forces back across 38th parallel

• October - Mao sent 300,000 Chinese troops into North Korea

• led to a major counter-attack against UN forces

What was the third of the four phases of the Korean War?

DECEMBER 1950 - JUNE 1951 - STABILISATION + NEGOTIATION

• by January Chinese forces across 38th parallel + captured Seoul

• February - UN condemned China as an aggressor

• April - MacArthur dismissed by Truman due to demands that US forces should push into North Korea, engage the Chinese, use air strikes + nuclear weapons against them - MacArthur wanted to commit USA to reunification of Korea, Truman feared extension of war + bringing USSR into it

• by June - USA indicating to China + USSR of its willingness to negotiate ceasefire

What was the final of the four phases of the Korean War?

JUNE 1951 - JULY 1953 - STALEMATE AND PEACE

• no significant military offensives from either side - lack of UN action convinced Mao + Stalin that there was genuine desire for peace settlement

• USA had consolidated relationship with Japan + felt more secure in its involvement in East Asia

• natural disinclination to cooperate with each other + prolonged negotiations on post-war prisoner release arrangements led to delays in reaching final settlement

When did peace negotiations start, and when was an armistice agreed?

started - July 1951

armistice agreed - July 1953

Why did Rhee obstruct peace negotiations?

• wanted to commit US to stronger ties with South Korea by forcing US into greater position of dependency on South Korea as an agent of US containment

When did Stalin die?

March 1953 - removed significant delaying factor in peace negotiations

Who replaced Stalin?

Georgy Malenkov

What did the Panmunjom Armistice Agreement confirm?

• was to be military demarcation line with demilitarised zone on each side - line was to be roughly that of the 38th parallel

• all military forces should withdraw to their respective territories

• the repatriation of prisoners would begin

pre-war status quo restored (but impact of war was far reaching)

What were the impacts of the Korean War? (7)

• long-term security of North + South Korea protected, condition of security was no further warfare would take place on Korean Peninsula

• uneasy stability = long-term consequence, continues to this day

• long-term security of Taiwan guaranteed by USA, China’s chance to absorb island lost after Korean War as USA determined that Taiwan should remain under nationalist control

• war placed huge economic pressure on USSR → Stalin accelerated industrialisation of Eastern Europe → massive reduction in availability of consumer goods → contributed to reaction of some elements of Eastern Europe against communist control

• according to NSC-68 USA would encourage nations resisting Soviet political aggression → containment was globalised

• led to strengthening of military resources in Western Europe, Western Germany allowed to rearm, prospect of an early solution to the long-term future of Germany was lost

• led to a deepening of Cold War uncertainty in Europe

Why was the Korean War described as a ‘limited war’?

However, what did it do regarding USA commitment in the region?

‘limited war’ - purpose was to restore status quo through presentation of the spread of communism into South Korea

appeared to achieve aim BUT - USA was now committed to ensuring that any further spread of communism in region couldn’t happen

USA’s interests in Korean War

• ensure stability in East Asia, especially long-term security of Japan as US ally

• protect Taiwan from Chinese communist aggression

• contain communism in region

USSR’s interests in Korean War

• avoid costly conflict with USA

• promote Stalin’s image as a defender of communism

• undermine China as an emerging rival

China’s interests in Korean War

• establish China’s credentials as a significant force in the communist world + East Asia

• be seen as acting independently of USSR

• consolidate its position in terms of recovering Taiwan

Who were the only real winners of the Korean War?

North + South Korea

experienced economic + security benefits + their individual leaders and the regimes they had created were secure