Description of the Korean War World History II

1. World History II – Spring 2013

2.  Korea had been ruled by Japan
since 1910
 Japan surrenders to Allies in
September 1945
 Allies decide to divide Korea
along 38th parallel
 Soviet troops will occupy the
north
 U.S. troops will occupy the south
 Koreans are excluded from these
conferences
 Division and occupation were
intended to be temporary

3.  Syngman Rhee
 Korean nationalist who had been
exiled by the Japanese
 Wants to unify Korea
 Does not want to trade Japanese
imperialism for American/Soviet
 1948 becomes first President of
South Korea
 Establishes authoritarian regime
 Supported by U.S. because he is
anti-communist

4.  Kim Il-Sung
 Communist guerilla leader who
had been exiled by the Japanese
 Served in the Soviet Red Army
during WWII
 Stalin placed him in charge of
newly formed North Korea
 Wanted to unify Korea under
communist rule

5.  North and South engage in reunification negotiations
 Talks are off and on for two years
 Neither side will change political ideology
 Border skirmishes are common
 Nearly 10,000 North and South Korean soldiers are killed in
battle before the war even starts

6.  June 25, 1950 North Korean troops launch a surprise
attack on South Korea
 United Nations Security Council votes to support
South Koreans
 Soviets boycott the meeting
 Truman sees this as an opportunity for containment
 15 UN Member Nations send troops
 88% of troops are from U.S.
 Combined forces led by General MacArthur

7.  MacArthur’s troops
push North Koreans
past 38th parallel and
engage in an offensive
to “liberate” North
Korea from the
Communists
 U.N. troops reach the
Yalo River, North
Korea’s border with
China

8.  Mao Zedong warns that crossing into China will mean
full-scale war
 Truman knows this might risk war with Soviets, who
now have a nuclear bomb
 MacArthur wants to engage China and is fired for
insubordination
Chinese forces cross
the Yalo River into
Korea on October 16,
1950

9.  Combined North Korean and Chinese forces push U.N.
troops back into South Korea in January 1951
 For six months, territory is traded back and forth
within 100 miles of the 38th parallel
 In July 1951, armistice negotiations begin but no
agreement is reached until July 1953
 Boundary at 38th parallel is reestablished and a two-
mile-wide Demilitarized Zone is created

10.  First armed conflict of the Cold War
 “Proxy War”- when opposing powers use third parties as
substitutes for fighting each other
 First time US engaged with an enemy in possession of
a nuclear bomb
 First containment of communism outside of Europe
 First racially integrated US troops
 Test of the United Nations as an international peace-
keeping body