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Podcast Transcript
In the aftermath of the Second World War, everyone had hoped that major military conflicts would be a thing of the past.
However, just five years after the end of the war, another major conflict erupted on the Korean Peninsula that directly or indirectly engaged most of the world’s great powers.
The war saw dramatic turns of fortune for both sides and in the end, nothing was ever resolved.
Learn more about the Korean War, its origins, and how it never really ended on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
To understand the origins of the Korean War, we must go back to 1910.
That was the year that Japan occupied the Korean Peninsula. This was one of the first attempts of the Japanese Empire at territorial expansion.
Soon after the Japanese occupation of Korea, resistance to the occupation began.
When Japan occupied neighboring Manchuria, the Korean resistance worked in conjunction with the Chinese resistance, which was usually the Communists and the People’s Liberation Army.
Fast-forward to 1945. The Allies had victory in sight, and at the Yalta Conference, held in the Crimean Peninsula, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt laid the plans for the post-war world.
In addition to dividing up zones of control for Germany after the war, they also did the same with the Korean Peninsula.
The division of Korea was to be relatively simple compared to the division of Germany.
The peninsula would be split in two along the 38th line of latitude. The Soviet Union would control the north, and the United States would control the south.
This was intended to be a temporary arrangement and not the start of a two-state solution.
At the end of the war, the Soviet Union moved quickly to establish control over northern Korea, reaching the 38th Parallel before the Americans arrived in the South.
In August 1945, the Soviets helped establish the Provisional People’s Committee for North Korea, led by local communists.
This government began implementing socialist reforms, including land redistribution from landlords to peasants, nationalizing Industries and key resources, and suppressing non-communist political activities.
The Soviets installed Kim Il-sung, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter, as the leader of the North.
Kim was chosen for his loyalty to the Soviet Union and his appeal as a resistance hero. He became head of the Workers’ Party of Korea in 1946.
In the South, the area was first administered by the United States Army Military Government in Korea, which governed South Korea from 1945 to 1948.
The United States supported Syngman Rhee, an anti-communist leader with ties to the United States, who emerged as a prominent political figure.
The U.S. favored his leadership due to his staunch opposition to communism and his advocacy for an independent South Korea.
In 1946 and 1947, the United States and the Soviet Union attempted to establish a unified Korean government through a Joint Commission, but ideological differences led to a stalemate.
In 1947, the new United Nations proposed elections to establish a government for the entire Korean Peninsula. The Soviet Union and North Korea opposed this plan, arguing it favored the South and blocked participation in the North.
Elections were held in the South under UN supervision, despite opposition from many Koreans who sought unification before establishing separate governments.
Syngman Rhee was elected as the first president of South Korea.
The Republic of Korea was officially proclaimed on August 15, 1948.
Seoul was established as the capital.
In theory, the government was structured as a constitutional democracy, though in practice, it often leaned toward authoritarianism under Rhee’s rule.
On September 9, 1948, Kim Il Sung established the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, becoming its first Premier.
Both North and South Korea viewed themselves as the legitimate government of all of Korea and thought that the entire Korean peninsula should be unified under their rule.
In March 1949, Sung went to Moscow to meet with Stalin to ask his permission to launch an invasion of the South.
Stalin didn’t think the timing was right. The Chinese civil war was still taking place, and the Americans still had forces in South Korea.
Within a year, the situation had changed dramatically.
On August 29, 1949, the Soviets had detonated their first atomic bomb.
In China, the communists were victorious in their Civil War, and the Americans did not intervene to stop the outcome.
The Soviets had cracked the American diplomatic codes that were used to communicate with their Moscow embassy, and Stalin was sure that the United States wouldn’t risk a nuclear confrontation over Korea.
Stalin gave the go-ahead, and on June 25, 1950, North Korea launched a surprise attack on the South.
The attack was an incredible success. The North Korean People’s Army quickly captured Seoul and pushed South Korean and UN forces to a small pocket on the southeastern tip of the peninsula.
The issue was brought to the United Nations by the United States on behalf of the South Korean government.
On June 25, 1950, the UN Security Council convened to address the North Korean invasion.
The Council passed Resolution 82, condemning North Korea’s aggression and calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of North Korean forces to the 38th Parallel.
When North Korea ignored the first resolution, the Security Council passed Resolution 83 on June 27, 1950.
This resolution recommended that member states provide military assistance to South Korea to repel the invasion and restore peace.
This was a major test for the young United Nations regarding its ability to counter military aggression.
You might be wondering how the Security Council could have passed this when the Soviet Union and China, both Allies of North Korea, were on the Security Council.
When the UN was established, China’s Security Council seat was given to the Republic of China. When the nationalist forces in China lost the war, they retreated to the island of Taiwan, where they continued the Republic of China as a shadow of its former self on the mainland.
The Soviets objected to the People’s Republic of China’s not getting a seat in the Security Council, so they boycotted the Council from January 13 until August 1, 1950. It was only a little under eight months, but it was the period when North Korea decided to invade, and they weren’t around to veto the resolution.
Resolution 84, passed on July 7, 1950, authorized the formation of a unified command under the UN flag to lead the military effort in Korea.
The United States was designated as the lead nation, and General Douglas MacArthur was appointed commander of the UN forces.
Sixteen nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Turkey, provided combat troops, and five additional nations offered medical and logistical support.
With almost the entire peninsula under North Korean control, the big question was how, exactly, to fight back.
Macarthur decided on a surprise attack of their own.
He organized an amphibious landing at the port of Incheon on the western coast of the Korean peninsula.
Incheon was selected for several reasons.
First, it is located near Seoul. Capturing Incheon allowed UN forces to quickly advance to Seoul and disrupt North Korean supply and communication lines, effectively cutting the North Korean forces in two.
Second, the North Korean forces did not expect an assault at Incheon due to its geographic and environmental challenges, such as extreme tidal variations, narrow channels, and strong coastal defenses. These factors made an amphibious landing appear unlikely, increasing the likelihood of a successful surprise attack….if they could pull it off.
Despite misgivings by Macarthur’s underlings, the September 15 landing was a success.
The next day, the UN forces trapped around the city of Pussan in the south began their breakout.
On September 25, Seoul had been recaptured, and heavy losers were inflicted on the North Koreans.
In the South, the North Korean forces didn’t make a retreat to the North. They just fell apart.
Approximately 135,000–150,000 of the 200,000-strong North Korean Army at the war’s start were killed, wounded, or captured during this phase.
On September 27, Stalin convened a meeting of the Soviet Politburo, where he criticized North Korea’s incompetence and the Soviet military advisors who had been sent there to help.
By October, the UN Forces had pushed beyond the 38th Parallel and had captured the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on October 18.
By the end of October, the UN forces were closing in on the Yalu River, which serves as the border between North Korea and China. By this point, 85 to 90% of the North Korean army was gone.
Macarthur felt it necessary to cross the river to go into China to eliminate the bases that were supporting the North Koreans. He also controversially advocated the use of nuclear weapons against China.
The Chinese government warned the United States that if they continued, they would intervene, but the Americans ignored the warning.
In October 1950, following the UN advance toward the Yalu River, China secretly began deploying hundreds of thousands of troops under the guise of the People’s Volunteer Army to avoid declaring formal war on the UN.
Chinese forces began crossing the Yalu River into North Korea on October 19, 1950.
The Chinese attack was massive. Approximately 300,000–500,000 Chinese troops initially entered Korea, with total Chinese participation estimated at over 1 million troops during the entire war.
The Chinese relied on mass infantry attacks, surprise maneuvers, and superior knowledge of the terrain.
Their forces often operated with limited logistics and air support, relying on night attacks to mitigate UN air superiority.
In one of the most famous engagements of the war, The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Chinese forces surrounded UN troops, including the U.S. 1st Marine Division, in freezing conditions.
While the UN forces managed a tactical withdrawal, the Chinese offensive forced all UN forces south of the 38th Parallel.
Chinese and North Korean forces pushed the UN back, recapturing Seoul by early January 1951.
After regrouping, UN forces retook Seoul in March 1951, leading to a stalemate near the 38th Parallel.
The Chinese approach of massive waves of infantry worked, but at an enormous cost. An estimated 180,000–400,000 Chinese were killed, wounded, or missing during the war.
The war devolved into trench warfare at this point, with heavy casualties and little territorial gain for either side. Both sides conducted bombing campaigns, with the US targeting North Korean cities and infrastructure.
This stalemate continued for two years, with neither side gaining any advantage and only minor changes in territory.
During these two years, several attempts were made to create an armistice between the two sides, but nothing came to fruition. One of the biggest sticking points in the negotiation was the repatriation of prisoners because captured North Koreans and Chinese didn’t want to go back to the North.
One of the things that helped break the deadlock was the death of Stalin on March 4, 1953. The new regime wanted to cease support for the Chinese and North Koreans for something that was going nowhere.
The other thing was a proposal by India to resolve the issue of prisoners of war. India proposed a compromise solution: the establishment of a Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC) to oversee the repatriation process and ensure that POWs were given a choice.
India chaired the NNRC, which included representatives from Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.
The other key agreement was establishing a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the approximate line of contact near the 38th Parallel, serving as a buffer between North and South Korea.
The DMZ was approximately 4 kilometers or 2.5 miles wide and spanned the entire peninsula.
Both sides agreed to an immediate cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of their forces to either side of the buffer zone.
The Korean Armistice Agreement, signed on July 27, 1953, marked the end of active combat in the Korean War.
The agreement was signed by representatives of the United Nations Command (UNC), North Korea, and China.
South Korea’s President Syngman Rhee refused to sign the armistice, as he opposed any agreement that left Korea divided. However, Rhee agreed not to obstruct the implementation of the armistice after being assured of continued U.S. support.
The agreement was a military ceasefire, not a peace treaty, meaning the war technically did not officially end, and tensions between North and South Korea persist to this day.
The Korean War is often called “The Forgotten War” because World War II and the Vietnam War overshadow it.
The cost of the war in terms of lives was staggering.
South Korea had approximately one million military and civilian deaths.
North Korea had approximately 1.5 million military and civilian deaths.
The United States suffered only 36,000 deaths.
And China had at least 150,000 deaths and possibly as many as double that.
The Korean War is remembered as a key chapter in the Cold War and a reminder of the ideological divisions that shaped the 20th century. It laid the foundation for the tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which still persist over 70 years later.