Why Did the Korean War Start? North Korea’s surprise attack on South Korea on June 25, 1950, set off a conflict between capitalists and communists over control of the Korean Peninsula. The Korean War, which raged from 1950 to 1953, claimed millions of lives and permanently split North and South Korea.
Why Did the Korean War Start?
After the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, Japan submitted to the Allies, giving the United States and the Soviet Union control of the Korean peninsula.
The 38th parallel, which roughly splits the peninsula in half, was the line that the superpowers decided to divide Korea between themselves.
According to Kim, “it didn’t correspond to political, cultural, or terrain boundaries.” The United States assisted in the establishment of a military government in the South, while the Soviet Union installed a communist government in the North.
Tensions remained high throughout 1948–1950 due to sporadic border skirmishes.
The United States requested that the United Nations support a vote by Koreans to choose their future government in 1948.
Under the anti-communist Syngman Rhee, the South established its government in Seoul after the North declined to take part.
Former communist guerrilla Kim Il Sung was appointed Premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in retaliation.
Kim Il Sung traveled to Moscow twice in 1949 and 1950 in an attempt to get Soviet approval to invade South Korea.
According to Kim, “North Korea was banking on the U.S. not coming back” when it invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950.
With the assistance of skilled veterans of the Chinese Civil War, which had just concluded in August 1949, North Korean forces were formidable.
The North Koreans moved quickly southward. Watching to see what would come next was the entire world.
The Korean War: Why Did the United States Get Involved?
At first, the United States was opposed to participating in any kind of invasion. Kim claims that they had no desire to become involved with North Korea, let alone China or the Soviet Union.
The United States changed its direction due to significant events that occurred globally. The Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb on August 29, 1949.
The design for the “Fat Man” atomic bomb was leaked to the Soviet Union by physicist Klaus Fuchs, who assisted the US in developing its atomic bomb program.
The information increased Cold War anxiety.
After the defeat of the Chinese nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek, who were backed by the United States, communist revolutionary Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
China dispatched thousands of soldiers to support North Korea. Mao Zedong was determined to support his allies in North Korea.
By what he perceived as releasing South Koreans from American imperialist rule, he hoped to raise China’s stature in the communist world, according to Kim.
The Korean War’s effects
During the Korean War, over 2.5 million people perished.
While South Korea continues to search for over 124,000 servicemen, 7,800 Americans remain missing in action despite two prisoner-of-war exchanges, Operation Little Switch and Operation Big Switch.
She contends that President Lyndon B. Johnson’s policies in Vietnam were directly impacted by the Korean War:
“It was a prosperous independent country, split by the Cold War, under threat from its communist neighbor, supported by China and the Soviet Union.”
The Korean War was now viewed as having successfully halted the spread of Chinese communism throughout Asia.
The Korean War was dubbed “The Forgotten War” because it was positioned between World War II and the Vietnam War.
However, according to Jager, the Korean War is still having an impact on events in East Asia. There is still tension between the US and North Korea.
Final Words
Though World War II and the Vietnam War have largely eclipsed the Korean War in Americans’ memories, the precedent set by Truman’s actions in Korea has been used by American presidents to justify military interventions in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan as well as UN missions in Bosnia and Haiti.
Since then, there has been discussion about the groundbreaking choice. The war’s unsettling legacy endures because it was undeclared, unresolved, and mostly forgotten.
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