Korean War

The Korean War was waged from June 1950 until July 1953 between the Republic of Korea (South Korea), backed by the United States, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), with the support of the People's Republic of China The conflict resulted from the division of Korea by the Allied forces at the conclusion of World War II. Korea had been ruled by the Japanese empire from 1910 until the conclusion of fighting in the Pacific Theater during World War II in September 1945. At this time, the United States divided the Korean Peninsula at the 38th parallel. The United States occupied the southern part of the country, and the Soviet military operated the north. By the time the Korean War concluded, military forces had used tactics seen in World War I and World War II, including infantry attacks, air bombing, and ultimately trench warfare.

While both sides in the Korean War used tactics of lying and deceit throughout the conflict, these were not as popular as they had been during World War II or would later be during the Vietnam War. Like Operation Quicksilver during World War II, the most brazen use of deceit involved attempts to convince North Korean military officials of a different time and place for a U.S. invasion than was actually intended. While South Korea and the United States planned to invade at Inchon in September 1950, the United Nations Command devised a campaign using leaflets to attempt to convince North Koreans that the amphibious landing would be happening in Kunsan, an area over 100 miles north of Inchon. The leaflets were dropped from the sky along the southwest coast and warned civilians to not go near the beaches or dock areas. At the same time, a United Nations naval task force and commando landing occurred at Kunsan.