Korean War

Armed conflict that took place on the Korean peninsula from 1950 to 1953, precipitated by North Korea's attack on the South on June 25, 1950 and fueled by ideological differences. The Korean War involved several interested parties, including the United States and the Soviet Union, who backed South and North Korea, respectively.

At the Potsdam Conference of 1945, the Allied leaders agreed to split the Japanese colony of Korea at the 38th parallel into northern and southern regions. This division eventually came to be supported, militarily and politically, for years to come by the Soviet Union and the United States, and it laid the groundwork for one of the most prominent and resonant regional conflicts to be borne out of the conclusion of World War II.

The beginning of the 20th century saw the conquest of the Korean peninsula by the Japanese Empire in the Russo-Japanese War. Japan's defeat by the United States at the conclusion of World War II, and the later communist takeover of the peninsula, left the region's fate in Allied control.

The original idea to maintain the peninsula as a trusteeship, which surfaced at the Yalta Conference, [Page 415]was set aside in favor of the eventual decision reached at the Potsdam Conference to split Korea into two states: the Russian-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the U.S.-backed Republic of Korea.

With Cold War tensions already rising between the Soviet Union and the United States, and with the newly Communist China at the border of North Korea, the United States had no choice but to remain committed to the success and independence of South Korea, however warily.

The vast ideological divide that separated the governments and political systems of the two new states gave rise to tensions that increased with time. To exacerbate matters, each state believed that the other had been captured and soiled by an ideological enemy and that it had the right and duty to reunite the peninsula under its political system.

On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched a surprise attack on South Korea by crossing the 38th parallel and taking Seoul, the capital of South Korea, within three days. President Harry S. Truman approved military aid to be offered to South Korean forces the day after the attack. Yet initial resistance by South Korea was relatively weak because the North Korean army was larger and far more robust than what was essentially only a military police force on the South Korean side.

The day after the attack, the UN Security Council met and passed a resolution condemning the attack as an act of aggression and calling for an immediate cease-fire. Simultaneously, U.S. infantry and naval troops were committed by President Truman, pursuant to a visit by General Douglas MacArthur to the collapsing South Korean defensive lines. On July 8, the Security Council passed another resolution calling for states to contribute troops and acknowledging U.S. leadership over the bulk of United Nations forces. These forces came to be made up of 16 nations, including Australia, Great Britain, Canada, and the Philippines. The resolution was able to pass only because the Soviet representative, whose veto would otherwise have been guaranteed, was not present during the vote. The Soviets had been boycotting the council's meetings because it had refused to recognize China's new communist government in favor of continuing to offer recognition to the nationalist Chinese government in Taiwan.

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