On June 25, 1950, more than 75,000 North Korean soldiers flooded over the 38th parallel: the boundary between the Soviet-backed North Korea and the UN-backed South Korea. Caught off guard, the South Korean forces quickly retreated. By August, they had been pushed back into the Pusan perimeter, a defensive corner in the Southeastern corner of Korea.
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| Marines advancing after landing at Inchon |
On October 19, Pyeongchang, the capital of North Korea, was captured by the UN forces. At this point, the war was looking good for the Allied powers, as they made quick work of advancing towards the Yalu River (river separating North Korea and China). The Americans were doing so well that both General MacArthur and the troops thought the war would be over by Christmas. They even stopped for Thanksgiving, enjoying meals like those they would have at home (the Defense Department reportedly shipped around 12 million pounds of turkey to troops overseas for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners). However, the Thanksgiving peace didn’t last long, as on November 25th, the Communist Chinese Army counterattacked the Allied powers in support of North Korea, and drove most of the US and South Korean troops back to the 38th parallel by Christmas.
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| Troops eating turkey for Thanksgiving dinner |
On July 27, 1953, military leaders from North Korea, China, and the UN signed the Korean Armistice Agreement in Panmunjom, which ended the fighting, created a new boundary near the 38th parallel, and established a 2.5-mile-wide demilitarized zone (DMZ) to serve as a buffer. This temporary truce has remained in effect for more than 60 years (and it continues to), but the truce could change soon.
Despite the lack of fighting, North and South Korea never signed an official permanent peace treaty, which technically means that they are still at war today. Recently, there has been a revival of peace talks between North and South Korea, but there still isn’t a peace treaty that officially declares the end of the Korean war. Although an official peace declaration would do little militarily, it would do a lot politically, such as bettering North and South Korean relations. In the end, Western powers were successful in containing the spread of communism in Korea and maintained the 38th parallel divide.
https://www.history.com/news/korean-war-peace-treaty-pows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Armistice_Agreement
https://www.history.com/topics/korea/inchon
https://www.rand.org/blog/2019/02/declaring-an-end-to-the-korean-war.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/11/thanksgiving-in-a-foxhole-1950/383191/
This blog post was a really good summary of the important events of the Korean War. For me, the most interesting part of the war is the resolution (or lack there of) because of the implications it has for modern day Korea. The fact that there was never an official peace deal has created issues for the current leaders of the world to deal with. Today, the debate about a Korean War Peace Deal is has been brought to the attention of the US, as President Trump has long been interested in diplomatic relations with North Korea, even meeting with Kim Jong-un three times. Although both North and South Korean governments assert that they are the correct leader of the entire peninsula, in recent years, tensions have begun to thaw between the two governments. An official end to the Korean War may be in the future, and I think it would be interesting to follow the process.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/world/asia/korea-peace-deal.html?auth=login-email&login=email
I really enjoyed reading your overview of the Korean War. In addition to the major events during the war, such as the Landing and Inchon and, firing of General MacArthur, and lack of a final treaty, another major aspect of the war was the weather. Shortly after the Battle of Inchon, American soldiers were confronted with their first winter in Korea. Caught by surprised, the soldiers were extremely unprepared and the results were devastating. With they tried desperately to wrap towels around their head or hands, many still suffered from frozen fingers, toes, or ears, as well as jammed weapons and rock solid rations. Luckily, the following two winters were much more mild compared to the winter of 1950. Nevertheless, the freezing weather will forever be an unforgettable part of the Korean War.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.army.mil/article/47963/combating_cold_korea
I think this post details the nature of the war very well. The war was very back and forth, with North Korean soldiers winning at the start then UN forces joining and pushing them back into the North, and finally the Chinese troops pushing UN forces back to around the 38th parallel. When the Chinese joined the war, it was very decisive as Allied forces thought that they could have a quick victory. When the UN forces started driving deeper into North Korea, the People's Republic of China issued warnings to keep their distance. However, the Allied forces kept closing in and the Chinese attacked, sending around 300,000 troops by early November. This marked a turning point in the Korean War.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chinese-counterattacks-in-korea-change-nature-of-war