Korean War

   Formerly occupied by Japan, it was agreed at the Potsdam Conference in 1945 that Korea would be divided along the 38th parallel between North Korea, under the occupation of the Soviet Union (USSR), and South, under U.S. control. In 1948, it was decided that Korea would be under the trusteeship of the USSR, the United States, and Great Britain for five years. However, in May 1948 a government in the South, the Republic of Korea, was established by Syngman Rhee, backed by the United States. Shortly afterward the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea was established in the North under Kim Il Sung.

   On 25 June 1950 the North Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th parallel in an attempt to unify the country and quickly occupied most of the South including the capital, Seoul. On 27 June 1950, with the Soviet delegates absent, the United Nations (UN) Security Council approved police action in response to the North’s aggression. Although ostensibly a UN force, the U.S. military constituted more than half of the combat troops, and President Harry S. Truman appointed General Douglas MacArthur as commander of the UN forces. On 15 September 1950, MacArthur launched a remarkable counteroffensive with an amphibious landing behind the North Korean lines at Inchon. The UN forces quickly liberated Seoul and most of the territory up to the 38th parallel. Encouraged by MacArthur, President Truman announced that the goal was to unite Korea under a democratic government. The invasion of the North began in October 1950. When MacArthur’s troops pushed toward the northern frontier with communist China, the Chinese responded by invading in turn and pushing UN forces back. When MacArthur publicly advocated all-out war with China and the use of atomic weapons in 1951, he was brought home and replaced with General Matthew Ridgway. By March 1951, the war had come to a stalemate, with the two armies facing one another just north of the 38th parallel. Peace talks began in July but dragged on until 1953 with disagreements about both the repatriation of Korean and Chinese prisoners of war and the location of the boundary between North and South. The final agreement was signed on 27 July 1953. More than 4 million people died in the conflict, including 36,940 Americans.