The Korean “War”

Police Action

North and South Korea

• Just like Germany was divided into sections following WWII, Korea was divided into two parts.– North Korea formed a communist

government in 1948.– South Korea formed a republic. The

Republic of Korea. (A form of government in which people elect representatives.)

Korea Divided

Kim II Sung north Syngman Rhee south

The Invasion

• On June 25, 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea with the hopes of the Korean peninsula becoming a communist country.

• North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) was supported by China, which became a communist country in 1949. Russia also supplied the North Koreans.

• The Korean War was the first armed confrontation of the Cold War.

President Harry Truman’s Response

• Harry Truman quickly committed troops to help the South Koreans to stop Communism from spreading.

• The United Nations sent troops from 15 countries to support the South Koreans.

• General Douglas MacArthur commanded all of the Allied Troops in Korea.

• “ For ourselves, we seek not territory or domination over others… We are concerned with advancing our prosperity and our well-being as a Nation, but we know that our future is inseparably joined with the future of other free peoples.”

President Harry S. Truman

Sherman Tanks

B-29 Bombers

Bazookas

M46 Patton Tanks

America to the “Rescue”

• UN Security Council voted unanimously

• US naval and Air forces sent to support South Korea.

• Not enough

• On June30 – five days from the start of the invasion – ground troops are sent into action.

Integration

General MacArthur

• MacArthur wants to bomb China – maybe with an atomic bomb

• MacArthur and Truman do not see eye to eye on the war.Truman fired MacArthur

• 30 million people watched MacArthur’s farewell address to Congress “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”

1952 Election

• The Korean War was an important issue in the 1952 election.

• Dwight Eisenhower promised if he were elected he would end the fighting in Korea.

• Fighting continued until 1953.

Causalities of War

• 33,741 US Dead*• 23,615 Killed In Action• 92,134 US Wounded**  •  4,820 US Missing In Action (Declared Dead) • 7,245 Prisoners Of War• 2,847 Died in POW Camp• 389 POWs known to have been alive after all

U.S. POWs supposedly returned.• **Lightly wounded who were treated and

released back to duty are not included in these figures.

POW’s

• Prisoners of war were severely mistreated by the North Koreans. Various historical accounts reported frequent beatings, starvation, forced labor, summary executions and death marches imposed by the Communist forces on UN prisoners.

War Crimes

• Approximately two-thirds of all American prisoners of war in Korea died due to war crimes.

Ending the War

• The Peace Talks lasted 2 years and 17 days. 575 meetings had to take place before an agreement was made.

• The United States, North Korea and China sign an armistice on July 27,1953, which ended the war but failed to bring about a permanent peace.

• To date, North and South Korea have not signed a peace treaty.

• Cost of war over $67 billion (1953) today that would be $535 Billion

Korean War Memorial