Korean War (1950-1953)

The Korean War, a war between South Korea and North Korea, started in 1950 and lasted until 1953. It was a devastating conflict that took place in the Korean peninsula. This essay explores the causes, events, and aftermath of the war, highlighting the involvement of various countries and the impact on the Korean people. Find more resources on the Korean War on Desklib.

Running head Essay 0
Korean war (1950-1953)

Essay
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Korean War, a war in South Korea (SK) and North Korea (NK) started on 25 th June
1950, it happened when NK attacked SK and it lasted till July 27, 1953. It was a disaster for
both the countries and took place in the Korean peninsula. In the beginning, the war took
place in South Korea (SK) and then later in North Korea (NK). The small scale war converted
into an international conflict. At the beginning of the war, North Korean leaders believed that
the military of South Korea would not be able to fight with them as they were very weak. It
happened when around 75000 soldiers of North Korea Communist go across the border
through the 38th parallel and they attacked non-communist South Korea1. Many battles
happened during the war all around Korea from Pusan in the south and Pyongyang in the
north.
Korea was a united country when it was ruled by the Japanese but the Japanese never
treated them well. After that, it was separated when Japan surrendered and it led to the
division of Korea. The Separation of Korea began when World War II ended. The war
between Korea has been said as forgotten war also because it happened before the Vietnam
War and after World War II2. In the beginning it was observed that small Korea would not be
able to solve any problem by itself because it was surrounded by so many small neighbors.
Hence in order to dominate the country Americans developed the plans and kept it secret for
the outbreak of the war on the peninsula to allow the ideas of socialism and communism to
labeling them in aggressive. After few months American troops arrived in the war on behalf
of SK and to help the North Korean, China and the USSR were involved in the war. In war,
millions of people were killed and it destroyed a lot of cities and the farmlands. When the war
ended in 1953 Korea was still separated into two hostile states. Almost 16 Nations were
involved in fighting with the opposite states troops and supporting their own state. In the
Korean War, not only south and North Korea were involved but with them, many other
countries were also involved who had their political interests and issues3.
1 McFarland, K. (2009). The Korean War: An Annotated Bibliography. Routledge.
2 Kim, D. C. (2004). Forgotten war, forgotten massacres—the Korean War (1950–1953) as licensed mass killings. Journal of
Genocide Research, 6(4), 523-544.
3 Stueck, W. (1997). The Korean War. an international history, 68.

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In war, North Korea tried to capture the Seoul two times which is the capital of South
Korea where Chinese troops attacked from the 38th parallel but the communist's supply was
not that enough and because of that they were not able to tolerate the occurrence for the long
run. But UN troops made this a failure for North Korea. Also if the Chinese army did not
intervene in the war, war could have ended in November 1950. It led nothing in between the
two states and the thing that happened in North Korea prevented communism from spreading
in the South Korea4. As such no gains were made and a number of causalities happened during
the war. In the end, both sides never won the Korean War and the fact is the war is still going
as both the states never signed a peace treaty5. Also, peace talks happened during the war
between the communists. It happens in Panmunjom where no one wants to give up on anyone
as the UN required a new border between them and North Korea needed to be at 38th Parallel.
As discussion kept failing, and long series on negotiations between them. Talks happened for
the next two years without any conclusion. Still, the battles were taking place and the UN
tried to put more pressure on the communists.
North Korea forces were very offensive towards South Korea as they were well
equipped with the trained army and they succeeded in fighting with the South Korea army as
they were poorly trained army of the Republic of Korea. Then the president allowed and sent
the force to help South Korea (SK). During the war, the involvement of the UN is when the
United Nations counter attack to support South Korea as they entered in war with the army
forced6,
In the war, the combatants involved were SK and the US who were fighting under the
bits of help of United Nation and they were fighting against North Korea along with the china.
Also, many other nations were involved who supported with troops but most of the troops
were from America. On the other side, in support of North Korea, the Soviet Union came
forward by giving the army, tanks and the strategic advice to North Korea. But China started
4 Selden, M., & Dong-choon, K. (2010). South Korea’s embattled truth and reconciliation commission. The Asia-Pacific
Journal, 8(9-4).
5 Millett, A. R. (2001). Introduction to the Korean War. Journal of Military History, 65(4), 921-936.
6 Chang, O. (2010). The causes of the Korean War,1950-1953. International Journal of Korean Studies, 14(2).

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sending the army to support North Korea so that the conflict will stay from their border. China
government sent the warning they will not allow the damage of North Korea 7. When the
Chinese army entered the war its nature changed totally. A huge number of Chinese army
attacked the united nation army. The strongest fight happened in war is between the Chinese
and the united nation forces. Many causalities happened as Americans died in war while
fighting were more than 54000, also millions of Koreans were killed and when the war ended
there were many were homeless or became refugees.
During the war, unexplored violence was there against the civilians as most of the
massacres were civilians who were devoted by the South Korean army. South Korean
people’s attitudes depend on the area in which they are residing which was exposed to
violence against civilians. Direct violence has exposed that pre-war generation has been
induced in societies with violence just to express them the level of self-importance while
being in South Korea. The government of South Korea has forced on the victims of such
violence through starting anti-communist campaigns. South Korean residents who are leaving
in non-violent areas were more advantageous by the US and also they were hostile for North
Korea. War affected the people’s perception after the conflicts, as it affected the societies’
perception of their own country and the violence differed the individual’s community 8.
The war has affected the individual’s perception is violence disclosure to massive
civilian killings which happened during the battle. The destructive effects of the war violence
affected both the individuals and communities, still the wartime affect the perceptions of the
people's in shaping their attitude towards their states as it effected for the long period of time.
Even today the war has left a trace in a heart on million Korean people but the attitude to it
has changed appearances in North and South Korea9.
7 Yufan, H., & Zhihai, Z. (1990). China's decision to Enter the Koran War: History Revised. The China
Quarterly, 121.
8 Pasquale, B., & Hong, J. (n.d.). A social Legacy of Violence: Short and Long-term Evidence from South
Korea.
9 Kang, W., & Hong, J. (2017). UNEXPLORED CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CIVILIANS DURING THE
KOREAN WAR. Journal of East Asian Studies, 17(3).

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The violence that happened during the war, as the war totally shattered Korea; almost
3-4 million people were killed in which more than 70% were civilians. War damaged both
states. The significance of War, as it showed the fight between Communism and Capitalism. It
gave a chance to China to show the ability of its strong military and to the US to increase the
expenditure on the military. After the war, South Korea became a support for the anti-
communism and North Korea became a strongest communist state. Many Causalities
happened during the war, we will highlight some in how many people were killed and missing
during the war are, south Korean 217,000 military force and 1,000,000 civilians who were
killed and missing, and 406,000 militant's and civilians were 600,000 of North Korea who
were killed and missing during the war10.
When the war ended China, North Korea (NK), the US and South Korea (SK) agreed
to sign an armistice so that the War ends. Armistice agreement includes the whole hostilities
of the War. In the fight, the Soviet Union was not involved directly during the war, what they
did is supplied the weapons and supplies to North Korea. And, United Nations troops who
were majorly American army, with some of the American allies. In the War, the US played an
important role while fighting against China they also got the aid from the Soviets as to make
them the major military power11.In World War I and II, the US has proved strong support in
the war. Also, the Vietnam War is similar to the Korean War, as the US of an autocratic and
the regime of anti-communist was the conception as it is a monolithic entity in which all the
nations were allied rather than as an individual12. The strategies of General MacArthur’s were
brilliant, willful and how he disobeyed the orders that influence the outcome of the war.
Even after the war, South Korea has converted itself in the economic powerhouse and
in the world; North Korea became the state who has the 4th largest army. When the conflict
ended, South Korea became one of the world's strongest economies and North Korea stayed
remaining as an isolated pariah state. Technically, still the war is not ended till the date,
fighting has stopped between NK, China, and the US and the war are still not over between
10 Shaw, T. (1993). The Information Research Department of the British Foreign Office and the
Korean War, 1950–53. Journal of Contemporary History, 34(2).
11 Lowe, P. (2014). The origins of the Korean War. Routledge.
12 Rees, D. (1984). The Korea War: History and Tactics. Orbis Publishing Limited.

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the combatants. Goals were not achieved by either north or South Korea and the separation is
still between the two states13.
The cold war continued even after the war ended, China’s forces left Korea except the
US forces remained in the South. During the Vietnam War, South Korea always supported
Vietnam, when the war happened hundreds of pilots from North Korea went to Vietnam for
shooting the US aircraft and many of the Vietnam armies were trained in North Korea. And
when the cold war ended14, North Korea has lost the support of the Soviet Union and went
into the economic crises. The causalities happened during the war which damaged the war on
its own, as it caused the food shortage, less medical supplies, and huge civilian’s death which
endorsed to massacres that were devoted army of several participating nations as they have a
fear of civilian association with the enemy15.
To conclude the discussion, after the millions of causalities happened in both states the
Panmunjom Peace talks became effective for them and the war ended in July 1953. During the
war, the UN approved the US international invention in Korea after taking the factors into
account that the 38th parallel was not a legitimate international boundary for the Korean
people and also both the state south and North Korea was engaged in earlier action before NK
attacked South Korea (SK) in 1950. The Chinese government also claimed that the war was
initiated by the United States (US) and the SK. Observation during the war is that it took the
millions of lives and we can say that it was more a hot war than to cold war. It affected the
Perception of the people and their attitudes towards the government of Korea. Various
violence happened during the war against the civilians that have affected the victim's relatives
and societies and attitudes of the societies’ behavior16. It was an armistice, not the termination
13 Lee, J. (2001). The impact of the Korean War on the Korean economy. International Journal of
Korean Studies.
14 Jervis, R. (1980). The impact of the Korean War on the Cold War. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 24(4),
563-592.
15 Shaw, T. (1993). The Information Research Department of the British Foreign Office and the
Korean War, 1950–53. Journal of Contemporary History, 34(2).
16 Khiem, D., & Kim, S.-s. (2008). Crimes, concealment and South Korea's Trust and Reconciliation
Commission.

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and also when the government who has authority in South Korea has launched the effective
anti-communist campaigns which helped South Korean people to analyze the views towards
their own government.

Essay
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Bibliography
Chang, O. (2010). The causes of the Korean War,1950-1953. International Journal of Korean
Studies, 14(2).
Hong, C. (2015). The unending Korean War. Asia critique, 23(4), 597-617.
Jervis, R. (1980). The impact of the Korean War on the Cold War. Journal of Conflict
Resolution, 24(4), 563-592.
Kang, W., & Hong, J. (2017). UNEXPLORED CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE AGAINST
CIVILIANS DURING THE KOREAN WAR. Journal of East Asian Studies, 17(3).
Khiem, D., & Kim, S.-s. (2008). Crimes, concealment and South Korea's Trust and
Reconciliation Commission.
Kim, D. (2004). Forgotten war, forgotten massacres- the Korean war(1950-1953) as licensed
mass killings. Journal of Genocide Research, 6(4), 524-544.
Lee, J. (2001). The impact of the Korean War on the Korean economy. International Journal of
Korean Studies.
Lowe, P. (2014). The origins of the Korean War. Routledge.
McFarland, K. (2009). The Korean War: An Annotated Bibliography. Routledge.
Millett, A. (2001). Introduction to the Korean War. Journal of Military History, 65(4), 921-936.
Pasquale, B., & Hong, J. (n.d.). A social Legacy of Violence: Short and Long-term Evidence
from South Korea.
Rees, D. (1984). The Korea War: History and Tactics. Orbis Publishing Limited.
Selden, M., & Dong.choon, K. (2010). South Korea’s embattled truth and reconciliation
commission. The Asia-Pacific Journal, 8.
Shaw, T. (1993). The Information Research Department of the British Foreign Office and the
Korean War, 1950–53. Journal of Contemporary History, 34(2).
Stueck, W. (1997). The Korean War. an international history, 68.
Yufan, H., & Zhihai, Z. (1990). China's decision to Enter the Koran War: History Revised. The
China Quarterly, 121.