The Korean War: A Discussion

A HOT WAR IN A COLD WAR: KOREAN WAR A DISCUSSION
Abdurahman Hussein
Due: December 2, 2019
Professor: Gordon Morrell
HIST – 2137: The Global Cold War

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Introduction
Cold war was a state of political hostility between the Soviet Union and USA. The cold
war did not involve the use of military and it mostly used political and also economic
propaganda to paralyze operations. Korea was one of the countries that experienced this cold car
commonly known to many as “the hot shield in the cold war”. The Korean War was result of
conflict between the SOVIET UNION and the US (Walker, 2018). The war lasted from 1950-
1953 and is often considered a forgotten war owing to the involvement of two superpowers
SOVIET UNION and US. The conflict was between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) which divided the two nations (Sandler,
2015). On June 25th 1950, the North Korean People’s Army crossed the border across the 38th
parallel which was drawn up by SOVIET UNION and US. The north had a communist political
view and hence was supported by the Soviet Union while the South was aligned with US and
was of a democratic view point (Sandler, 2015). The US entered the war in the hope to end the
agitation in the North out of the fear to involve Soviet Union or China and possible World War
III (Ryan, 2018). The war ended in July of 1953 and there were negotiations in 1954 it never
materialised to any agreement between the two countries till today (Sandler, 2015). The
beginning of cold war and the Korean War is interrelated as the two superpowers played an
important role in the war. The essay examines the various factors of the Korean War.
Cause of the war
Korea was a part of the Japanese empire during the early 20th century. The defeat of
Soviet Union at the hands of Japan in World War I helped Japan cement its position as the new
superpower but also made it ambitious (Tipton, 2017). Japan emboldened by the epic victory

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against the Soviet Union decided to occupy Korea which remained under the Japanese reign until
World War II. The end of World War II saw the defeat of Japan and saw the emergence of two
superpowers America and the Soviet Union (Tipton, 2017). Japan being on the losing side had to
surrender its occupied lands so, Manchuria was returned to China but the conflict arose on the
subject of Korea (Haruki, 2018). This promoted the division of Korea along the 38th parallel as
method to pacify the Soviet Union and America, Soviet Union took control of North Korea and
the America took over South Korea. During the 1950s the divided nations were ruled by
Syngman Rhee an anti-communist dictator and the north was ruled by Kim Il Sung, both the
leaders wanted to rule Korea under one banner (Haruki, 2018). The nations were backed by their
respective superpowers. Therefore, when the conflict arose at the border it quickly took a bigger
shape. America took the attack from the north as a reciprocation against the tension of the cold
war and conflict of democracy and communism (Kataoka, 2019). US believed that it needed to
use military force to prevent the expansion of communism, it did not consider about the
problems of the action that could have on the economic, political condition on the countries
involved. This was the primary reason for the start of the war (Turner, 2018).
Key people involved in Korean War
Kim Il-sung the leader and prime minister of North Korea led the war with chief
commander Choi Yong-kun. The south was led by under the presidentship of Syngman Rhee and
the chief commander of the army was led by Chung II-kwon. America was the forerunner of the
war and President Truman believed that if Soviet Union was allowed to win it would mean the
unchallenged expansion of communism therefore, under the leadership of General Douglas
MacArthur who led the American and the United Nations forces (Carson, 2016). Even though,

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initially US was trying to protect South Korea, President Truman believed war was the solution
to liberate North Korea from the effects of communism. After the battle of Inchon, as the north
Korean Army was pushed back it created tension among other nations and it was then that China
decided to send the troops in support of North Korea to help them. Thus, the countries involved
in the war were People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union who supported North Korea
and South Korea was supported by Great Britain, United States who were further supported by
United Nations (Bin, 2016).
Planning of the War
The cold war was a result of the ongoing suspicion between the two countries Soviet
Union and US due to the fear of a possible nuclear attack. However, there was no actual war
other than strategic avoidance between the two countries and immense stick piling of the arms
and ammunitions. The situation for Korea was very different, there was a lot at stake and
causalities, economic loss, humanitarian crisis, loss of life was far more tangible (Carson, 2016).
The panning of the Korean War was very much influenced by the US political ideology which
was anti-communist. On the other hand, Soviet Union understood the importance of the
“Domino Effect” that if one country could be established as a communist nation, others would be
inspired to adopt a communist ideology (Robertson, 2015). Hence, Soviet Union desperately
wanted a unified communist Korea who would also serve as an ally. The planning behind the
Korean War lead everyone to believe that the World war III was inevitable.
The initial planning behind the democratic forces was not effective as the South Korean
forces were not well trained or equipped, whereas, the North Korean troops were well trained
and backed with Soviet Union’s equipment and their operations was planned by experienced