Bell Ringer

If a nation doesn’t attack the United States, but they attack a nation we
feel is being unfairly attacked. Do we have an obligation to fight on
their behalf?
The Korean War
The Forgotten War
Why this war should be remembered
• This was the first major PROXY war of the Cold War
• Proxy war: “a war instigated by a major power which does not itself become
involved”

• The Korean War is still going on 70 years later

• The first test of Communist containment

• The first war that changed the way American soldiers work together. (This
will be discussed in detail later)
What caused the war?

• Between 1945 and 1950 the Korean

peninsula split at the 38th parallel
after WW2

• North Korea: led by the communist

dictator Kim IL Sung (Grandfather
of Kim Jung-un) Supported by
Communist China and Soviet Union

• South Korea: Led by the Capitalist

(dictator) Syngmon Rhee who was
supported by the United States and
NATO
NORTH KOREA
INVADES
• The United States pulled their troops out of
the Korean peninsula.

• With military aid coming from the Soviet

Union. June 25th 1950, North Korea invaded
South Korea.

• North Korea captured the South Korean

capital, Seoul, within two days.
Maybe unconstitutional….
• President Truman saw the communist invasion of South Korea as a
test of his containment policy. He order Air Force and Navel Support
for South Korea.

• However, this wasn’t a war

• He never asked congress to declare a state of war. Instead, President

Truman called on the United Nations to assemble a task force to
help the South Korean army/people.
North Korea is
about to win…

• By the time the UN arrived with

forces North Korea had taken close
to 85% of the peninsula.

• The UN forces were now under the

command of famous World War II
General Douglas MacArthur.

• With UN troops losing ground,

General MacArthur had an idea.
A daring
invasion…
• September 15, 1950, General
MacArthur ordered an invasion
behind North Korean lines at the
port of Inchon.

• This caught the North Koreans

by surprise.

• In a few weeks they took back all

of South Korea, and continued
moving into North Korea.
VERY IMPORTANT TO
REMEMBER
• This was the first major military operation
since President Truman’s Executive Order
9981 that desegregated the military.

• For the first time in United States military

history soldiers of all races were allowed to
fight side by side in the same platoon.
Victory is within
reach…
• With General MacArthur’s lead, the
UN and South Korean soldiers
captured Pyongyang, the capital of
North Korea with little resistance.

• However, China entered the war

siding with North Korea.

• China sent soldiers across the border

and started winning major victories.
A public
rivalry
• General MacArthur, in response to the Chinese
attack, asked permission to drop the atomic
bomb and use Taiwanese forces to advance
through North Korea and into China.

• President Truman said absolutely not! Instead,

he wanted to pursue a cease-fire

• General MacArthur didn’t respond directly to

President Truman, instead he sent a letter to
Republicans in Congress stating “there is no
substitute for victory”
President Truman said to General MacArthur:
Back to where we started
July 27th 1953, a cease fire was agreed too.
Nearly 70 years
later its still not
over.
• Both North & South Korea do want
a peace agreement and reunification

• However, both sides want the other

to step down and the other to take
over.

• It wasn’t until President Trump &

Kim Jung-un meet at the
Demilitarized zone (DMZ) that the
possibility of peace was finally
discussed

• https://youtu.be/WyypNGz81cc
 EXIT TICKET

Would you describe the Korean war and a containment failure or a

success and why?