History

Geography
Division
Korean War
Korea Post War
Korea
  Korea is a mountainous peninsula surrounded by the
sea on three sides. It shares its northern borders with
China and Russia, and its closest southern neighbor is
Japan, which lies across a narrow strait. The Korean
peninsula measures approximately six hundred miles
from its northern tip to its southern end.
 The people of Korea have governed themselves since
Korea ancient times, except during the period of Japanese
colonial rule (1910–1945). Koreans speak a single
language and regard themselves as homogeneous,
although some intermixing has taken place with the
peoples of Northeast Asia, Mongolia, China, and
Japan.
 1904- Ruso-Japanese War: USSR was supportive of
revolutionaries in China who were fighting Japan in late
1930’s
Kim Il-sung- military unit defected to the Soviets in 1940
from Northern China
Kim receive military and political training from the
Korea Soviet Union and went on the fight the Japanese during
World War II
When Japan surrendered, the Soviets had occupied
Northeastern China and northern Korea
 End of World War II: Japanese surrendered to the United
States in the South and tot eh Soviet Union in the North.
September 9, 1945: 38th parallel was announced as the
dividing line between the American occupation zone and
Soviet occupation zone
November 1947: The United Nations created a task force
Korea to hold free elections across Korea to establish a new
national government
The Soviet Union denied the task force to operate in its
zone north of the 38th parallel. The division has been
formalized between free South Korea and communist
North Korea
 May-August 1948- Republic of South Korea (South
Korea) was established
September 1948- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(North Korea) was established

Korea December 1948- United Nation recognized South

Korea’s government but not North Korea

January 1949- United States recognized South Korea as

new nation
  Why was Korea divided into two?
 How did the Korean war start?
Korea  How were the USA and the Soviet Union and China involved
in the Korean war?
 How did the war end?
 What were the effects of war?
 In early 1949 Kim Il-sung pressed his case with Soviet
leader Joseph Stalin that the time had come for a
conventional invasion of the South. Stalin refused,
concerned about the relative unpreparedness of the
North Korean armed forces and about possible U.S.
involvement
Korean War
 In the course of the next year, the communist leadership
built the KPA into a formidable offensive force modeled
after a Soviet mechanized army. The Chinese released
Korean veterans from the People’s Liberation Army,
while the Soviets provided armaments. By 1950 the
North Koreans enjoyed substantial advantages over the
Korean War South in every category of equipment. After another
Kim visit to Moscow in March–April 1950, Stalin
approved an invasion.
 In the predawn hours of June 25, the North Koreans
struck across the 38th parallel behind a thunderous
artillery barrage. The principal offensive, conducted by
the KPA I Corps (53,000 men), drove across the Imjin
River toward Seoul. The II Corps (54,000 soldiers)
attacked along two widely separated axes, one through
Korean War the cities of Ch’unch’ŏn and Inje to Hongch’ŏn and the
other down the east coast road toward Kangnŭng.
 The KPA entered Seoul in the afternoon of June 28, but
the North Koreans did not accomplish their goal of a
quick surrender by the Rhee government and the
disintegration of the South Korean army. Instead,
remnants of the Seoul-area ROKA forces formed a
defensive line south of the Han River, and on the east
Korean War coast road ROKA units gave ground in good order. Still, if
the South was to stave off collapse, it would need help—
from the U.S. armed forces.
 Truman’s initial response was to order MacArthur to
transfer munitions to the ROKA and to use air cover to
protect the evacuation of U.S. citizens. Instead of
pressing for a congressional declaration of war, which he
regarded as too alarmist and time-consuming when time
was of the essence, Truman went to the United Nations
Korean War for sanction. Under U.S. guidance, the UN called for the
invasion to halt (June 25), then for the UN member
states to provide military assistance to the ROK (June
27).
 By charter the Security Council considered and passed
the resolutions, which could have been vetoed by a
permanent member such as the Soviet Union. The
Soviets, however, were boycotting the Council over the
issue of admitting communist China to the UN.
Congressional and public opinion in the United States,
Korean War meanwhile, supported military intervention without
significant dissent.
 Having demonstrated its political will, the Truman
administration faced the unhappy truth that it did not
have much effective military power to meet the invasion.
MacArthur secured the commitment of three divisions
from Japan, but U.S. ground forces only expanded the
scope of defeat. For almost eight weeks, near Osan,
Korean War along the Kum River, through Taejŏn, and south to
Taegu, U.S. soldiers fought and died—and some fled.
Weakened by inadequate weapons, limited numbers,
and uncertain leadership, U.S. troops were frequently
beset by streams of refugees fleeing south, which
increased the threat of guerrilla infiltration.