Korean War 16772 226029405 2008-07-16T14:44:07Z Abcfox 441071 fixing typos {{pp-semi-vandalism|expiry=October 10, 2008|small=yes}} {{Cleanup|date=April 2008}} {{Refimprove|date=January 2008}} {{Infobox Military Conflict |conflict=Korean War |partof= the [[Cold War]] |image=[[Image:Korean War Montage.jpg|250px]] |caption=Clockwise, from top: American trucks crossing the [[38th parallel north|38th parallel]], [[F-86 Sabre]] flying over Korea, the port in [[Incheon]] where the [[Battle of Inchon]] commenced, Chinese soldiers being welcomed back after the war, and USA 2nd [[Lieutenant]] [[Baldomero Lopez]] climbing the seawall in Inchon. |date= [[June 25]], [[1950]] - present.<br />Full-scale fighting until an [[armistice]] on [[July 27]], [[1953]] |place=[[Korean Peninsula]] |casus=[[North Korea]]n attack on [[South Korea]]. |terrtory= DMZ; both South and North gain some territory along the 38th parallel. |result=[[Cease-fire]]; [[North Korean]] invasion repelled; establishment of [[Korean Demilitarized Zone]] (DMZ); a few territorial changes along the 38th parallel, but essentially ''[[uti possidetis]]''. |combatant1='''{{flag|United Nations}}''':<br /> {{flag|Republic of Korea}}<br /> {{flag|Australia}}<br /> {{flag|Belgium|state}}<br /> {{flag|Canada|1921}}<br /> {{flag|Colombia}}<br /> {{flagicon|Ethiopia|1897}} [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]]<br /> {{flag|France}}<br /> {{flagicon|Greece|royal}} [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]]<br /> {{flag|Luxembourg}}<br /> {{flag|Netherlands}}<br /> {{flag|New Zealand}}<br /> {{flag|Philippines|1919}}<br /> {{flagicon|South Africa|1928}} [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]]<br /> {{flag|Thailand}}<br /> {{flag|Turkey}}<br /> {{flag|United Kingdom}}<br /> {{flag|United States|1912}}<br /> ---- '''Naval Support and Military Servicing/Repairs''':<br /> {{flag|Japan|alt}} ---- '''Medical staff''':<br /> {{flag|Denmark}}<br /> {{flag|Italy}}<br /> {{flag|Norway}}<br /> {{flag|India}}<br /> {{flag|Sweden}} |combatant2='''[[Image:Hammer and sickle.svg|15px]] [[Communism|Communist]] forces''': {{flagicon|North Korea}} [[North Korea|Democratic People's Republic of Korea]] <br /> {{flagicon|China}} [[People's Republic of China]]<br /> {{flag|Soviet Union|1923}} |commander1={{flagicon|South Korea}} [[Syngman Rhee]] {{flagicon|South Korea}} [[Chung Il-kwon]]<br /> {{flagicon|South Korea}} [[Paik Sun-yup]]<br /> {{flagicon|United States}} [[Douglas MacArthur]]<br /> {{flagicon|United States}} [[Matthew Ridgway]]<br /> {{flagicon|United States}} [[Mark Wayne Clark]]<br /> {{flagicon|United States}} [[Harry S. Truman]]<br /> {{flagicon|United States}} [[Dwight David Eisenhower]]<br /> |commander2={{flagicon|North Korea}} [[Kim Il-sung]] {{flagicon|North Korea}} [[Choi Yong-kun]]<br /> {{flagicon|North Korea}} [[Kim Chaek]]<br /> {{flagicon|China}} [[Mao Zedong]]<br /> {{flagicon|China|army}} [[Peng Dehuai]]<br /> {{flagicon|Soviet Union|1923}} [[Joseph Stalin]] |strength1= {{flagicon|South Korea}} 590,911<br /> {{flagicon|United States}} 480,000<br /> {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} 63,000<ref>{{cite web | title =On This Day 29 August 1950 | publisher =[[BBC]] | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/29/newsid_3053000/3053107.stm | accessdate =2007-08-15 }}</ref><br /> {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 26,791<ref>{{cite web | title =Veterans Affairs Canada&nbsp;— The Korean War | publisher = Veterans Affairs Canada | url =http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/koreawar | accessdate =2007-08-15 }}</ref><br /> {{flagicon|Australia}} 17,000<br /> {{flagicon|Philippines}} 7,430<ref>{{cite web | title =Filipino Soldiers in the Korean War (video documentary) | url =http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SBmEl3Gv60 | accessdate =2008-03-24 }}</ref><br /> {{flagicon|Turkey}} 5,455<ref>{{cite web | last =Walker | first =Jack D | title =A brief account of the Korean War | url =http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/brief/brief_account_of_the_korean_war.htm | accessdate =2007-08-15 }}</ref><br /> {{flagicon|Netherlands}}3,972<br /> {{flagicon|France}} 3,421<ref name="frinvolvement">{{cite web | title =French Participation in the Korean War | publisher =Embassy of France | url =http://www.info-france-usa.org/atoz/koreawar.asp | accessdate =2007-08-15 }}</ref><br /> {{flagicon|New Zealand}} 1,389<br /> {{flagicon|Thailand}} 1,294<br /> {{flagicon|Ethiopia}} 1,271<br /> {{flagicon|Greece}} 1,263<br /> {{flagicon|Colombia}} 1,068<br /> {{flagicon|Belgium}} 900<br /> {{flagicon|South Africa|1928}} 826<br /> {{flagicon|Luxembourg}} 44 '''Total: 941,356–1,139,518''' |strength2= {{flagicon|North Korea}} 260,000<br /> {{flagicon|China|army}} 780,000 <br /> {{flagicon|Soviet Union|1923}} 26,000 '''Total: 1,066,000''' <small>Note: All figures may vary according to source. This measures peak strength as sizes changed during the war.</small> |casualties1='''South Korea:'''<br />58,127 combat deaths<br />175,743 wounded<br />80,000 MIA or POW<ref>{{cite web | title =South Korean POWs | url =http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter27/in250107skoreapw.html | accessdate =2007-08-15 }}</ref><br /> '''United States:'''<br />36,516 dead (including 2,830 non-combat)<br />92,134 wounded<br />8,176 MIA<br />7,245 POW<ref>{{cite web | title =All POW-MIA Korean War Casualties | url =http://www.aiipowmia.com/koreacw/kwkia_menu.html | accessdate =2007-08-15 }}</ref><br /> '''United Kingdom:'''<br />1,109 dead<ref>{{cite web | title =The UK & Korea, Defence Relations | publisher =Office of the Defence Attache, British Embassy, Seoul | url =http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1101397831756 | accessdate =2007-08-15 }}</ref><br />2,674 wounded<br />1,060 MIA or POW<ref name="Hickey">{{cite web | last =Hickey | first =Michael | title =The Korean War: An Overview | url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/korea_hickey_04.shtml | accessdate =2007-08-16 }}</ref><br /> '''Turkey:'''<br />721 dead<ref>{{cite web | title =The Turks in the Korean War | url =http://www.korean-war.com/turkey.html | accessdate =2007-08-15 }}</ref><br />2,111 wounded<br />168 MIA<br />216 POW<br /> '''Canada'''<br />516 dead<ref>{{cite web | title =Canadians in Korea: Epilogue| publisher =Veterans Affairs Canada |date=1998-10-06 | url =http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/koreawar/valour/epilogue| accessdate =2007-10-27}}</ref><br /> 1,042 wounded<br /> '''Australia'''<br />339 dead<ref>{{cite web | title =Korean War 1950–53: Epilogue| publisher =Australian War Memorial |date=2007-10-16 | url =http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/korea.htm| accessdate =2007-11-12}}</ref><br /> 1,200 wounded<br /> '''France:'''<br />300 KIA or MIA<ref>{{cite web | title =''Departure of the French batallion'' | publisher =French newsreels archives (Les Actualités Françaises) | date =[[2003-11-05]] | url =http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2eo52_depart-du-bataillon-francais-051119 | accessdate =2007-08-16 }}</ref><br /> '''Philippines:'''<br />112 KIA<ref>{{cite web | title =Filipino Soldiers in the Korean War (video documentary) | url =http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SBmEl3Gv60 | accessdate =2008-03-24 }}</ref><br /> '''South Africa'''<br />28 KIA and 8 MIA<ref>{{cite web |publisher= korean-war.com |date=[[November 20]], [[2006]] |title= South Africa in the Korean War |url=http://www.korean-war.com/soafrica.html}}</ref><br /> '''Total: Over 474,000''' |casualties2='''North Korea:'''<br />215,000 dead,<br /> 303,000 wounded,<br />120,000 MIA or POW<ref name="Hickey"/><br /> '''China<br />''(Chinese estimate)'':'''<br />114,000 killed in combat<br />34,000 non-combat deaths<br />380,000 wounded<br />21,400 POW<ref name="Xu">{{cite web | last =Xu | first =Yan | title =Korean War: In the View of Cost-effectiveness | publisher =Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York | url =http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/xw/t31430.htm | accessdate =2007-08-16 }}</ref><br />'''''(U.S. estimate)'':'''<ref name="Hickey"/><br />400,000+ dead<br />486,000 wounded<br />21,000 POW<br /> '''Soviet Union:'''<br />315 dead<br /> '''Total: 1,190,000-1,577,000+''' |casualties3='''Civilians killed/wounded (total Koreans)''' = Millions |notes= }} {{Campaignbox Korean War}} The '''Korean War''' was an escalation of border clashes between two rival [[Korea]]n regimes, each of which was supported by external powers, with each trying to topple the other through political and conventional tactics. In a very narrow sense, some may refer to it as a [[civil war]], though many other factors were at play.<ref name="AMH">{{cite web | title =The Korean War, 1950-1953, (an extract from American Military History, Volume 2 - revised 2005) | url =http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/AMH-V2/AMH%20V2/chapter8.htm | accessdate =2007-08-20 }}</ref> After failing to strengthen their cause in the free elections held in [[South Korea]] during May 1950<ref name ="TruceTent">{{cite book | last =Hermes, Jr. | first =Walter | title =Truce Tent and Fighting Front | publisher =Center of Military History |date=1966 | pages =2,6,9 | url =http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/korea/truce/fm.htm}}</ref> and the refusal of South Korea to hold new elections per [[North Korea]]n demands, the communist North Korean Army assaulted the South on [[June 25]], [[1950]]. The conflict was then expanded by the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]]'s involvement as part of the larger [[Cold War]]. The main hostilities were during the period from [[June 25]], [[1950]] until the [[armistice]] (ceasefire agreement) was signed on [[July 27]], [[1953]]. ==Etymology== In South Korea, the war is often called '''6·25''' or '''6·25 War''' ([[Korean language|Korean]]: 6·25 전쟁), from the date of the start of the conflict or, more formally, ''Hanguk Jeonjaeng'' ([[Korean language|Korean]]: 한국전쟁; [[Hanja]]: 韓國戰爭, literally "Korean War"). In North Korea, while commonly known as the Korean War, it is formally called the ''Joguk Haebang Jeonjaeng'' or '''Fatherland Liberation War''' (Korean: 조국해방전쟁; Hanja: 祖國解放戰爭). In the United States, the conflict was officially termed a [[police action]]&nbsp;— the '''Korean Conflict'''&nbsp;— rather than a war, largely in order to avoid the necessity of a [[Declaration of war by the United States|declaration of war by the U.S. Congress]]. The war is sometimes called '''The Forgotten War''' or '''The Unknown War''' because it is a major conflict of the 20th century that gets far less attention than [[World War II]], which preceded it, and the [[Vietnam War]], which succeeded it.<ref>{{cite web | title =Remembering the Forgotten War: Korea, 1950-1953 | publisher =Naval Historical Center | url =http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/korea/korea1.htm | accessdate =2007-08-16 }}</ref> The war was a unique combination of the techniques utilized in both [[World War I]] and World War II, beginning with swift, fast-paced [[infantry]] advances following well-choreographed [[tactical bombing|bombing]] raids from the air by the American military and its UN allies. However, following both sides' failures at holding the land captured, battles quickly evolved into World War I-type [[trench warfare]] in January 1951, lasting until the essential border [[stalemate]] at the end. In China, the conflict was known as the '''War to Resist America and Aid Korea''' ([[wikt:抗|抗]][[wikt:美|美]][[wikt:援|援]][[wikt:朝|朝]]), but is today commonly called the "Korean War" ([[wikt:朝鮮|朝鮮]] [[wikt:戰爭|戰爭]] ''Chaoxian Zhanzheng'',<ref>{{cite web | title =War to Resist US Aggression And Aid Korea Marked in DPRK | publisher =(China's) Peoples Daily (English version) | url =http://english.people.com.cn/english/200010/26/eng20001026_53620.html | accessdate =2007-08-16 }}</ref> 韓國戰爭 ''Hanguo Zhanzheng'', or simply 韓戰 ''Hanzhan''). ==Last Japanese occupation== Korea had been a unified country since the 7th century. During the 19th century, imperialist nations threatened Korea's long-standing sovereignty. After defeating China in the [[First Sino-Japanese War|Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95]], the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] forces remained in Korea, occupying strategically important parts of the country and exploiting the Korean people. Ten years later, the Japanese defeated the [[Russian Empire|Russian]] navy in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1904-1905), contributing to Japan's emergence as an imperial power.<ref name="FirstYear">{{cite web | last =James F | first =Schnabel | title =United by jarrid States Army in the Korean War, Policy and Direction: The First Year | url =http://www.history.army.mil/books/P&D.HTM | pages =p. 3, 18 | accessdate =2007-08-19 }}</ref> The Japanese continued to forcibly occupy the [[Korean peninsula]] against the wishes of the Korean government and people, expanded their control over local institutions through force, and finally [[Korea under Japanese rule|annexed Korea]] in August 1910.<ref>{{cite web | title =Treaty of Annexation (Annexation of Korea by Japan) | publisher =USC-UCLA Joint East Asian Studies Center | url =http://www.isop.ucla.edu/eas/documents/kore1910.htm | accessdate =2007-08-19 }}</ref> From 1910 until 1945, the Japanese Governor General implemented a cruel and efficient set of policies aimed at eradicating Korean identity. After liberation in 1945, many Koreans expected to have control over their own country. At the close of World War II, forces of both the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[United States]] occupied the peninsula in accordance with an agreement put forth by the United States government to divide the Korean peninsula. This decision, made by Dean Rusk and Bonesteel, US Army officiers, was made in one half hour using a National Geographic map.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} The Soviet forces entered the peninsula on [[August 10]], [[1945]] and remained north of the 38th parallel waiting for the US forces to arrive. A few weeks later the American forces who entered through [[Inchon]] and were lead by U.S. Army Lt. Gen. [[John R. Hodge]] formally accepted the surrender of Japanese forces south of the 38th parallel on [[September 9]], [[1945]] at the Government House in [[Seoul]].<ref name="Appleman">{{cite book | last =Appleman | first =Roy E | title =South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu | publisher =Dept. of the Army |date=1998 | pages =p. 3, p. 15, pp 381, 545, 771, 719 | url =http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/korea/20-2-1/toc.htm | isbn =0160019184 }}</ref> Many Korean people had organized politically prior to the arrival of American troops.<ref>{{cite web | last =Rustow | first =Dankwart A | title =The Changing Global Order and Its Implications for Korea's Reunification], Sino-Soviet Affairs, Vol. XVII, No. 4, Winter 1994/5 | publisher =The Institute for Sino-Soviet Studies, Hanyang University | url =http://www.hoseo.ac.kr/~css/institutes/archive/rustow.html | accessdate =2007-08-19 }}</ref> However, Lt. General Hodge systematically oppressed those political organizations that did not conform to what he believed to be US interests.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} As a result, from 1945 until 1950, the US forces and their approved allies in the South Korean government conducted a running battle that resulted in over 100,000 deaths.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} ==Post-World War II division of Korea== Though the eventual division of Korea was considered at the [[Potsdam Conference]],<ref name="Appleman" /> boundaries, however, the wishes of the Korean people to be free of foreign interference were not considered. British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], Chinese Premier [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] had stated a determination for Korean independence and freedom at the [[Cairo Conference]]. During the earlier [[Yalta Conference]] in February 1945, Soviet Premier [[Joseph Stalin]] called for “buffer zones” in both Asia and Europe.<ref name="Goulden17">{{cite book | last =Goulden | first =Joseph C | title =Korea: The Untold Story of the War | publisher =McGraw-Hill |date=1983 | pages =p. 17 | isbn =0070235805 }}</ref> Stalin believed that Russia should have preeminence in China, and after the US requested that the USSR join in the war against Japan “three months after the surrender of [[Nazi Germany|Germany]].”<ref name="Goulden17" /> On [[August 6]], [[1945]]. The Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese Empire, and on [[August 8]] it began the liberation on the northern part of the Korean peninsula. As agreed with the United States, the USSR halted its troops at the [[38th parallel north|38th parallel]] on [[August 26]]. However, on [[September 3]] Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge, commander of XXIV Corps and designated U.S. Commander in Korea, received a radio message from Lt. Gen. [[Yoshio Kozuki]], commander of the Japanese 17th Area Army in Korea, reporting that Soviet forces had advanced south of the 38th parallel only in the Kaesong area.<ref name = "Appleman" /> Hodge decided to trust the Japanese reports of events in Korea. U.S. troops arrived in the southern part of the peninsula in early September 1945. On [[August 10]], [[1945]], with the Japanese surrender imminent, the American government was unsure whether the Soviets would adhere to the proposal arranged by the U.S. government. A month earlier, Colonels [[Dean Rusk]] and [[Charles H. Bonesteel III|Charles Bonesteel]], after deciding in their 1/2 hour session{{Verify credibility|date=July 2008}} that at least two major ports should be included in the U.S. zone, had drawn the dividing line at the 38th parallel in less than one-half an hour using a [[National Geographic]] map for reference.<ref name ="Appleman" /><ref> {{Citation | last =McCune | first =Shannon C | title =Physical Basis for Korean Boundaries | journal =Far Eastern Quarterly | volume =May 1946 | issue =No. 5 | pages =286-287 |date=1946-05 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last =Grajdanzev | first =Andrew | title =Korean Divided | journal =Far Eastern Survey | volume =XIV | pages =282 |date=1945-10 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last =Grajdanzev | first =Andrew | title =History of Occupation of Korea | volume =I | issue =ch. 4 | pages =16 }}</ref> Rusk, later [[U.S. Secretary of State]], commented that the American military was “faced with the scarcity of U.S. forces immediately available and time and space factors which would make it difficult to reach very far north before Soviet troops could enter the area.”<ref name="Goulden17" /> The USSR agreed to the 38th parallel being the demarcation between occupation zones in the Korean peninsula, partly to better their position in the negotiations with the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] over [[eastern Europe]]. It was agreed that the USSR would receive surrendering Japanese troops on the northern part of Korea; the U.S., on the southern side. The Soviet forces entered and liberated the northern part of the peninsula weeks prior to the entry of American forces. In accordance with the arrangements made with the American government, the Soviet forces halted their advance at the 38th parallel. The American forces arrived in Korea in early September. One of Hodge's first directives was to restore many Japanese colonial administrators and collaborators to their previous positions of power within Korea. This policy was understandably very unpopular among Koreans who had suffered horribly under Japanese colonial rule for 35 years, and would prove to have enormous consequences for the American occupation.<ref name ="TruceTent" /> A second policy set forth by Hodge was to refuse to recognize the existing political organizations that had been established by the Korean people. Hodge sought to establish firm U.S. control over events throughout the southern half of the peninsula.<ref name="FirstYear" /> These policies would help give rise to the later insurrections and guerrilla warfare that preceded the outbreak of the civil war.<ref name="FirstYear" />{{Failed verification|date=June 2008}} In December 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to administer the country under the U.S.-Soviet Joint Commission, as termed by the [[Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers]]. It was agreed by the US and the USSR, but not the Koreans, that Korea would govern itself independently after four years of international oversight. However, both the U.S. and the USSR approved Korean-led governments in their respective halves, each of which were favorable to the occupying power's political ideology. Some elements of the population responded with violent insurrections and protests in the South.<ref name="FirstYear" /> The [[USAMGIK]] tried to contain civil violence by banning strikes on [[December 8]] and outlawing the revolutionary government and the people's committees on [[December 12]]. Events spiraled quickly out of US control, however, when Koreans{{Who|date=July 2008}} staged a massive strike on [[September 23]], [[1946]] by 8,000 railway workers in [[Busan]] which quickly spread to other cities in the South. The [[Daegu uprising]] occurred on [[October 1]], in which police attempts to control rioters caused the death of three student demonstrators and injuries to many others, sparking a mass counter-attack killing 38 policemen. It should be noted that at this time, the vast majority of members of the South Korean police force officers had been members of the Japanese police force during the colonial period.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} When the US forces sided with these es-collaborators, it discredited the US in the eyes of many Koreans.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} Over in [[Yeongcheon]], a police station came under attack by a 10,000-strong crowd on [[October 3]], killing over 40 policemen and the county chief. Other attacks killed about 20 landlords and pro-Japanese officials. The US administration responded by declaring [[martial law]], firing into crowds of demonstrators and killing an unknown number of people.<ref>[http://www.greenleft.org.au/2000/412/23267 Green Left - Features: HISTORICAL FEATURE: The Korean War - a war of counter-revolution<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In South Korea, an anti-trusteeship right wing group known as the [[Representative Democratic Council]] emerged, this group came to oppose these U.S. sponsored agreements.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Because Koreans had suffered under Japanese colonization for 35 years, most Koreans opposed another period of foreign control. This opposition caused the U.S. to abandon the Soviet-supported [[Moscow Accords]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}} The Americans did not want a communist government in South Korea, so they called for elections in all of Korea. Since the population of the South was double that of the North, the Soviets knew that [[Kim Il-sung]] would lose the election.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} The government that emerged was led by [[anti-communism|anti-communist]] U.S.-educated [[strongman (politics)|strongman]] [[Syngman Rhee]], a Korean who had been imprisoned by the Japanese as a young man and later fled to the United States.<ref name="MacroHistory">{{cite web | title =The Korean War, The U.S. and Soviet Union in Korea | publisher =MacroHistory | url =http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch24kor.html | accessdate =2007-08-19 }}</ref> The Soviets, in turn, approved and furthered the rise of a [[Communism|Communist]] government in the North. Bolstered by his history as an anti-Japanese fighter, his political skills, and his connections with the Soviet Union, [[Kim Il-sung]] rose to become leader of this new government and crushed any opposition to his rule by the summer of 1947.<ref name = "AMH" /> In the south, those who supported Communism were driven into hiding in the hills, where they prepared for a guerrilla war against the American-supported government.<ref name = "AMH" /> {{History of Korea}} South Korean President Syngman Rhee and North Korean [[General Secretary]] Kim Il-Sung were each intent on reuniting the peninsula under his own system. Partly because of numbers of Soviet tanks and heavy arms, the North Koreans were able to escalate ongoing border clashes and go on the offensive, while South Korea, with only limited American backing, had far fewer options. The American government believed at the time that the [[Communist bloc]] was a unified monolith, and that North Korea acted within this monolith as a pawn of the Soviet Union. ==Prelude to war== Rhee and Kim competed to reunite the peninsula which had been divided by foreign powers. Each regime used military attacks along the border throughout 1949 and early 1950.<ref>{{cite book | last =Henderson | first =Gregory | title =Korea: The Politics of the Vortex | publisher =Harvard University Press |date=1968 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =Lee Chong-sik | title =Korean Workers' Party | publisher =Hoover Institute Press |date=1978 }}</ref> Although Kim and his close associates believed in unifying Korea by force, Stalin was reluctant to embark on a course that might provoke a war with the United States.<ref name="UncertainPartners">{{cite book | last =Concharov | first =Sergei N | coauthors =Lewis, John W. and Xue Litai | title =Uncertain Partners: Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War | publisher =Stanford University Press |date=1995 | pages = | url = | isbn =0804725217 }}</ref> On [[January 12]], [[1950]], [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Dean Acheson]] gave a speech declaring that America's Pacific defense perimeter was made up of the [[Aleutian Islands|Aleutians]], [[Ryukyu]], [[Japan]], and the [[Philippines]], implying that America might not fight over Korea. Acheson said Korea's defense would be the responsibility of the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{cite book | last =Acheson | first =Dean | authorlink =Dean Acheson | title =Present at the Creation: My Years at the State Department | publisher =W.W. Norton, Inc. |date=1969 | pages =355-358 | url =http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/acheson4.htm | isbn = }}</ref> In mid-1949, Kim Il-Sung pressed his case with Joseph Stalin that the time had come for a reunification of the Korean peninsula. Kim needed Soviet support to successfully execute an offensive far across a rugged, mountainous peninsula. Stalin, however, refused support, concerned with the relative lack of preparedness of the North Korean armed forces and with possible U.S. involvement. Over the next year, the North Korean leadership molded its army into a relatively formidable offensive war machine modeled partly on a Soviet mechanized force but strengthened primarily by an influx of Korean veterans who had served with the Chinese [[People's Liberation Army]] since the 1930s.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} By early 1950 the possibility of reunification through insurgency seemed closed, and Rhee's regime was gaining in strength if not popularity. Kim was left with the sole option of conventional invasion if he wished to unify Korea and remove foreign control.<ref name="UncertainPartners" /> By 1950, the North Korean military was equipped with modern Soviet weaponry, and it enjoyed substantial advantages over the Southern forces in virtually every category of equipment. On [[January 30]], [[1950]], Stalin, via telegram, informed Kim Il-Sung that he was willing to help Kim in his plan to unify Korea. In the discussions with Kim that followed, Stalin suggested that he wanted lead and said that a yearly minimum of 25,000 tons would help. After another visit by Kim to [[Moscow]] in March and April 1950, Stalin approved an attack.<ref name="MacroHistory" /><ref>{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Message from Stalin to Kim Il Sung, via Shtykov, Affirmative response to Kim Il Sung's previous requests of lead and ammunitions from the Soviet Union | publisher = Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Cold War International History Project | date = 1950-03-18 | url = http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=va2.document&identifier=5034BEF8-96B6-175C-9958BCAD1B5350E6&sort=Subject&item=Korea,%20DPRK,%20Soviet%20Economic%20and%20Military%20Aid | accessdate = 2008-02-15 }}</ref> Coincidentally, on [[March 9]], [[1950]], North Korea had agreed to send to the Soviet Union 9 tons of gold, 40 tons of silver, and 15,000 tons of [[monazite]] concentrate as payment for additional Soviet arms, ammunition and military technical equipment.<ref>{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Telegram from Shtykov to Vyshinsky, Receipt of goods and payments expected of North Korea from the Soviet Union | publisher = Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Cold War International History Project | date = 1950-03-09 | url = http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=va2.document&identifier=5034BECA-96B6-175C-9358D5205FA9A9F8&sort=Subject&item=Korea,%20DPRK,%20Soviet%20Economic%20and%20Military%20Aid | accessdate = 2008-02-15 }}</ref> ==Course== ===Invasion of South Korea=== Under the guise of a counter-attack, the [[Korean People's Army|North Korean Army]] struck in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, [[June 25]], [[1950]], crossing the 38th parallel behind a firestorm of artillery. The North claimed [[Republic of Korea Army]] (ROK) troops under the “bandit traitor [[Syngman Rhee]]" had crossed the border first, and that Rhee would be arrested and executed.<ref name="Appleman" /> The [[United Nations Security Council]] was convened in a few hours and passed the [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 82|UNSC Resolution 82]] condemning the North Korean aggression unanimously. The resolution was adopted mainly because the Soviet Union, a [[United Nations Security Council veto power|veto-wielding power]], had been boycotting proceedings since January, in protest that the [[Republic of China]] (Taiwan) and not the [[People's Republic of China]] held a permanent seat on the council.<ref>{{cite book | last=Malkasian | first =Carter| title= The Korean War: Essential Histories |publisher= Osprey Publishing | date =2001 |pages =p.16}}</ref> Critics charged that the information on this resolution was based on U.S. sources referring to reports of the South Korean army. The DPRK was not invited to sit as a temporary member in the UN which some say violated Article 32 of the UN Charter. It was argued that the situation in Korea did not fall within the scope of the UN Charter since the initial clashes between North and South Korean forces would have to be classified as a civil war. Since the USSR representative decided to boycott the United Nations with the announced purpose of preventing action by the Security Council, the legality of UN action was challenged; legal scholars{{who?|date=July 2008}} argued that unanimity among the five permanent members was required to take action on important matters. <ref> [http://www.jstor.org/pss/793412 Leo Gross, "Voting in the Security Council: Abstention from Voting and Absence from Meetings", ''The Yale Law Journal'', Vol. 60, No. 2 (Feb., 1951), pp. 209-257]</ref> <ref>[http://www.jstor.org/pss/443348 F. B. Schick, "Videant Consules", ''The Western Political Quarterly'', Vol. 3, No. 3 (Sep., 1950), pp. 311-325]</ref>{{Request quotation|date=July 2008}} At the outbreak of war, the North Korean Army was equipped with 150 Soviet-made tanks, about 40 [[Yakovlev|YAK]] fighters, 70 attack bombers, 60 YAK trainers and 10 reconnaissance planes.<ref name="Appleman" /> These aircraft were assigned to the invasion while 114 more planes were serving in North Korea. Their navy had several small warships, and launched attacks on the South Korean Navy. North Korea's most serious weakness was its lack of a reliable logistics system for moving supplies south as the army advanced, but the South Korean forces were weak and ill-equipped compared to the North Koreans. Thousands of Korean civilians running south were forced to hand-carry supplies, many of whom later died in North Korean air attacks. The South Korean Army had 150,000 soldiers armed, trained, and equipped by the U.S. military, and as a force was deficient in armor and artillery. The South Korean military had only 40 tanks, 14 attack planes, and few anti-tank weapons. There were no large foreign combat units in the country when the war began, but there were large American forces stationed in nearby Japan.<ref name="Appleman" /> The North's well-planned attack with about 415,000 troops achieved surprise and quick successes.<ref name="Appleman" /> North Korea attacked a number of key places including [[Kaesŏng]], [[Chuncheon]], [[Uijeongbu]] and [[Ongjin, South Hwanghae|Ongjin]]. Within days, South Korean forces &ndash; outnumbered, outgunned, and often of dubious loyalty to the Southern regime &ndash; were in full retreat or defecting en masse to the North. As the ground attack continued, the North Korean Air Force conducted bombing of [[Kimpo Airport]] near [[Seoul]]. North Korean forces occupied Seoul on the afternoon of [[June 28]]. However, North Korea's hope for a quick surrender by the Rhee government and the reunification of the peninsula evaporated when the United States and other foreign powers intervened with UN approval. ===U.S. intervention=== Despite the post-World War II demobilization of U.S. and allied forces, which caused serious supply problems for American troops in the region, the United States still had substantial forces in Japan to oppose the North Korean military. These American forces were under the command of [[General of the Army (United States)|General]] [[Douglas MacArthur]]. Apart from [[British Commonwealth Forces Korea|British Commonwealth]] units, no other nation could supply sizable manpower. On being told of the outbreak of large-scale hostilities in Korea, U.S. President [[Harry S. Truman]] ordered MacArthur to transfer munitions to the ROK Army, while using air cover to protect the evacuation of U.S. citizens. Truman did not agree with his advisors, who called for unilateral U.S. airstrikes against the North Korean forces, but did order the [[U.S. Seventh Fleet|Seventh Fleet]] to protect [[Chiang Kai-Shek]]'s [[Republic of China|Taiwan]]. The [[Chinese Nationalists|Nationalist government]] (confined to the island of [[Taiwan]]) asked to participate in the war. Their request was denied by the Americans, who felt that it would only encourage intervention by the [[People's Republic of China]] (PRC).{{Fact|date=May 2008}} [[Image:Warkorea American Soldiers.jpg|thumb|right|American soldiers in Korea]] The first significant foreign military intervention was the American [[Task Force Smith]], part of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]'s [[U.S. 24th Infantry Division|24th Infantry Division]] based in Japan. On [[July 5]], it fought for the first time at [[Osan]] and was defeated with heavy losses. The victorious North Korean forces advanced southwards, and the half-strength 24th Division was forced to retreat to [[Taejeon]], which also fell to the Northern forces. Major General [[William F. Dean]], commander of the division, was taken prisoner. By August, the South Korean forces and the [[U.S. Eighth Army]] under General [[Walton Walker]] had been driven back into a small area in the southeast corner of the Korean peninsula around the city of [[Pusan]]. As the North Koreans advanced, they rounded up and killed civil servants. On [[August 20]], MacArthur sent a message warning Kim Il Sung that he would be held responsible for further atrocities committed against UN troops.<ref name="MacroHistory" /> By September, only the area around Pusan&nbsp;— about 10 percent of the Korean peninsula&nbsp;— was still in coalition hands. With the aid of massive American supplies, air support, and additional reinforcements, the UN forces managed to stabilize a line along the [[Nakdong River]]. This desperate holding action became known in the United States as the [[Pusan Perimeter]]. ===Escalation of the Korean war=== [[Image:Korean War, train attack.jpg|right|thumb|U.S. forces target rail cars south of Wonsan, North Korea, an east coast port city.]] In the face of fierce North Korean attacks, the allied defense became a desperate battle called the [[Battle of Pusan Perimeter]] by Americans. However, the North Koreans failed to capture Pusan. American air power arrived in force, flying 40 [[sorties]] per day in ground support actions, targeting North Korean forces.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} [[Strategic bomber]]s (mostly [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29s]] based in Japan) closed most rail and road traffic by day, and destroyed 32 critical bridges necessary for the conduct of warfare. Trains used by military and civilians alike waited out the daylight hours in tunnels. Throughout all parts of Korea, the American bombers knocked out the main supply dumps and eliminated oil refineries and seaports that handled imports to starve North Korean forces of ammunition and other martial supplies. Naval air power also attacked transportation choke points. The North Korean forces were already strung out over the peninsula, and the destruction caused by American bombers prevented needed supplies from reaching North Korean forces in the south. Meanwhile, supply bases in Japan were pouring weapons and soldiers into Pusan. American tank battalions were rushed in from [[San Francisco]]; by late August, America had over 500 medium tanks in the Pusan perimeter. By early September, UN-ROK forces were decidedly more powerful and outnumbered the North Koreans by 180,000 to 100,000. At that point, they began a counterattack.<ref name="Appleman" /> ===South Korean and allied forces move north=== {{main|Battle of Inchon}} In the face of these overwhelming reinforcements, the North Korean forces found themselves undermanned and with weak logistical support. They also lacked the substantial naval and air support of the Americans. In order to alleviate pressure on the Pusan Perimeter, General MacArthur, as UN [[commander-in-chief]] for Korea, argued for an [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious landing]] far behind the North Korean lines at Inchon (인천; 仁川). The violent tides and strong enemy presence made this an extremely risky operation. MacArthur had started planning a few days after the war began, but he had been strongly opposed by [[the Pentagon]]. When he finally received permission, MacArthur activated the [[U.S. X Corps|X Corps]] under General [[Edward Almond]] (comprising 70,000 troops of the [[1st Marine Division (United States)|1st Marine Division]] and the Army's [[7th Infantry Division (United States)|7th Infantry Division]] and augmented by 8,600 Korean troops) and ordered them to land at Inchon in [[Operation Chromite]]. By the time of the attack on [[September 15]], thanks to reconnaissance by [[guerrilla]]s, misinformation and extensive shelling prior to the invasion, the North Korean military had few soldiers stationed in Inchon, so the U.S. forces met only light resistance when they landed. The landing was a decisive victory, as X Corps rolled over the few defenders and threatened to trap the main North Korean army. MacArthur quickly recaptured Seoul. The North Koreans, almost cut off, rapidly retreated northwards; about 25,000 to 30,000 made it back.<ref name="Schnabel">{{cite book | last =Schnabel | first =James F | title =United States Army In The Korean War: Policy And Direction: The First Year | publisher =Center of Military History |date=1992 | pages =pp. 155-192, p.212, pp. 283-284, pp. 288-289, p.304 | url =http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/P&D.HTM | isbn =0-16-035955-4 }}</ref><ref name="KIMH">{{cite book | last =Korea Institute of Military History | first = | title =The Korean War: Korea Institute of Military History 3 Volume Set | publisher =Bison Books, University of Nebraska Press | pages =vol. 1, p.730, vol. 2, pp. 512-529 | isbn =0803277946 }}</ref> ===Invasion of North Korea=== {{main|UN Offensive, 1950}} The United Nations troops drove the North Koreans back past the 38th parallel. [[Image:KoreanWar recover Seoul.jpg|thumb|Urban combat in Seoul, 1950, as U.S. Marines fight North Koreans holding the city]] The UN forces crossed into North Korea in early October 1950. The U.S. X Corps made amphibious landings at [[Wonsan]] and [[Iwon]], which had already been captured by South Korean forces advancing by land. The Eighth U.S. Army, along with the South Koreans, drove up the western side of Korea and captured [[Pyongyang]] on [[October 19]]. By the end of October, the North Korean Army was rapidly disintegrating, and the UN took 135,000 prisoners. The UN offensive greatly concerned the Chinese, who worried that the UN forces would not stop at the [[Yalu River]], the border between North Korea and China, and might extend their rollback policy into China.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Many in the West, including General MacArthur, thought that spreading the war to China would be necessary and that since North Korean troops were being supplied by bases in China, those supply depots should be bombed. However, Truman and the other leaders disagreed, and MacArthur was ordered to be very cautious when approaching the Chinese border. ===Chinese intervention=== China warned American leaders through neutral diplomats that it would intervene to protect its [[national security]]. Truman regarded the warnings as “a bald attempt to blackmail the U.N.” and did not take it seriously.<ref>Another Such Victory: President Truman and the Cold War, 1945-1953, Page 390, Published 2002 Stanford University Press, ISBN 0804747741</ref> The Chinese Government argued that in making Japan its main war base in the Far East, launching an invasion against Korea and the Chinese province of Taiwan, and carrying out active intervention in other countries in Asia, the United States was building up a military encirclement of China. <ref>Yearbook of the United Nations, 1950</ref>{{Verify source|date=June 2008}} The Chinese Government reported that the United States violated Chinese airspace, bombing peaceful towns and villages.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} On [[October 15]], [[1950]], Truman went to [[Wake Island]] for a short, highly publicized meeting with MacArthur. MacArthur, saying he was speculating, saw little risk.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} MacArthur explained that the Chinese had lost their window of opportunity to help North Korea's invasion. He estimated the Chinese had 300,000 soldiers in [[Manchuria]], with between 100,000-125,000 men along the Yalu; half could be brought across the Yalu. But the Chinese had no air force; hence, “if the Chinese tried to get down to Pyongyang, there would be the greatest slaughter.”<ref name="Schnabel" /><ref>{{cite book | last =Donovan | first =Robert J | title =Tumultuous Years: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman 1949-1953 | publisher =University of Missouri Press |date=1996 | pages =p 285 | url = | isbn =0826210856 }}</ref> MacArthur assumed that Chinese wished to avoid heavy casualties.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} [[Image:105-mm-howitzer-Korea-19500824.jpg|thumb|left|U.S. soldiers fire a 105 mm howitzer in an indirect fire mission on the Korean battle line, near Uirson in August 1950.]] On [[October 8]], [[1950]], the day after American troops crossed the 38th parallel, Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] issued the order to assemble the [[People's Volunteer Army|Chinese People's Volunteer Army]]. Seventy percent of the members of the PVA were Chinese regulars from the Chinese [[People's Liberation Army]]. Mao ordered the army to move to the Yalu River, ready to cross.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} Mao sought Soviet aid and saw intervention as essentially defensive: “If we allow the U.S. to occupy all of Korea… we must be prepared for the U.S. to declare… war with China,” he told Stalin. Premier [[Zhou Enlai]] was sent to [[Moscow]] to add force to Mao's cabled arguments. Mao delayed while waiting for substantial Soviet help, postponing the planned attack from [[October 13]] to [[October 19]]. However, Soviet assistance was limited to providing air support no nearer than sixty miles (100&nbsp;km) from the battlefront. The Soviet [[MiG-15]]s in PRC colors did pose a serious challenge to UN pilots. In one area nicknamed “[[MiG Alley]]” by UN forces, they held local air superiority against the American-made [[F-80 Shooting Star|Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars]] until the newer [[North American F-86 Sabre]]s were deployed. The Chinese were angry at the limited extent of Soviet involvement, having assumed that they had been promised full scale air support.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} The Chinese made contact with American troops on [[November 1]], [[1950]]. Thousands of Chinese had attacked from the north, northwest, and west against scattered U.S. and South Korean (Republic of Korea or ROK) units moving deep into North Korea. The Chinese seemed to come out of nowhere as they swarmed around the flanks and over the defensive positions of the surprised United Nations (UN) troops.<ref>[http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/kw-chinter/chinter.htm The Korean War: The Chinese Intervention<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Chinese march and [[bivouac shelter|bivouac]] discipline also minimized any possible detection. In a well-documented instance, a Chinese army of three [[division (military)|divisions]] marched on foot from An-tung in Manchuria, on the north side of the Yalu River, 286 miles (460&nbsp;km) to its assembly area in North Korea, in the combat zone, in a period ranging from 16 to 19 days. One division of this army, marching at night over circuitous mountain roads, averaged 18 miles (29&nbsp;km) per day for 18 days. The day's march began after dark at 19:00 and ended at 03:00 the next morning. Defense measures against aircraft were to be completed before 05:30. Every man, animal, and piece of equipment were to be concealed and camouflaged. During daylight, bivouac scouting parties moved ahead to select the next day's bivouac area. When Chinese units were compelled for any reason to march by day, they were under standing orders for every man to stop in his tracks and remain motionless if aircraft appeared overhead. Officers were empowered to shoot any man who violated this order.<ref name ="Appleman" /> [[Image:Chosin-Battle.gif|thumb|right|Map of the [[Battle of Chosin Reservoir]]]] In late November, the Chinese struck in the west, along the Chongchon River, and completely overran several South Korean divisions and successfully landed a heavy blow to the flank of the remaining UN forces. The ensuing defeat of the U.S. Eighth Army resulted in the longest retreat of any American military unit in history.<ref>{{cite book | last =Cohen | first =Eliot A | coauthors =Gooch, John | title =Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War | publisher =Free Press |date=2005 | pages =pp 165-195 | url = | isbn =0743280822 }}</ref> In the east, at the [[Battle of Chosin Reservoir]], a 30,000 man unit from the [[7th Infantry Division (United States)|U.S. 7th Infantry Division]] and [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]] was also unprepared for the Chinese tactics and was soon surrounded, though they eventually managed to escape the [[encirclement]], albeit with over 15,000 casualties, after inflicting heavy{{Specify|date=July 2008}} casualties on six Chinese divisions.<ref>{{cite book | last =Hopkins | first =William | title =One Bugle No Drums: The Marines at Chosin Reservoir | publisher =Algonquin |date=1986 | location = | pages = | url = | isbn = }}</ref> While the Chinese soldiers initially lacked heavy fire support and light infantry weapons, their tactics quickly adapted to this disadvantage, as explained by [[Bevin Alexander]] in his book ''[[How Wars Are Won]]'': :"The usual method was to infiltrate small units, from a [[platoon]] of fifty men to a [[company (military)|company]] of 200, split into separate detachments. While one team cut off the escape route of the Americans, the others struck both the front and the flanks in concerted assaults. The attacks continued on all sides until the defenders were destroyed or forced to withdraw. The Chinese then crept forward to the open flank of the next platoon position, and repeated the tactics." Roy Appleman further clarified the initial Chinese tactics as: :"In the First Phase Offensive, highly skilled enemy light infantry troops had carried out the Chinese attacks, generally unaided by any weapons larger than mortars. Their attacks had demonstrated that the Chinese were well-trained disciplined fire fighters, and particularly adept at night fighting. They were masters of the art of camouflage. Their patrols were remarkably successful in locating the positions of the UN forces. They planned their attacks to get in the rear of these forces, cut them off from their escape and supply roads, and then send in frontal and flanking attacks to precipitate the battle. They also employed a tactic which they termed Hachi Shiki, which was a V-formation into which they allowed enemy forces to move; the sides of the V then closed around their enemy while another force moved below the mouth of the V to engage any forces attempting to relieve the trapped unit. Such were the tactics the Chinese used with great success at Onjong, Unsan, and Ch'osan but with only partial success at Pakch'on and the Ch'ongch'on bridgehead."<ref name="Appleman" /> The U.S. forces in northeast Korea, who had rushed forward with great speed only a few months earlier, were forced to race southwards with even greater speed and form a defensive perimeter around the port city of [[Hungnam]], where a major evacuation was carried out in late December 1950. Facing complete defeat and surrender, 193 shiploads of American men and material were evacuated from Hungnam Harbor, and about 105,000 soldiers, 98,000 civilians, 17,500 vehicles, and 350,000 tons of supplies were shipped to Pusan in orderly fashion. As they left, the American forces blew up large portions of the city to deny its use to the communists, depriving many Korean civilians of shelter during the winter.<ref name ="Schnabel" /><ref>{{Citation | last =Rear Admiral Doyle | first =James H | last2 =Mayer | first2 =Arthur J | title =December 1950 at Hungnam | journal =U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings | volume =vol. 105 | issue =no. 4 | pages =pp. 44-65 |date=April 1979 | year =1979 }}</ref> ===Fighting across the 38th Parallel (early 1951)=== [[Image:Korean War bombing Wonsan.jpg|thumb|[[A-26 Invader|B-26 Invaders]] bomb supply warehouses in Wonsan, North Korea, 1951.]] In January 1951, the Chinese and North Korean forces struck again in their 3rd Phase Offensive (also known as the ''Chinese Winter Offensive''). The Chinese repeated their previous tactics of mostly night attacks, with a stealthy approach from positions some distance from the front, followed by a rush with overwhelming numbers, and using trumpets or gongs both for communication and to disorient their foes. Against this the UN forces had no remedy, and their resistance crumbled; they retreated rapidly to the south (referred to by UN forces as the “bug-out”). Seoul was abandoned and was captured by communist forces on [[January 4]], [[1951]]. To add to the Eighth Army's difficulties, General Walker was killed in an accident. He was replaced by a World War II airborne veteran, Lieutenant-General [[Matthew Ridgway]], who took immediate steps to raise the morale and fighting spirit of the battered Eighth Army, which had fallen to low levels during its retreat. Nevertheless, the situation was so grim that MacArthur mentioned the use of [[atomic weapon]]s against China, much to the alarm of America's allies.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} UN forces continued to retreat until they had reached a line south of [[Suwon]] in the west and [[Wonju]] in the center, and north of [[Samchok]] in the east, where the front stabilized. The People's Volunteer Army had outrun its supply line and was forced to recoil. The Chinese could not go beyond Seoul because they were at the end of their logistics supply line{{Fact|date=March 2008}}&nbsp;— all food and ammunition had to be carried at night on foot or bicycle from the Yalu River. In late January, finding the lines in front of his forces deserted, Ridgway ordered reconnaissance in force, which developed into a full-scale offensive, [[Operation Roundup]]. The operation was planned to proceed gradually, to make full use of the UN's superiority in firepower on the ground and in the air; by the time ''Roundup'' was completed in early February, UN forces had reached the Han River and re-captured Wonju. The Chinese struck back in mid-February with their Fourth Phase Offensive, from [[Hoengsong]] in the center against [[U.S. IX Corps|IX Corps]] positions around [[Chipyong-ni]]. A short but desperate siege there fought by units of the [[U.S. 2nd Infantry Division]], including the [[French Battalion in the Korean War|French Battalion]], broke up the offensive; in this action, the UN learned how to deal with Chinese offensive tactics and be able to stand their ground. Roundup was followed in the last two weeks of February 1951, with [[Operation Killer]], by a revitalized Eighth Army, restored by Ridgway to fighting trim. This was a full-scale offensive across the front, again staged to maximize firepower and with the aim of destroying as much of the Chinese and North Korean armies as possible. By the end of ''Killer'', [[U.S. I Corps|I Corps]] had re-occupied all territory south of the Han, while IX Corps had captured Hoengsong. On [[March 7]], [[1951]], the Eighth Army pushed forward again, in [[Operation Ripper|Operation ''Ripper'']], and on [[March 14]] they expelled the North Korean and Chinese troops from Seoul, the fourth time in a year the city had changed hands. Seoul was in utter ruins; its prewar population of 1.5 million had dropped to 200,000, with severe food shortages.<ref name ="KIMH" /> MacArthur was removed from command by President Truman on [[April 11]], [[1951]] for [[insubordination]], setting off a firestorm of protest back in the U.S. The new supreme commander was Ridgway, who had managed to regroup UN forces for the series of effective counter-offensives. Command of Eighth Army passed to General [[James Van Fleet]]. [[Image:DeadchinesesoldierEdit.jpg|thumb|A Chinese soldier killed by U.S. Marines of 1st Marine Division during an attack on Hill 105 in 1951]] A further series of attacks slowly drove back the communist forces, such as Operations [[Operation Courageous|''Courageous'']] and [[Operation Tomahawk|''Tomahawk'']], a combined ground- and air-assault to trap communist forces between [[Kaesong]] and [[Seoul]]. UN forces continued to advance until they reached Line Kansas, some miles north of the 38th parallel. The Chinese were far from beaten, however; In April 1951 they launched their Fifth Phase Offensive (also called the ''Chinese Spring Offensive''). This was a major effort, involving three field armies (up to 700,000 men). The main blow fell on I Corps, but fierce resistance in battles at the [[Battle of the Imjin River|Imjin River]] and [[Battle of Kapyong|Kapyong]], blunted its impetus, and the Chinese were halted at a defensive line north of Seoul (referred to as the ''No-Name Line''). A further Communist offensive in the east against ROK and X Corps on [[May 15]] also made initial gains, but by [[May 20]] the attack had ground to a halt. Eighth Army counterattacked and by the end of May had regained Line Kansas. The decision by UN forces to halt at Line Kansas, just north of the 38th Parallel, and not to persist in offensive action into North Korea, ushered in the period of stalemate which typified the remainder of the conflict. ===Stalemate (July 1951 - July 1953)=== The rest of the war involved little territory change, large-scale bombing of the north, and lengthy peace negotiations, which began on [[July 10]], [[1951]] at [[Kaesong]]. Even during the peace negotiations, combat continued. For the South Korean and allied forces, the goal was to recapture all of South Korea before an agreement was reached in order to avoid loss of any territory. The Chinese and North Koreans attempted similar operations, and later in the war they undertook operations designed to test the resolve of the UN to continue the conflict. Principal military engagements in this period were the actions around the Punchbowl, in the east, such as [[Battle of Bloody Ridge|Bloody Ridge]] and [[Battle of Heartbreak Ridge|Heartbreak Ridge]] in 1951, the battles for [[Battle of Old Baldy|Old Baldy]], in the center, and the [[Battle of the Hook|Hook]], in the west, during 1952–53, [[Battle of Hill Eerie]] in 1952, and the battle for [[Battle of Pork Chop Hill|Pork Chop Hill]] in 1953. [[Image:Korean war 1950-1953.gif|thumb|left|Territory changed hands in the early part of the war until the front stabilized.]] The peace negotiations went on for two years, first at Kaesong, and later at [[Panmunjon]]. A major issue of the negotiations was repatriation of [[prisoner of war|POWs]]. The Communists agreed to voluntary repatriation but only if the majority would return to China or North Korea, something that did not occur. Since many refused to be repatriated to the communist North Korea and China, the war continued until the Communists eventually dropped this issue.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} In October 1951, U.S. forces performed [[Operation Hudson Harbor|Operation ''Hudson Harbor'']] intending to establish the capability to use [[nuclear weapon]]s. Several B-29s conducted individual simulated bomb runs from [[Okinawa]] to North Korea, delivering “dummy” nuclear bombs or heavy conventional bombs; the operation was coordinated from [[Yokota Air Base]] in Japan. The battle exercise was intended to test “actual functioning of all activities which would be involved in an atomic strike, including weapons assembly and testing, leading, ground control of bomb aiming,” and so on. The results indicated that nuclear bombs would be less effective than anticipated, because “timely identification of large masses of enemy troops was extremely rare.”<ref>{{Citation | last =Hasbrouck | first =S. V | title =memo to file (November 7, 1951), G-3 Operations file, box 38-A | publisher =Library of Congress | year =1951 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last =Army Chief of Staff | title =memo to file (November 20, 1951), G-3 Operations file, box 38-A | publisher =Library of Congress | year =1951 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =Watson | first =Robert J | coauthors =Schnabel, James F. | title =The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy, 1950-1951, The Korean War and 1951-1953, The Korean War (History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Volume III, Parts I and II) | publisher =Office of Joint History, Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff |date=1998 | pages =part 1, p. v; part 2, p. 614 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last =Commanding General, Far East Air Force | title =Memo to 98th Bomb Wing Commander, Okinawa | year =1951 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last =Far East Command G-2 Theater Intelligence | title =Resumé of Operation, Record Group 349, box 752 | year =1951 }}</ref> On [[November 29]], [[1952]], U.S. President-elect [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] fulfilled a campaign promise by going to Korea to find out what could be done to end the conflict. With the UN's acceptance of [[India]]'s proposal for a Korean [[armistice]], a [[cease-fire]] was established on [[July 27]], [[1953]], by which time the front line was back around the proximity of the 38th parallel, and so a [[Korean Demilitarized Zone|demilitarized zone]] (DMZ) was established around it, presently defended by North Korean troops on one side and by South Korean, American and UN troops on the other. The DMZ runs north of the parallel towards the east, and to the south as it travels west. The site of the peace talks, [[Kaesong]], the old capital of Korea, was part of the South before hostilities broke out but is currently a special city of the North. North Korea and the United States signed the [[s:Korean Armistice Agreement|Armistice Agreement]], with Syngman Rhee refusing to sign.<ref>{{cite web | title =Syngman Rhee Biography: Rhee Attacks Peace Proceedings | publisher =Korean War Commemoration Biographies | url =http://korea50.army.mil/history/biographies/rhee.shtml | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> ==Casualties== [[Image:South Africa-Korean War Memorial01.jpg|thumb|Memorials to those who died can be found in many countries such as this one in [[Pretoria]] for South African casualties.]] The total numbers of casualties suffered by all parties involved may never be known. Each country's self-reported casualties were largely based upon troop movements, unit rosters, battle casualty reports, and medical records. The Western numbers of Chinese and/or North Korean casulties are based primarily on battle reports of estimated casualties, interrogation of POWs and captured documents. The Chinese estimation of UN casualties states that the joint declaration of the Chinese People's Volunteers and the Korean People's Army said their forces "eliminated 1.09 million enemy forces, including 390,000 from the United States, 660,000 from South Korean, and 29,000 from other countries." The vague "eliminated" number gave no details to that of dead, wounded and captured. Regarding their own casualties, the same source said that "the Chinese People's Volunteers suffered 148,000 deaths altogether (among which 114,000 died in combat, incidents, and winterkill, 21,000 died after being hospitalized and 13,000 died from diseases); 380,000 were wounded and 29,000 missing, including 21,400 POWs (of whom 14,000 were sent to Taiwan, 7,110 were repatriated)." This same source concluded with these numbers for North Korean casualties, "the Korean People's Army had 290,000 casualties and 90,000 POWs; there was a large number of civilian deaths in the northern part of Korea, but no accurate figures were available."<ref>{{cite web | last = Xu | first = Yan | authorlink = Xu Yan | title =Korean War: In the View of Cost-effectiveness | publisher = Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in New York | date = [[2003-07-29]] | url = http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/xw/t31430.htm | accessdate = 2007-08-12 }}</ref> The casulties of the various UN forces are listed in the infobox, along with their estimates of Chinese and North Korean forces. ==Characteristics== ===Armored warfare=== [[Image:Sherman-korea.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Sherman tank]] fires its 76 mm gun at enemy bunkers on “Napalm Ridge,” in support of the 8th ROK Division [[May 11]], [[1952]].]] In the initial invasion stage of the war, North Korean armor was able to establish dominance using their Soviet-supplied [[T-34|T-34-85]] medium tanks. The WW2-vintage North Korean tanks were facing a South Korean force with no tanks of their own and few modern anti-tank weapons.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} [[Image:Bazookas Korea.jpg|thumb|Comparing the earlier M9 [[bazooka]] to the later, larger M20 model]] The South Korean army had anti-tank rockets but these were World War II vintage 2.36 inch (60 mm) M9 [[bazooka]]s. The bazooka rocket could easily penetrate the 45 mm side armor of the T-34-85s at any range, but the bazooka was nonetheless found to be ineffective.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} As U.S. forces arrived in Korea, they were accompanied only by light [[M24 Chaffee]] tanks which had been left in Japan for post-WWII occupation duties (heavier tanks would have torn up Japanese roads).{{Fact|date=March 2008}} These light tanks were ineffective against the larger North Korean T-34-85 tanks.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} U.S. 105 mm howitzers were used on at least one occasion to fire [[High explosive anti-tank warhead|HEAT]] ammunition over open sights.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} As the U.S. buildup continued, shipments of heavier American tanks such as the [[M4 Sherman]], the [[M26 Pershing]], the [[M46 Patton]], and the British [[Centurion tank|Centurion]] as well as American and Allied ground attack aircraft were able to reverse the Communists' tank advantage.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} However, in contrast to World War II's heavy emphasis on armor, few open tank battles actually occurred over the course of the Korean War. The country's heavily forested and mountainous terrain, as well as the poor road network, meant that tanks were able to operate only in small groups. ===Air warfare=== {{see|MiG Alley|United States Air Force Aircraft of the Korean War}} [[Image:MiG-15 shot down.jpg|thumb|[[MiG-15]] shot down by an [[F-86]] over [[MiG Alley]]]] [[Image:WarKorea B-29-korea.jpg|thumb|Over the course of the war, at least 16 [[B-29 Superfortress|B-29 bombers]] were shot down by communist aircraft.]] The Korean War was the last major war where propeller-powered fighters such as the [[P-51 Mustang]], [[F4U Corsair]] and [[aircraft carrier]]-based [[Hawker Sea Fury]] and [[Supermarine Seafire]] were used. [[Turbojet]] fighter aircraft such as [[F-80 Shooting Star|F-80s]] and [[F9F Panther]]s came to dominate the skies, overwhelming North Korea’s propeller-driven [[Yakovlev Yak-9]]s and [[Lavochkin La-9]]s. From 1950, North Koreans began flying the Soviet-made [[MiG-15]] jet fighters, some of which were piloted by experienced [[Soviet Air Force]] pilots, a ''[[casus belli]]'' deliberately overlooked by the UN allied forces who were reluctant to engage in open war with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. At first, UN jet fighters, which also included [[Royal Australian Air Force]] [[Gloster Meteor#Service during the Korean War|Gloster Meteors]], had some success, but the superior quality of the MiGs soon held sway over the first-generation jets used by the UN early in the war.<ref>{{cite web | last =CW2 Sewell | first =Stephen L | title =FEAF/U.N. Aircraft Used in Korea and Losses by Type | publisher =Korean-War.com | url =http://korean-war.com/AirWar/AircraftType-LossList.html | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> In December 1950, the [[U.S. Air Force]] began using the [[F-86 Sabre]]. The MiG could fly higher, 50,000 vs. {{convert|42000|ft|m|-2}}, offering a distinct advantage at the start of combat. In level flight, their maximum speeds were comparable&nbsp;— about {{convert|660|mi/h|km/h|-1|abbr=on}}. The MiG could climb better, while the Sabre could turn and dive better. For weapons, the MiG carried two 23 mm and one 37 mm cannon, compared to the Sabre’s six .50 (12.7 mm) caliber machine guns. The American .50 caliber machine guns, while not packing the same punch, carried many more rounds and were aimed with a superior [[radar-ranging gunsight]]. The U.S. pilots also had the advantage of [[G-suit]]s, which were used for the first time in this war. However, maintenance was an issue with the Sabre, and a large proportion of the UN air strength was grounded because of repairs during the war.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} Even after the Air Force introduced the advanced F-86, its pilots often struggled against the jets piloted by elite Soviet pilots.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} The UN gradually gained [[air superiority]] over most of Korea that lasted until the end of the war&nbsp;— a decisive factor in helping the UN first advance into the north, and then resist the Chinese invasion of South Korea. The Chinese and North Koreans also had jet power, but their training and experience were limited. With the introduction of the F-86F in late 1952, the Soviet and American aircraft had virtually identical performance characteristics. After the war, the USAF claimed 792 MiG-15s and 108 additional aircraft shot down by Sabres for the loss of 78 Sabres, a ratio in excess of 10:1.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Some post-war research has been able to confirm only 379 victories, although the USAF continues to maintain its official credits and the debate is possibly irreconcilable. The Soviets claimed about 1,100 air-to-air victories and 335 combat MiG losses at that time. China's official losses were 231 planes shot down in air-to-air combat (mostly MiG-15) and 168 other losses. The number of losses of the North Korean Air Force was not revealed. It is estimated that it lost about 200 aircraft in the first stage of the war, and another 70 aircraft after Chinese intervention. Soviet claims of 650 victories over the Sabres, and China's claims of another 211 F-86s, are considered to be exaggerated by the USAF. According to a recent U.S. publication, the number of F-86s ever present in the Korean peninsula during the war totaled only 674 and the total F-86 losses from all causes were about 230.<ref>{{cite web | title =Korean War Aces, USAF F-86 Sabre jet pilots | publisher =AcePilots.com | url =http://www.acepilots.com/korea_aces.html | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> Direct comparison of Sabre and MiG losses seem irrelevant, since primary targets for MiGs were heavy [[B-29 Superfortress]] bombers and ground-attack aircraft, while the primary targets for Sabres were MiG-15s. By early 1951, the battle lines hardened and did not change much for the rest of the conflict. Throughout the summer and early fall of 1951, the outnumbered Sabres (as few as 44 at one point) of the [[4th Fighter Wing|4th FIW]] continued to seek battle in [[MiG Alley]] near the Yalu against an enemy fielding as many as 500 planes, although only a fraction of these were operational and active. Following Colonel [[Harrison Thyng]]'s famous message to the Pentagon, the [[51st Fighter Interceptor Wing|51st FIW]] reinforced the beleaguered 4th in December 1951.<ref name="thyngcite"> {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url = http://sabre-pilots.org/classics/v101thyng.htm| title = Harrison R. Thyng| format = | work = | publisher = Sabre Jet Classics| accessdate = 24 December| accessyear = 2006}}</ref> For the next year and a half, the combat continued in generally the same fashion. ===Naval warfare=== As North Korea had no significant naval presence, naval battles were infrequent. The only significant "battle" took place on [[July 2]], [[1950]], between the U.S. cruiser [[USS Juneau (CL-119)|''Juneau'']], the British cruiser [[HMS Jamaica (44)|''Jamaica'']], and the British frigate [[HMS Black Swan (L57)|''Black Swan'']], against four North Korean torpedo boats and two North Korean mortar gunboats. The torpedo boats attempted to attack but they were quickly destroyed by the Anglo-American fleet.<ref>http://www.defencetalk.com/forums/ext.php?ref=http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/korea/navalbattles.htm</ref> Numerous other communist ships were sunk during the war. Supply and ammunition ships were sunk by U.N. forces, denying use of the sea to the North Koreans. ''Juneau'' sunk several ammunition ships that had been present in her previous battle. The last instance of ship-to-ship battle in the war occurred at Inchon a few days before the battle, when the ROK ship PC 703 sank an enemy mine-laying craft and three other vessels in waters off the Yellow Sea port. For the remainder of the war, the role of the navies was to provide shore bombardment.<ref>http://www.defencetalk.com/forums/ext.php?ref=http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/korea/navalbattles.htm</ref> ===Proposed use of nuclear weapons=== Historian [[Bruce Cumings#Criticism|Bruce Cumings]] believes that Truman's allusions to the possibility of nuclear weapons use at a press conference on [[November 30]], [[1950]] "was a threat based on contingency planning to use the bomb, rather than the faux pas so many assumed it to be."<ref name="Cumings1">{{cite book | last =Cumings | first =Bruce | authorlink =Bruce Cumings | title =Korea's Place in the Sun: A History | publisher =WW Norton & Company |date=1997 | pages =pp 289-92 | isbn =0393316815 }}</ref> Cumings argues that Truman sought MacArthur's removal primarily because he felt that MacArthur would not be reliable enough in a situation in which Washington had decided to use atomic weapons. Cumings notes that the same day as the press conference, orders were sent between top Air Forces generals for the [[Strategic Air Command]] to "augment its capacities and that this should include “atomic capabilities."<ref name="Cumings1" /> According to Cumings, the U.S. reached its closest point of using nuclear weapons during the war in April 1951. At the end of March, after the Chinese had moved large amounts of new forces near the Korean border, U.S. bomb loading pits at Kadena air base in [[Okinawa]] were made operational, and bombs were assembled there "lacking only the essential nuclear cores." On [[April 5]], the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] released orders for immediate retaliatory attacks using atomic weapons against Manchurian bases in the event that large numbers of new Chinese troops entered into the fights or bombing attacks originated from those bases. On the same day, Truman gave his approval for transfer of nine Mark IV nuclear capsules "to the air force's Ninth Bomb Group, the designated carrier of the weapons" and "the president signed an order to use them against Chinese and Korean targets." Remarking that the signed order was never sent, Cumings offers two reasons why this was the case. Firstly, Truman had used the crisis to convince the Joint Chiefs of the necessity of MacArthur's removal (announced [[April 10]]) and secondly, since the war was not thereafter escalated by the Chinese and Soviets, no necessity of using them presented itself.<ref name="Cumings1" /> This viewpoint is contradicted however by the facts, as on [[November 30]], [[1950]], President Truman at a press conference, remarked &ndash; no doubt extemporaneously &ndash; that the use of the atomic bomb was under active consideration, unintentionally implying to some observers that its use would be left to the discretion of General MacArthur. Even though subsequently he attempted to subdue the storm of protest and consternation which followed by pointing out that only he could authorize use of the atomic bomb and that he had not given such authorization, he could not avoid the real issue that any decision to use the bomb would be a United States, not a United Nations, decision. This led to a meeting [[December 4]] with British Prime Minister [[Clement Attlee]] (who also represented the leaders of the other Commonwealth nations) and with French Premier [[René Pleven]] and Foreign Minister [[Robert Schuman]], to discuss their concerns over the possible use of the atomic bomb. Indian Ambassador [[Kavalam Madhava Panikkar|Pannikkar]] recalls, "that Truman announced that he was thinking of using the atom bomb in Korea. But the Chinese seemed totally unmoved by this threat.... The propaganda against American aggression was stepped up. The 'Aid Korea to resist America' campaign was made the slogan for increased production, greater national integration, and more rigid control over anti-national activities. One could not help feeling that Truman's threat came in very useful to the leaders of the revolution to enable them to keep up the tempo of their activities."<ref name="Schnabel" /><ref>{{cite book | last =Knightley | first =Phillip | title =The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist and Myth-maker | publisher =Quartet |date=1982 | pages =p 334 | isbn =080186951X }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =Panikkar | first =Kavalam Madhava | authorlink =Kavalam Madhava Panikkar | title =In Two Chinas: Memoirs of a Diplomat | publisher =Hyperion Press |date=1981 | isbn =0830500138 }}</ref> Six days later, on [[December 6]], [[1950]], after the Chinese intervention had forced the UN forces into a retreat from northern North Korea, General [[J. Lawton Collins]] ([[Army Chief of Staff]]), General MacArthur, Admiral [[C. Turner Joy]] and General [[George E. Stratemeyer]], with key staff officers Hickey, Willoughby and Wright, met in [[Tokyo]] for a full discussion of what moves to take against the Chinese. They projected three hypothetical scenarios covering the next few weeks or months.<ref name="Schnabel" /> In the first, they theorized that if the Chinese continued their all-out attack but with the UN Command forbidden to mount air attacks against China, no blockade of China set up, no reinforcements sent to Korea by [[Chiang Kai-shek]], and that there would be no substantial increase in MacArthur's U.S. forces until April 1951 when four [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] divisions might be sent, then the [[Nuclear weapon|atomic bomb]] might be used in North Korea.<ref name="Schnabel" /> Under the second scenario, the conferees assumed a situation in which the Chinese attack would continue but with an effective naval blockade of China put in effect, air reconnaissance and bombing of the Chinese mainland allowed, Chinese Nationalist forces exploited to the maximum, and the atomic bomb to be used if tactically appropriate. Given these conditions, General MacArthur said he should be directed to hold positions in Korea as far north as possible.<ref name="Schnabel" /> Under the third scenario, in which the Chinese would agree not to cross south of the 38th parallel, MacArthur felt the United Nations should accept an armistice. The conditions of the armistice should preclude movement of North Korean and Chinese forces below the parallel. North Korean guerrillas should withdraw into their own territory with the Eighth Army remaining in positions covering the Seoul-Inch'on area, while X Corps pulled back to Pusan. An United Nations commission should supervise the implementation of armistice terms.<ref name="Schnabel" /> So, while the U.S. had contemplated using the atomic bomb in Korea, Truman did not publicly threaten to use the bomb immediately after the Chinese intervention, but instead remarked about the consideration of using the bomb around 45 days later and only after UN forces were in retreat and had suffered some serious losses. MacArthur and other military leaders did not work on scenarios for using the bomb until after Truman's inadvertent remark during a press conference 6 days earlier. The decision not to use the atomic bomb also was not due to "a disinclination by the USSR and PRC to escalate" but rather due to pressure from UN allies, notably Britain, the British Commonwealth, and France, who were concerned that if the United States became involved in a war with Communist China, American commitments to [[NATO]] would, through sheer necessity, go by the board. China then might have little difficulty in persuading the Soviets to move into [[western Europe]], and without U.S. resistance to this aggression, they could take all of Europe at little cost.<ref name="Schnabel" /><ref>{{cite book | last =Truman | first =Harry S | authorlink =Harry S Truman | title =Memoirs (2 volumes) | publisher =Doubleday |date=1955-1956 | pages =vol. II, p. 394-395 | isbn =156852062X }}</ref> ===War crimes=== ====Crimes against civilians==== {{main|No Gun Ri massacre}} [[Image:Shootingkoreancivilians.jpg|thumb|left|Declassified U.S. document says:<br>“''It is reported that large groups of civilians, either composed of or controlled by North Korean soldiers, are infiltrating U.S. positions. The army has requested we strafe all civilian refugee parties approaching our positions. To date, we have complied with the army request in this respect.''”<br>The document goes on to recommend establishing a policy revising the practice.]] [[Image:Korean War Massacre.jpg|thumb|Prisoners massacred by retreating North Koreans in [[Daejeon]], South Korea, October 1950]] When parts of South Korea were under North Korean control, political killings, reportedly into the tens of thousands, took place in the cities and villages. The communists systematically killed former South Korean government officials and others deemed hostile to the communists, and such killing was intensified as North Koreans retreated from the South.<ref name="SOD">{{cite book | last =Rummel | first =R.J | title =Statistics of Democide | pages =Chapter 10, Statistics Of North Korean Democide Estimates, Calculations, And Sources | url =http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP10.HTM | isbn = }}</ref> South Korean military, police and [[paramilitary]] forces, often with U.S. military knowledge and without trial, executed in turn tens of thousands of leftist inmates and alleged communist sympathizers in the incidents such as the massacre of the political prisoners from the Daejeon Prison and the bloody crackdown on the [[Cheju Uprising]].<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080519/ap_on_re_as/korea_mass_executions AP IMPACT: Thousands killed in 1950 by US's Korean ally - Yahoo! News<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Gregory Henderson, a U.S. diplomat in Korea at the time, put the total figure at 100,000, and the bodies of those killed were often dumped into [[mass grave]]s. Recently, the South Korean [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Republic of Korea)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] has received reports of more than 7,800 cases of civilian killings in 150 locations across the country where mass killings of civilians took place before and during the war. Korean forces on both sides routinely rounded up and forcibly [[conscription|conscripted]] both males and females in their area of operations; thousands of them never returned home. According to the estimate by [[R. J. Rummel]], a professor at the [[University of Hawaii]], some 400,000 South Korean citizens were conscripted into the North Korean Army.<ref name="SOD"/> Before the September 1950 liberation of Seoul by the U.S. forces, an estimated 83,000 citizens of the city were taken away by retreating North Korean forces and disappeared, according to the South Korean government; their fate remains unknown.<ref>{{cite news | last =Choe | first =Sang-Hun | title =A half-century wait for a husband abducted by North Korea | publisher =International Herald Tribune:Asia Pacific | date =[[2007-06-25]] | url =http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/25/news/missing.php | accessdate =2007-08-22 l}</ref> North Korea insists the South Koreans [[defection|defected]] voluntarily and were not held against their will.<ref>{{cite news | title =S Korea 'regrets' refugee mix-up | publisher =British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) | date =[[2007-01-18]] | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6274297.stm | accessdate =2008-08-22 }}</ref> For a time, American troops were under orders to consider any Korean civilians on the battlefield approaching their position as hostile, and were instructed to "neutralize" them because of fears of [[infiltration]]. This led to the indiscriminate killings of hundreds of South Korean civilians by the U.S. military at places such as [[No Gun Ri]], where many defenseless refugees&nbsp;— most of whom were women, children and old men&nbsp;— were shot at by the U.S. Army and may have been [[strafing|strafed]] by the U.S. Air Force. Recently, the U.S. admitted having a policy of strafing civilians in other places and times.<ref name="wash">{{cite news | first =Charles J. | last =Hanley | coauthors =Martha Mendoza | date = [[2006-05-29]] | title =U.S. Policy Was to Shoot Korean Refugees | url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/29/AR2006052900485.html | work = [[The Washington Post]] | publisher = [[Associated Press]] | accessdate = 2007-04-15 }} </ref><ref name="Letter_reveals" > {{cite news | first = Charles J. | last = Hanley | coauthors = Martha Mendoza | title = Letter reveals U.S. intent at No Gun Ri | url = http://www.nola.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/international-21/1176512119139600.xml&storylist=topstories | work = [[New Orleans Times-Picayune]] | publisher = [[Associated Press]] | date = [[2007-04-13]] | accessdate = 2007-04-14 }}</ref> ====Crimes against POWs==== [[Image:Americanexecuted1950korea.jpg|thumb|U.S soldier taken prisoner and shot in the head with his hands tied behind his back]] The North Koreans severely mistreated prisoners of war.<ref> {{cite news | first = Charles | last = Potter | authorlink = Charles Potter | title = Korean War Atrocities | url = http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/KW-atrocities-part2.pdf | format = PDF, online | work = United States Senate Subcommittee on Korean War Atrocities of the Permanent Subcommittee of the Investigations of the [[Committee on Government Operations]]. | publisher = US GPO | date = December 3, 1953 | accessdate =2008-01-18 | quote = We marched 2 days. The first night we got some hay and we slept in the hay cuddling together to keep warm. The second night we slept in pigpens, about six inches space between the logs. That night I froze my feet. Starting out again the next morning, after bypassing the convoy, I picked up two rubber boots, what we call "snow packs". They was both for the left foot; I put those on. After starting out the second morning, I didn't have time to massage my feet to get them thawed out. I got marching the next sixteen days after that. During that march all the meat had worn off my feet, all the skin had dropped off, nothing but the bones showing. After arriving in Kanggye they put us up, there, in mud huts, Korean mud huts. We stayed there — all sick and wounded, most of us was — stayed there, in the first part of January 1951. Then the Chinese come around in the night, about twelve o'clock, and told us those who was sick and wounded they was going to move us out to the hospital, which we knew better. There could have been such a thing, but we didn't think so. —— Sgt. Wendell Treffery, RA- 115660. }} </ref> Historical accounts report frequent communist-imposed beatings, starvation, [[forced labor]], [[summary execution]]s, and [[death march]]es on UN prisoners.<ref>{{cite book | last =Carlson | first =Lewis H | title =Remembered Prisoners of a Forgotten War: An Oral History of Korean War POWs | publisher =St. Martin's Griffin |date=2003 | isbn =0312310072 }}</ref> North Korean forces committed several massacres of captured U.S. troops at places such as Hill 312 and Hill 303<ref>{{cite web | last =Lakshmanan | first =Indira A.R | title =Hill 303 Massacre | publisher =Boston Globe |date=1999 | url =http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/hill303.htm | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> on the Pusan Perimeter, and in and around Daejeon; this occurred during early "mopping-up" actions. A [[U.S. Congress]]ional report alleges "More than 5,000 American prisoners of war died because of Communist war atrocities and more than a thousand who survived were victims of war crime (...) Approximately two-thirds of all American prisoners of war in Korea died due to war crimes."<ref>{{cite web | last =Van Zandt | first =James E | title =`You are about to die a horrible death' - Korean War&nbsp;— the atrocities committed by the North Koreans during the Korean War | publisher =VFW Magazine |date=February 2003 | url =http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0LIY/is_6_90/ai_97756107 | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title =American Ex-Prisoners of War | publisher =Department of Veterans Affairs | pages = | url =http://www1.va.gov/vhi/docs/pow_www.pdf | isbn = |format=PDF}}</ref> The Chinese also used [[brainwashing]] "re-education" techniques on their prisoners. The communists claimed having captured more than 70,000 South Korean soldiers, but they repatriated only 8,000. (In contrast, South Korea repatriated 76,000 North Korean POWs.)<ref>{{cite web | last =Lee | first =Sookyung | title =Hardly Known, Not Yet Forgotten, South Korean POWs Tell Their Story | publisher =AII POW-MIA InterNetwork |date=2007 | url =http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter27/in250107skoreapw.html | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> In addition to some 12,000 deaths in captivity, some 50,000 South Korean POWs might have been press-ganged into the North Korean military.<ref name="SOD"/> According to the South Korean Ministry of Defense, by 2003 there were at least 300 POWs were still alive being held captive in North Korea. More than 30 South Korean prisoners managed to escape the North between 1994 and 2003, including a soldier captured in the war who escaped in 2003.<ref>{{cite news | title =S Korea POW celebrates escape | publisher =British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) | date =[[2004-01-19]] | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3409835.stm | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> Pyongyang denied holding any POWs. ==Legacy== {{main|Legacy of the Korean War}} The Korean War was the first armed confrontation of the [[Cold War]] and set the standard for many later conflicts. It created the idea of a [[limited war]], where the two [[superpower]]s would fight in another country, forcing the people in that nation to suffer the bulk of the destruction and death involved in a war between such large nations. The superpowers avoided descending into an all-out war with one another, as well as the mutual use of nuclear weapons. It also expanded the Cold War, which to that point had mostly been concerned with [[Europe]]. The Korean War damaged both Koreas heavily. Although South Korea stagnated economically in the decade following the war, it was later able to modernize and industrialize. In contrast, the [[Economy of North Korea|North Korean economy]] recovered quickly after the war and until around 1975 surpassed that of South Korea.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} However, North Korea's economy eventually slowed. Today, the North Korean economy is virtually nonexistent while the [[Economy of South Korea|South Korean economy]] is expanding. The [[The World Factbook|CIA World Factbook]] estimates North Korea's [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] ([[Purchasing power parity|PPP]]) to be $40 billion, which is a mere 3.34% of South Korea's $1.196 trillion GDP (PPP). The North's per capita income is $1,800, which is 7.35% of South Korea's $24,500 per capita income. A [[Korean Demilitarized Zone|heavily guarded demilitarized zone]] (DMZ) on the 38th parallel continues to divide the peninsula today. Anti-Communist and anti-North Korea sentiment still remain in South Korea today, and most South Koreans are against the North Korean government. However, a "[[Sunshine Policy]]" is used by the controlling party, the [[Uri Party]]. The Uri Party and President [[Roh Moo-hyun|Roh]], the South Korean president, have often disagreed with the United States in talks about North Korea. The [[Grand National Party]] (GNP), the Uri Party's main opposing party, maintains an anti-North Korea policy today. The war affected other nations as well. [[Turkey]]'s participation in the war helped it become a [[NATO]] member.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} According to a [[September 7]], [[2007]] [[National Public Radio|NPR]] report, U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] stated that it is his administration's position that a formal peace treaty with North Korea would be possible only when the North abandoned its nuclear weapons programs.<ref>{{cite news | last =Gonyea | first =Don | title =U.S., South Korea Differ over North Korea | publisher =National Public Radio (NPR) | date =[[2007-08-07]] | url =http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14232869 | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> According to Bush, "We look forward to the day when we can end the Korean War. That will end&nbsp;— will happen when Kim verifiably gets rid of his weapons programs and his weapons."<ref>{{cite news | title =N. Korea Agrees to Allow Nuclear Inspectors | publisher =National Public Radio (NPR) | date =[[2007-08-07]] | url =http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14232535 | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> Some have characterized this as a reversal of Bush's stated policy of regime change with respect to North Korea.<ref>{{cite news | last =Goldenberg | first =Suzanne | title =Policy Shift Offers US Hope of N Korea Success | publisher =Sydney Morning Herald | date =[[2007-08-05]] | url =http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/policy-shift-offers-us-hope-of-n-korea-success/2007/09/04/1188783237179.html | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> At the second [[Inter-Korean Summit]] in October 2007, [[President of South Korea|South Korean President]] Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader [[Kim Jong-Il]] signed a joint declaration calling for international talks towards a peace treaty formally ending the war.<ref>{{cite news |title=Korean leaders issue peace call |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7027236.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=[[2007-10-04]] |accessdate=2007-10-04 }}</ref> ==Depictions== ===Art=== [[Image:Picasso Massacre in Korea.jpg|thumb|[[Pablo Picasso]]'s [[Massacre in Korea]] (1951; in the Musée Picasso, Paris)]] Artist [[Pablo Picasso]]'s painting ''[[Massacre in Korea]]'' (1951) depicted violence against civilians during the Korean War. By some accounts, killing of civilians by U.S. forces in Shinchun, [[Hwanghae]] Province was the motive of the painting.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} [[Ha Jin]]'s ''War Trash'' contains a vivid description of the beginning of the war from the point of view of a Chinese soldier and of the fear of retribution Chinese POWs felt from other Chinese prisoners if they were suspected of being unsympathetic to communism or to the war. ===Film=== Unlike World War II, there are relatively few Western [[feature film]]s depicting the Korean War. *''[[Battle Hymn (film)|Battle Hymn]]'' (1957) stars [[Rock Hudson]] as Colonel [[Dean Hess]], who became a preacher after bombing a German orphanage during World War II. He later volunteered as a USAF fighter pilot instructor in Korea. *''[[The Bridges at Toko-Ri]]'' (1955) stars [[William Holden]] as a USAF pilot assigned to destroy the bridges at Toko Ri, while battling doubts; it is based on an eponymous [[James Michener]] novel. *''[[The Hunters (1958 film)|The Hunters]]'' (1958), adapted from the novel ''[[The Hunters (novel)|The Hunters]]'' by [[James Salter]], stars [[Robert Mitchum]] and [[Robert Wagner]] as two very different United States Air Force fighter pilots in the midst of the Korean War. *''[[Inchon (film)|Inchon]]'' (1982) portrays the Battle of Inchon, a turning point in the war. Controversially, the film was partially financed by [[Sun Myung Moon]]'s [[Unification Movement]]. It became a notorious financial and critical failure, losing an estimated $40 million of its $46 million budget, and remains the last mainstream Hollywood film to use the war as its backdrop. The film was directed by [[Terence Young (director)|Terence Young]], and starred an elderly [[Laurence Olivier]] as General Douglas MacArthur. According to press materials from the film, psychics hired by Moon's church contacted MacArthur in heaven and secured his posthumous approval of the casting. *''[[The Manchurian Candidate]]'', a 1959 thriller novel, was cinematically adapted to ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'' (1962), directed by [[John Frankenheimer]], and featuring [[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Angela Lansbury]]. It is about brainwashed POWs of the U.S. Army, and an officer's investigation to learn what happened to him and his platoon in the war. *''[[M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors]]'', by [[H. Richard Hornberger|Richard Hooker]] (pseudonym for H. Richard Hornberger), was later adapted into [[MASH (film)|a successful film]] and a [[M*A*S*H (TV series)|television series]]; the TV series had a total of 251 episodes, lasted 11 years, and won awards, and its concluding episode was a most-watched program.<ref>{{cite web | title =What is M*A*S*H | url =http://www.mash4077.co.uk/what.html | accessdate =2007-08-22 }}</ref> Yet the sensibilities they presented were more of the 1970s than of the 1950s; the Korean War setting was an oblique and uncontroversial treatment of the then-current American war in Vietnam.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} *''[[Pork Chop Hill]]'' (1959) is a [[Lewis Milestone]]-directed film with [[Gregory Peck]] as an infantry lieutenant fighting the bitterly fierce first [[Battle of Pork Chop Hill]], between the U.S. Army's [[7th Infantry Division (United States)|7th Infantry Division]], and Chicom (Chinese Communist) forces at war's end in April 1953. The movie is lampooned by the [[Firesign Theatre]] album ''[[Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers]]'' in the story of Lieutenant Tirebiter. There were several South Korean films, including: *''[[Taegukgi (film)|Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War]]'' (2004), directed by [[Kang Je-gyu]], became extremely popular in South Korea and at the 50th [[Asia Pacific Film Festival]], ''Taegukgi'' won the "Best Film", while Kang Je-gyu was awarded the "Best Director". Taegukgi saw a limited released in the United States. *''[[Welcome to Dongmakgol]]'' (2005) shows the effect of the warring sides on a remote village. The movie is about an American aviator, rescued and healed by the village, which soon becomes the home to surviving North Korean and South Korean soldiers. In time, the soldiers lose their suspicion and hated for their enemies and work together to help save the village after the Americans mistakenly identify it as an enemy camp. North Korea has made many films about the war, mostly by the government supporting forceful, armed reunification of the North and South of Korea. These have been highly propagandized to portray potential war crimes by American or South Korean soldiers while glorifying members of the North Korean military as well as North Korean ideals.<ref>pgs 63, 146, 173 Delisle, Guy ''Pyongyang: A Journey Into North Korea'' Drawn & Quarterly Books</ref><ref> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2982213.stm South Korea's tunnel hunters</ref> ''[[Battle on Shangganling Mountain|Shangganling Battle]]'' (Shanggan Ling, Chinese: 上甘岭) is a depiction of the Korean War from the Chinese point of view, made in 1956. The movie is about a group of Chinese soldiers blocked in Shangganling mountain area for several days and survive until they are relieved. ==Notes== {{reflist|2}} ==References== <div class="references-small"> * Brune, Lester and Robin Higham, eds., ''The Korean War: Handbook of the Literature and Research'' (Greenwood Press, 1994) * Edwards, Paul M. '' Korean War Almanac'' (2006) * Foot, Rosemary, "Making Known the Unknown War: Policy Analysis of the Korean Conflict in the Last Decade," ''Diplomatic History'' 15 (Summer 1991): 411-31, in JSTOR * Goulden, Joseph C., ''Korea: The Untold Story of the War'', New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1982. * Hickey, Michael, ''The Korean War: The West Confronts Communism, 1950-1953'' (London: John Murray, 1999) ISBN 0719555590 9780719555596 * {{cite news |last=Ho, Kang, Pak |first= |url=http://uk.share.geocities.com/wpkanniversary60/KoreanWar.htm |title=The US Imperialists Started the Korean War |publisher=Foreign Languages Publishing House |date=Pyongyang 1993}} * Kaufman, Burton I. ''The Korean Conflict'' (Greenwood Press, 1999). * Knightley, P. ''The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist and Myth-maker'' (Quartet, 1982) * Korea Institute of Military History, ''The Korean War'' (1998) (English edition 2001), 3 vol, 2600 pp; highly detailed history from South Korean perspective, U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-7802-0 * Leitich, Keith. ''Shapers of the Great Debate on the Korean War: A Biographical Dictionary'' (2006) covers Americans only * James I. Matray, ed., ''Historical Dictionary of the Korean War'' (Greenwood Press, 1991) * Millett, Allan R, “A Reader's Guide To The Korean War” ''Journal of Military History'' (1997) Vol. 61 No. 3; p. 583+ full text in JSTOR; [http://korea50.army.mil/history/factsheets/Histog.shtml free online revised version] * Millett, Allan R. "The Korean War: A 50 Year Critical Historiography," ''Journal of Strategic Studies'' 24 (March 2001), pp. 188-224. full text in Ingenta and Ebsco; discusses major works by British, American, Korean, Chinese, and Russian authors * Summers, Harry G. ''Korean War Almanac'' (1990) * Sandler, Stanley ed., ''The Korean War: An Encyclopedia'' (Garland, 1995) * {{cite news |last=Masatake |first=Terauchi |url=http://www.isop.ucla.edu/eas/documents/kore1910.htm |title=Treaty of Annexation |publisher=USC-UCLA Joint East Asian Studies Center |date=1910-08-27 |accessdate=2007-01-16}} </div> ==Further reading== [[Image:Hill303.png|thumb|Victims of a massacre with their hands bound in burial area near [[Waegwan]], Korea.]] ===Combat studies, soldiers=== * Appleman, Roy E. ''South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu'' (1961), Official U.S. Army history covers the Eighth Army and X Corps from June to November 1950 * Appleman, Roy E.. ''East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea'' (1987); ''Escaping the Trap: The U.S. Army in Northeast Korea, 1950'' (1987); ''Disaster in Korea: The Chinese Confront MacArthur'' (1989); ''Ridgway Duels for Korea'' (1990). * Blair, Clay. ''The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950-1953'' (1987), revisionist study that attacks senior American officials * Field Jr., James A. ''History of United States Naval Operations: Korea'', University Press of the Pacific, 2001, ISBN 0-89875-675-8. official U.S. Navy history * Farrar-Hockley, General Sir Anthony. ''The British Part in the Korean War'', HMSO, 1995, hardcover 528 pages, ISBN 0-11-630962-8 * Futrell, Robert F. ''The United States Air Force in Korea, 1950–1953,'' rev. ed. (Office of the Chief of Air Force History, 1983), official U.S. Air Force history * Hallion, Richard P. ''The Naval Air War in Korea'' (1986). * Hamburger, Kenneth E. ''Leadership in the Crucible: The Korean War Battles of Twin Tunnels and Chipyong-Ni.'' Texas A. & M. U. Press, 2003. 257 pp. * Hastings, Max. ''The Korean War'' (1987). British perspective * James, D. Clayton ''The Years of MacArthur: Triumph and Disaster, 1945-1964'' (1985) * James, D. Clayton with Anne Sharp Wells, ''Refighting the Last War: Command and Crises in Korea, 1950-1953'' (1993) * Johnston, William. ''A War of Patrols: Canadian Army Operations in Korea.'' U. of British Columbia Press, 2003. 426 pp. * Kindsvatter, Peter S. ''American Soldiers: Ground Combat in the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam.'' U. Press of Kansas, 2003. 472 pp. * Millett, Allan R. ''Their War for Korea: American, Asian, and European Combatants and Civilians, 1945–1953.'' Brassey's, 2003. 310 pp. * Montross, Lynn et al., ''History of U.S. Marine Operations in Korea, 1950–1953,'' 5 vols. (Washington: Historical Branch, G-3, Headquarters, Marine Corps, 1954–72), * Mossman, Billy. ''Ebb and Flow'' (1990), Official U.S. Army history covers November 1950 to July 1951. * Russ, Martin. ''Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950'', , Penguin, 2000, 464 pages, ISBN 0-14-029259-4 * Toland, John. ''In Mortal Combat: Korea, 1950-1953'' (1991) * Varhola, Michael J. ''Fire and Ice: The Korean War, 1950-1953'' (2000) * Watson, Brent Byron. ''Far Eastern Tour: The Canadian Infantry in Korea, 1950–1953.'' 2002. 256 pp. ===Origins, politics, diplomacy=== * Chen Jian, ''China's Road to the Korean War: The Making of the Sino-American Confrontation'' (Columbia University Press, 1994), * Goncharov, Sergei N., John W. Lewis; and Xue Litai, ''Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War'', Stanford University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8047-2521-7, diplomatic * Kaufman, Burton I. ''The Korean War: Challenges in Crisis, Credibility, and Command''. Temple University Press, 1986), focus is on Washington * Matray, James. "Truman's Plan for Victory: National Self Determination and the Thirty-Eighth Parallel Decision in Korea," ''Journal of American History'' 66 (September, 1979), 314-33. Online at JSTOR * Millett, Allan R. ''The War for Korea, 1945–1950: A House Burning'' vol 1 (2005)ISBN 0-7006-1393-5, origins * [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/p&d.htm Schnabel, James F. ''United States Army in the Korean War: Policy and Direction: The First Year'' (Washington: Office of the Chief of Military History, 1972). Official U.S. Army history; full text online] * Spanier, John W. ''The Truman-MacArthur Controversy and the Korean War'' (1959). * Stueck, William. ''Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History.'' Princeton U. Press, 2002. 285 pp. * Stueck, Jr., William J. ''The Korean War: An International History'' (Princeton University Press, 1995), diplomatic * Zhang Shu-gang, ''Mao's Military Romanticism: China and the Korean War, 1950-1953'' (University Press of Kansas, 1995) ===Primary sources=== * Bassett, Richard M. ''And the Wind Blew Cold: The Story of an American POW in North Korea.'' Kent State U. Press, 2002. 117 pp. * Bin Yu and Xiaobing Li, eds ''Mao's Generals Remember Korea'', University Press of Kansas, 2001, hardcover 328 pages, ISBN 0-7006-1095-2 * S. L. A. Marshall, ''The River and the Gauntlet'' (1953) on combat * Matthew B. Ridgway, ''The Korean War'' (1967). ==External links== {{sisterlinks|Korean War}} *[http://www.kdvamerica.org/About.html Korea Defense Veterans of America] *[http://www.koreanwarexpow.org/info/jpac.html Korean War Ex-POW Association] *[http://www.kwva.org/pow_mia/index.htm Korean War Veterans Associtaion] *[http://www.koreanwarcenter.org/index.html The Center for the Study of the Korean War] *[http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/ Korean War Documentary] *[http://www.koreanchildren.org Korean Children's War Memorial] *[http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2001_02/korea.htm Calvin College on the Impact of the War on the Korean People] *[http://www.paulnoll.com/Korea/War/index.html Facts and texts on the War] *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/coldwar/korea_usa_01.shtml BBC: American Military Conduct in the Korean War] *[http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/atrocities.htm#types Atrocities against Americans in the Korean War] *[http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55a/099.html Atrocities by Americans in the Korean War] *[http://www.cotf.edu/ete/images/modules/korea/koreanw.mov Quicktime sequence of 27 maps adapted from the West Point Atlas of American Wars] showing the dynamics of the front. *[http://www.geocities.jp/whis_shosin/koreanwar1950english.html Animation for operations in 1950] *[http://www.geocities.jp/whis_shosin/koreanwar1951english.html Animation for operations in 1951] *[http://fornits.com/anonanon/articles/200103/20010330-258.htm POW films, brainwashing and the Korean War] *[http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-71-112/conflict_war/korea/ CBC Digital Archives - Forgotten Heroes: Canada and the Korean War] *[http://www.china.org.cn/e-America/index.htm Chinese 50th Anniversary Korean War Memorial] *[http://www.wilsoncenter.org/nkidp North Korea International Documentation Project] *[http://qindex.info/Q_incld/drctry.php?id=movie&ctgry=938 Collection of videos on Korean War] {{Cold War}} {{American conflicts}} [[Category:Cold War]] [[Category:Korean War| ]] [[Category:History of Korea]] {{Link FA|ru}} {{Link FA|vi}} [[zh-yue:韓戰]] [[am:የኮርያ ጦርነት]] [[ar:حرب كورية]] [[be:Вайна ў Карэі 1950-1953]] [[bs:Korejski rat]] [[bg:Корейска война]] [[ca:Guerra de Corea]] [[cs:Korejská válka]] [[cy:Rhyfel Corea]] [[da:Koreakrigen]] [[de:Koreakrieg]] [[et:Korea sõda]] [[es:Guerra de Corea]] [[eo:Korea milito]] [[eu:Koreako Gerra]] [[fa:جنگ کره]] [[fr:Guerre de Corée]] [[gl:Guerra de Corea]] [[ko:한국 전쟁]] [[hi:कोरिया युद्ध]] [[hr:Korejski rat]] [[id:Perang Korea]] [[is:Kóreustríðið]] [[it:Guerra di Corea]] [[he:מלחמת קוריאה]] [[ka:კორეის ომი]] [[sw:Vita ya Korea]] [[la:Bellum Coreanum]] [[lv:Korejas karš]] [[lb:Koreakrich]] [[lt:Korėjos karas]] [[hu:Koreai háború]] [[ms:Perang Korea]] [[mn:Солонгосын дайн]] [[nl:Koreaanse Oorlog]] [[ja:朝鮮戦争]] [[no:Koreakrigen]] [[nn:Koreakrigen]] [[nds:Koreakrieg]] [[pl:Wojna koreańska]] [[pt:Guerra da Coréia]] [[ru:Корейская война 1950—1953]] [[simple:Korean War]] [[sk:Kórejská vojna]] [[sl:Korejska vojna]] [[sr:Корејски рат]] [[sh:Korejski rat]] [[fi:Korean sota]] [[sv:Koreakriget]] [[th:สงครามเกาหลี]] [[vi:Chiến tranh Triều Tiên]] [[tr:Kore Savaşı]] [[uk:Корейська війна]] [[zh:朝鮮戰爭]]