Korean War

Korean War (1950–3) The first direct military conflict of the Cold War. Encouraged by the fragile political climate in South Korea and the poor state of its army on the one hand, and by Soviet military and economic assistance on the other, the North Korean leader, Kim Il Sung, ordered his forces to invade South Korea on 25 June 1950. Over 100,000 well-prepared troops crossed the demarcation line along the 38th Parallel to face around 60,000 South Korean soldiers, and advanced quickly to take the South Korean capital, Seoul, on 28 June. Whipped up by its military commander in Japan, MacArthur, the USA quickly responded to what it saw as a forceful extension of the Soviet sphere of influence: having just been forced to accept the victory of Communism in mainland China, Truman refused to accept the further spread of Communism. US forces stationed in Japan were dispatched to arrive on 1 July, while the UN, at a time when it was boycotted by the Soviet Union, condemned the act of aggression and agreed to host the defence of South Korea. Thus, while the bulk of troops and technology came from the USA, with MacArthur (Ridgway from 1951) being appointed Supreme Commander, sixteen other UN members participated, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.

The UN forces established the Pusan perimeter in the south-east corner of the country. From there, they started the reconquest of South Korea on 15 September, through a number of seaborne landings around the peninsula, and took Seoul on 26 September. By 20 October, they had reached the Chinese border, occupying most of North Korea. At this stage, Chinese Communist troops came to the aid of the beleaguered North Korean forces. Over one million soldiers poured into the country, and pushed back the UN forces until Seoul was recaptured by the North on 4 January 1951. It was finally liberated on 15 March 1951 and, after an unsuccessful Chinese offensive in April, the war developed into a stalemate.

 After protracted negotiations involving the position of the future demarcation line and the exchange of prisoners of war, an armistice was signed on 27 July 1953, after Stalin's death had enabled a slight relaxation of the Cold War. A new demarcation line came into effect, which led to territorial gains for South Korea, though the North gained some fertile lands in the west. The demarcation line was engulfed in a demilitarized zone for 2 km (1.5 miles) on either side, policed by the UN. The war cost the lives of around 35,000 UN troops (33,000 of whom were from the USA), while there were an estimated 900,000 Chinese casualties (killed or wounded). Around 600,000 South Koreans (military and civilian) died, with over 100,000 people being butchered during the occupations of Seoul alone. Over 700,000 North Koreans died, and over 1.5 million fled to the South.