Origins of the Korean War

1
Origins of the Korean War
2
Korea looses its Independence

• Japan opens Korea (1875)
• Signs first western style modern treaty
• Korea declares independence in foreign relations
• First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)
• Treaty of Shimonoseki (April 17, 1895)
• Korea forced into becoming Japanese Protectorate
  (November 1905)
• Japan annexes Korea (1910)

3
Japanese Defeat

• First Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima (August 6,
  1945)
• USSR declares war on Japan (August 8, 1945)
• Japanese Surrenders (August 10, 1945)
• Korea divided at 38th parallel
• to administer Japanese surrender and disarmament

4
Divided Korea

• No native or colonial government
• Two claimants to power
• Marxist revolutionaries (Kim Il-sung)
• Korean nationalists (Syngman Rhee)
• Reign of terror in North
• Flood of refugees to South
• Kim Il-Sung consolidates control
• Partisan warfare in South
• Republic of Korea (ROK, 1948)
• Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK,
  1948)

5
Invasion

• Dialogue with Stalin and Mao
• Build up of North Korea Forces by Soviets
• North Korean attack across border (June 25, 1950)

6
United Nations

• Truman goes to United Nations for sanction
• UN calls for halt to invasion calls on member
  states to send military assistance
• Soviets boycotting UN resolutions pass.
• Defense of South Korea becomes UN Police Action
• Douglas MacArthur appointed Commander of UN
  forces
• 21 countries sent troops and aid

7
Major Events

• Three divisions from Japanese occupation forces
  dispatched
• Beset by fleeing refugees guerrilla infiltration
• Pusan Perimeter
• North to the Yalu
• Inchon Landing
• ROK and US forces retake Seoul (Sept 1950)
• MacArthur ordered to expand north of 38th
  Parallel and destroy KPA as political threat to
  unification

8
Back to the 38th Parallel

• Mao orders Chinese forces across the border
• Supported with soviet aircraft and armaments
• Mig-15 jets flown by Soviets masked as Chinese or
  Koreans
• 420,000 Chinese and North Korean forces
• Chinese retake Seoul
• Truman fires MacArthur replaced by Matthew
  Ridgeway
• Renewed American forces push Chinese back across
  the 38th Parallel stalemate

9
Negotiated Peace

• July 8, 1951 belligerents begin negotiations
• Continued warfare during negotiations
• July 27, 1953 armistice signed by UN, Chinese,
  and North Koreans
• South Koreans did not sign
• No formal peace treaty ever signed continued
  state of war between two countries
• Repeated North Korean atrocities