{{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the

Korean conflict The Korean conflict is an ongoing conflict based on the division of Korea between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea ( Republic of Korea), both of which claim to be the sole legitimate government of all of K ...

, image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{{Flatlist, * A column of the U.S.

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). It is th ...

's infantry and armor moves through Chinese lines during their breakout from the Chosin Reservoir * UN landing at

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kor ...

harbor, starting point of the

Battle of Incheon The Battle of Incheon (), also spelled Battle of Inchon, was an amphibious invasion and a battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command (UN). The operation involved ...

* Korean refugees in front of a U.S.

M46 Patton The M46 Patton is an American medium tank designed to replace the M26 Pershing and M4 Sherman. It was one of the U.S Army's principal medium tanks of the early Cold War, with models in service from 1949 until the mid-1950s. It was not widely u ...

tank * U.S. Marines, led by First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez, landing at Incheon *

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legall ...

'')
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950) , place =

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour ter ...

, Sea of Japan,

Korea Strait The Korea Strait is a sea passage in East Asia between Korea and Japan, connecting the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The strait is split by the Tsushima Island into the Western Channel a ...

China–North Korea border The China–North Korea border is the international border separating the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). It runs for 1,352 km (840 mi) from the estuary of the Yalu River in th ...

, territory =

Korean Demilitarized Zone The Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korean: ; Hanbando Bimujang Jidae) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in hal ...

established * North Korea gains the city of Kaesong, but loses a net total of {{Convert, 1506, sqmi, km2, abbr=on, order=flip, including the city of

Sokcho Sokcho ( ko, 속초; ()) is a city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. It is located in the far northeast of Gangwon. The city is a major tourist hub, and a popular gateway to nearby Seoraksan national park. Sokcho is home to the few lakes: Yeo ...

, to South Korea. , result = Inconclusive , combatant1 = {{Flag, First Republic of Korea, name=South Korea, 1949, size=23px , combatant1a = {{Plainlist , * {{Flagicon, United Nations, size=23px

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

{{Refn , name = nbUNforces , group = lower-alpha , On 9 July 1951 troop constituents were: US: 70.4%, ROK: 23.3% other UNC: 6.3%{{Cite thesis , last=Kim , first=Heesu , title=Anglo-American Relations and the Attempts to Settle the Korean Question 1953–1960 , publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science , url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2408/1/U615357.pdf , page=213 , date=1996 , access-date=9 April 2017 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410050726/http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2408/1/U615357.pdf , archive-date=10 April 2017 * {{Flag, United States, 1912, size=23px {{Collapsible list , title = Combat support: , {{Flag, United Kingdom , {{Flag, Canada, 1921, size=23px , {{Flag, Turkey, size=23px , {{Flag, Australia, size=23px , {{Flagcountry, Third Philippine Republic, 1936, size=23px , {{Flag, New Zealand, size=23px , {{Flagicon, Thailand, 1917, size=23px Thailand , {{Flagcountry, Ethiopian Empire, size=23px , {{Flagcountry, Kingdom of Greece, state, size=23px , {{Flag, French Fourth Republic, name=France, size=23px , {{Flag, Colombia, size=23px , {{Flag, Belgium, size=23px , {{Flagcountry, Union of South Africa, size=23px , {{Flag, Netherlands, size=23px , {{Flag, Luxembourg, size=23px {{Collapsible list , title= Medical support:{{Cite news , last=임 , first=성호 , date=2020-06-19 , title= .25전쟁 70년이역만리 한국서 수백만명 살리고 의술 전파까지 , work= Yeonhap News , url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20200618138900004?input=1195m , access-date=2021-04-04 , {{Flag, Italy, 1946{{Refn , name = ItalyRedCross, group = lower-alpha , Italy was not part of the United Nations until 1955, but sent Italian Red Cross Field Hospital 68 from 1951 , {{Flag, West Germany, size=23px{{Cite news , date=2018-06-22 , title=독일, 62년만에 6.25 전쟁 의료지원국에 포함…총 6개국으로 늘어 , work= 해럴드 경제 , url=http://news.heraldcorp.com/view.php?ud=20180622000293 , access-date=2021-04-04 , {{Flag, India, size=23px , {{Flag, Norway, size=23px , {{Flag, Sweden, size=23px , {{Flag, Denmark, size=23px {{Collapsible list , title = Other support: , {{Flagcountry, Israel, size=23px , {{Flag, Taiwan , {{Flag, Japan, 1947{{Cite journal , last=Morris-Suzuki , first=Tessa , author-link=Tessa Morris-Suzuki , date=July 29, 2012 , title=Post-War Warriors: Japanese Combatants in the Korean War , url=https://apjjf.org/2012/10/31/Tessa-Morris-Suzuki/3803/article.html , journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus , volume=10 , issue=31 , {{Flagicon, Pakistan, size=23px Pakistan , {{Flag, Uruguay, size=23px{{Cite news , date=2022-02-10 , title= Uruguay's little-known but important role in the Korean War , work= Korea.net , url=https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/HonoraryReporters/view?articleId=210531#:~:text=Through%20the%20U.N.%2C%20Uruguay%20donated,and%20after%20the%20Korean%20War , access-date=2022-09-04 , {{Flagcountry, Republic of Cuba (1902–59), size=23px , {{Flag, El Salvador, size=23px , {{Flagcountry, Francoist Spain, size=23px , combatant2 = {{Flag, North Korea, 1948, size=23px , combatant2a = {{Plainlist , * {{Flag, China, size=23px * {{Flagcountry, Soviet Union, 1936, size=23px {{Collapsible list , title = Supported by: , {{Flagcountry, People's Republic of Albania, size=23px , {{Flagcountry, People's Republic of Bulgaria, 1948, size=23px , {{Nowrap, {{Flagcountry, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, size=23px , {{Flagcountry, East Germany, 1949, size=23px{{Cite book , last=Edwards , first=Paul M. , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5gYCm0bM68sC&pg=PA528 , title=Korean War Almanac , date=2006 , publisher=Infobase Publishing , isbn=978-0816074679 , series=Almanacs of American wars , location=New York , page=528 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704225317/https://books.google.com/books?id=5gYCm0bM68sC&pg=PA528 , archive-date=4 July 2017 , url-status=live , {{Flagcountry, Hungarian People's Republic, 1949 , {{Flagcountry, Mongolian People's Republic , {{Flagcountry, Polish People's Republic, size=23px , {{Flagcountry, Socialist Republic of Romania, 1948, size=23px , commander1 = {{Plainlist , * {{Flagicon, First Republic of Korea, 1949, size=23px Rhee Syng-man * {{Flagicon, First Republic of Korea, 1949, size=23px Chung Il-kwon * {{Flagicon, First Republic of Korea, 1949, size=23px Paik Sun-yup * {{Flagicon, First Republic of Korea, 1949, size=23px Lee Hyung-geun * {{Flagicon, First Republic of Korea, 1949, size=23px Shin Sung-mo , commander1a = {{Plainlist , * {{Flagicon, United Nations, size=23px Trygve Lie * {{Flagicon, United Nations, size=23px

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 19 ...

* {{Flagicon, United States, 1912, size=23px Harry S. Truman * {{Nowrap, {{Flagicon, United States, 1912, size=23px

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

* {{Flagicon, United States, 1912, size=23px George C. Marshall * {{Flagicon, United States, 1912, size=23px Robert A. Lovett * {{Flagicon, United States, 1912, size=23px

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

* {{Flagicon, United States, 1912, size=23px

Matthew Ridgway General Matthew Bunker Ridgway (March 3, 1895 – July 26, 1993) was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). A ...

* {{Flagicon, United States, 1912, size=23px Mark W. Clark * {{Flagicon, United Kingdom, size=23px Clement Attlee * {{Flagicon, United Kingdom, size=23px

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

, commander2 = {{Plainlist , * {{Flagicon, North Korea, 1948, size=23px

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts o ...

* {{Flagicon, North Korea, 1948, size=23px Kim Tu-bong * {{Flagicon, North Korea, 1948, size=23px

Pak Hon-yong Pak Hon-yong (; 28 May 1900 – 18 December 1955) was a Korean independence activist, politician, philosopher, communist activist and one of the main leaders of the Korean communist movement during Japan's colonial rule (1910–1945). His nick ...

* {{Flagicon, North Korea, 1948, size=23px Choe Yong-gon * {{Flagicon, North Korea, 1948, size=23px

Kim Chaek Kim Chaek (, 14 August 1903 – 31 January 1951) was a North Korean revolutionary, military general, and politician. His real name was Kim Hong-gye (). Life Kim Chaek was born in Sŏngjin, North Hamgyong, Korea, in 1903. He and his family f ...

{{KIA , commander2a = {{Plainlist , * {{Flagicon, China, size=23px Mao Zedong * {{Flagicon, China, size=23px

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

* {{Flagicon, China, size=23px

Peng Dehuai Peng Dehuai (; October 24, 1898November 29, 1974) was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader, who served as China's Ministry of National Defense (China), Defense Minister from 1954 to 1959. Peng was born into a poor peasant family, and ...

* {{Flagicon, China, size=23px Chen Geng * {{Flagicon, China, size=23px Deng Hua * {{Flagicon, China, size=23px Hong Xuezhi * {{Flagicon, China, size=23px Song Shilun * {{Flagicon, China, size=23px Han Xianchu * {{Flagicon, Soviet Union, 1936, size=23px Joseph Stalin * {{Flagicon, Soviet Union, 1936, size=23px Pavel Zhigarev , strength1 = {{Plainlist , Peak strength: * {{Flagicon, First Republic of Korea, 1948, size=23px 602,902 * {{Flagicon, United States, 1912, size=23px 326,863 * {{Flagicon, United Kingdom, 1801, size=23px 14,198{{Cite web , last=USFK Public Affairs Office , title=USFK United Nations Command , url=http://www.usfk.mil/About/United-Nations-Command/ , access-date=29 July 2016 , website=United States Forces Korea , publisher=United States Department of Defense , quote=Republic of Korea – 590,911
Colombia – 1,068
United States – 302,483
Belgium – 900
United Kingdom – 14,198
South Africa – 826
Canada – 6,146
Netherlands – 819
Turkey – 5,453
Luxembourg – 44
Australia – 2,282
Philippines – 1,496
New Zealand – 1,385
Thailand – 1,204{{Clarify, reason=Conflicts with data on Royal Thai Armed Forces article, date=December 2021
Ethiopia – 1,271
Greece – 1,263
France – 1,119, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711030514/http://www.usfk.mil/About/United-Nations-Command , archive-date=11 July 2016 * {{Flagicon, Canada, 1921, size=23px 8,123 * {{Flagicon, Turkey, size=23px 5,453 * {{Flagicon, Australia, size=23px 2,282 * {{Flagicon, Third Philippine Republic, 1936, size=23px 1,496 * {{Flagicon, New Zealand, size=23px 1,385 * {{Flagicon, Thailand, size=23px 1,290 * {{Flagicon, Ethiopian Empire, size=23px 1,271 * {{Flagicon, Kingdom of Greece, state, size=23px 1,263 * {{Flagicon, French Fourth Republic, size=23px 1,185{{Cite book , last=Edwards , first=Paul M. , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5gYCm0bM68sC&pg=PA517 , title=Korean War Almanac , publisher=

Infobase Publishing Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, includin ...

, date=2006 , isbn=978-0816074679 , series=Almanacs of American wars , page=517 , access-date=22 February 2013 * {{Flagicon, Colombia, size=23px 5,400 * {{Flagicon, Belgium, size=23px 900 * {{Flagicon, Union of South Africa, size=23px 826 * {{Flagicon, Netherlands, size=23px 819 * {{Flagicon, India, size=23px 346 * {{Flagicon, Sweden, size=23px 170 * {{Flagicon, Japan, 1947, size=23px 120 * {{Flagicon, Norway, size=23px 105 * {{Flagicon, Denmark, size=23px 100 * {{Flagicon, Italy, size=23px 72 * {{Flagicon, Luxembourg, size=23px 44 Together: 972,334
Total:
{{Flagicon, United States, 1912, size=23px 1,780,000Fact Sheet: America's Wars".
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Washington D.C., May 2017. , strength2 = {{Plainlist , Peak strength: * {{Flagicon, China, 1949, size=23px 1,450,000{{Harvnb, Zhang, 1995, p=257. * {{Flagicon, North Korea, 1948, size=23px 266,600 * {{Flagicon, Soviet Union, 1936, size=23px 26,000{{Cite journal , last=Kolb , first=Richard K. , date=1999 , title=In Korea we whipped the Russian Air Force , url=https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-43694886 , journal=VFW Magazine , volume=86 , issue=11 , access-date=17 February 2013 , quote=Soviet involvement in the Korean War was on a large scale. During the war, 72,000 Soviet troops (among them 5,000 pilots) served along the Yalu River in Manchuria. At least 12 air divisions rotated through. A peak strength of 26,000 men was reached in 1952. Together: 1,742,000 Total:
{{Flagicon, China, 1949, size=23px 2,970,000
{{Flagicon, Soviet Union, 1936, size=23px 72,000 , casualties1 = Total dead and missing: 170,927 dead and 32,585 missing{{Efn, 162,394 South Koreans, 36,574 Americans, 4,544 others
Total wounded: 566,434 {{Collapsible list , bullets = yes , title = Details , {{Flagcountry, First Republic of South Korea, 1948, size=23px:
137,899 dead
450,742 wounded
24,495 MIA
8,343 POW , {{Flagcountry, United States, 1912, size=23px:
36,574 dead{{Refn , name = USMIA , group = lower-alpha , The remains of 8,075 US servicemen were not recovered,{{Cite web , last= , date=29 April 2020 , title=U.S. Military Casualties – Korean War Casualty Summary , url=https://dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/report_korea_sum.xhtml , access-date=29 April 2020 , website=Defense Casualty Analysis System , publisher=United States Department of Defense of which 7,586 continue to be listed as missing.
103,284 wounded
4,714 POW , {{Flagcountry, United Kingdom, 1801:
1,109 dead
2,674 wounded{{Cite web , last=Office of the Defence Attaché , date=30 September 2010 , title=Korean war , url=http://ukinrok.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/working-with-korea/defence-relations/korean-war , access-date=16 February 2013 , website=British Embassy Seoul , publisher= Foreign and Commonwealth Office
179 MIA
977 POW , {{Flagcountry, Turkey, size=23px:
741 dead
2,068 wounded
163 MIA
244 POW , {{Flagcountry, Canada, 1921, size=23px:
516 dead
1,042 wounded
1 MIA
33 POW , {{Flagcountry, Australia, size=23px:
339 dead
1,216 wounded
43 MIA
26 POW , {{Flagcountry, French Fourth Republic, size=23px:
262 dead
1,008 wounded
7 MIA
12 POW , {{Flagcountry, Kingdom of Greece, state, size=23px
192 dead
543 wounded
3 POW , {{Flagcountry, Colombia, size=23px:
163 dead
448 wounded
28 POW , {{Flagcountry, Thailand, size=23px:
129 dead
1,139 wounded
5 MIA{{Clarify, reason=Conflicts with data on Royal Thai Armed Forces article, date=December 2021 , {{Flagcountry, Ethiopian Empire, size=23px
121 dead
536 wounded , {{Flagcountry, Netherlands, size=23px:
122 dead
645 wounded
3 MIA , {{Flagcountry, Belgium, size=23px:
101 dead
478 wounded
5 MIA
1 POW , {{Flagcountry, Third Philippine Republic, 1936, size=23px:{{Cite book , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_xxOM85bD8C&pg=PA160 , title=Ground Warfare: H–Q , publisher=ABC-CLIO , date=2002 , isbn=978-1576073445 , editor-last=Sandler , editor-first=Stanley , series=Volume 2 of Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia , page=160 , quote=Philippines: KIA 92; WIA 299; MIA/POW 97
New Zealand: KIA 34; WIA 299; MIA/POW 1 , access-date=19 March 2013
92 dead
299 wounded
97 MIA/POW , {{Flagcountry, Japan, 1947:
79 dead , {{Flagcountry, Union of South Africa, size=23px:
34 dead
9 POW , {{Flagcountry, New Zealand, size=23px:
34 dead
299 wounded
1 MIA/POW , {{Flagcountry, Norway, size=23px:
3 dead , {{Flagcountry, Luxembourg, size=23px:
2 dead
13 wounded , {{Flagcountry, India, size=23px:{{Cite news , date=14 August 1950 , title=Two War Reporters Killed , work= The Times , location=London , issn=0140-0460 , ref={{SfnRef, ''The Times'', 14 August 1950
1 dead , casualties2 = Total dead and missing: 398,000–926,000 dead and 145,000+ missing{{Efn, 335,000–526,000 North Koreans, 208,729–400,000 Chinese, 299 Soviet
Total wounded: 686,500 {{Collapsible list , bullets = yes , title = Details , {{Flagcountry, North Korea, 1948, size=23px:
215,000–406,000 dead{{Cite web , title=Korean War | Combatants, Summary, Years, Map, Casualties, & Facts , url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Korean-War , website=Encyclopedia Britannica
303,000 wounded
120,000 MIA or POW , {{Flagcountry, China, 1949, size=23px:
''Chinese sources'':
197,653 dead
383,500 wounded
450,000 hospitalized
25,621 missing (Those who defected or were captured were included in missing)"180,000 Chinese soldiers killed in Korean War, says Chinese general"
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603132334/http://www.china.org.cn/china/2010-06/28/content_20365659.htm , date=3 June 2013 . China Daily, 28 June 2010. State Council Information Office, Chinese government, Beijing. "According to statistics compiled by the army's medical departments and hospitals, 114,084 servicemen were killed in military action or accidents, and 25,621 soldiers had gone missing. The other about 70,000 casualties died from wounds, illness and other causes, he said. To date, civil affairs departments have registered 183,108 war martyrs, Xu said."
21,374 captured
14,190 defected
''U.S. estimates'':
400,000+ dead
486,000 wounded , {{Flagcountry, Soviet Union, 1936, size=23px:
299 dead
335 planes lost , casualties3 = {{Plainlist , * Total civilian deaths: 2–3 million (est.) * South Koreans:
''990,968 total casualties'' * North Koreans:
''1,550,000 total casualties'' (est.) , notes = , campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Korean War The Korean War (also known by other names) was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and

rebellions Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

in South Korea.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=247–53{{Sfn, Stueck, 2002, p=71 North Korea was supported by China and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

while South Korea was supported by the United States and allied countries. The fighting ended with an

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

on 27 July 1953. In 1910, Imperial Japan annexed Korea, where it ruled for 35 years until its

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

on 15 August 1945.{{Efn, The signing ceremony was held 18 days later, on 2 September 1945 The United States and the Soviet Union divided Korea along the 38th parallel into two zones of occupation. The Soviets administered the northern zone and the Americans administered the southern zone. In 1948, as a result of Cold War tensions, the occupation zones became two sovereign states. A

socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term ''communist state'' is o ...

, the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of ...

, was established in the north under the totalitarian communist leadership of

while a

capitalist state The capitalist state is the state, its functions and the form of organization it takes within capitalist socioeconomic systems.Jessop, Bob (January 1977). "Recent Theories of the Capitalist State". ''Soviet Studies''. 1: 4. pp. 353–373. This ...

, the Republic of Korea, was established in the south under the authoritarian, autocratic leadership of Syngman Rhee. Both governments of the two new Korean states claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither accepted the border as permanent. North Korean military (

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...

, KPA) forces crossed the border and drove into South Korea on 25 June 1950. Joseph Stalin had final decision power and several times demanded North Korea postpone the invasion, until he and Mao Zedong both gave their final approval in spring 1950. The United Nations Security Council denounced the North Korean move as an invasion and authorized the formation of the United Nations Command and the dispatch of forces to Korea to repel it. The

was boycotting the UN for recognizing

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(Republic of China) as China, and China (People's Republic of China) on the mainland was not recognized by the UN, so neither could support their ally North Korea at the Security Council meeting. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. After the first two months of war,

South Korean Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the ...

(ROKA) and American forces hastily dispatched to Korea were on the point of defeat, retreating to a small area behind a defensive line known as the Pusan Perimeter. In September 1950, a risky amphibious UN counteroffensive was launched at

, cutting off KPA troops and supply lines in South Korea. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were forced back north. UN forces invaded North Korea in October 1950 and moved rapidly towards the

Yalu River The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border bet ...

—the border with China—but on 19 October 1950, Chinese forces of the

People's Volunteer Army The People's Volunteer Army (PVA) was the armed expeditionary forces deployed by the People's Republic of China during the Korean War. Although all units in the PVA were actually transferred from the People's Liberation Army under the ord ...

(PVA) crossed the Yalu and entered the war. The UN retreated from North Korea after the First Phase Offensive and the

Second Phase Offensive The Second Phase Offensive (25 November – 24 December 1950) or Second Phase Campaign () of the Korean War was an offensive by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) against United Nations Command (U.S./UN) forces, most of which were soldi ...

. Chinese forces were in South Korea by late December. In these and subsequent battles, Seoul was captured four times, and communist forces were pushed back to positions around the 38th parallel, close to where the war had started. After this, the front stabilized, and the last two years were a

war of attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies fro ...

. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate. North Korea was subject to a massive US bombing campaign. Jet-powered fighters confronted each other in air-to-air combat for the first time in history, and Soviet pilots covertly flew in defense of their communist allies. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953 when the

Korean Armistice Agreement The Korean Armistice Agreement ( ko, 한국정전협정 / 조선정전협정; zh, t=韓國停戰協定 / 朝鮮停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a complete cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United St ...

was signed. The agreement created the

(DMZ) to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty was ever signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war, engaged in a

frozen conflict In international relations, a frozen conflict is a situation in which active armed conflict has been brought to an end, but no peace treaty or other political framework resolves the conflict to the satisfaction of the combatants. Therefore, le ...

.{{Cite book , last1=He , first1=Kai , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAaHqijyLy8C&pg=PA50 , title=Prospect Theory and Foreign Policy Analysis in the Asia Pacific: Rational Leaders and Risky Behavior , last2=Feng , first2=Huiyun , publisher=Routledge , date=2013 , isbn=978-1135131197 , page=50 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704225317/https://books.google.com/books?id=iAaHqijyLy8C&pg=PA50 , archive-date=4 July 2017 , url-status=live{{Cite book , last1=Li , first1=Narangoa , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfMYBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA194 , title=Historical Atlas of Northeast Asia, 1590–2010: Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Eastern Siberia , last2=Cribb , first2=Robert , publisher=Columbia University Press , date=2014 , isbn=978-0231160704 , page=194 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704225317/https://books.google.com/books?id=zfMYBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA194 , archive-date=4 July 2017 , url-status=live In April 2018, the leaders of North and South Korea met at the DMZ and agreed to work toward a treaty to formally end the Korean War. The Korean War was among the most destructive conflicts of the modern era, with approximately 3 million war fatalities and a larger proportional civilian death toll than

or the Vietnam War. It incurred the destruction of virtually all of Korea's major cities, thousands of massacres by both sides, including the mass killing of tens of thousands of suspected communists by the South Korean government, and the torture and starvation of prisoners of war by the North Koreans. North Korea became among the most heavily bombed countries in history.{{Cite web , last=Fisher , first=Max , date=2015-08-03 , title=Americans have forgotten what we did to North Korea , url=https://www.vox.com/2015/8/3/9089913/north-korea-us-war-crime , access-date=2021-10-18 , website=Vox , language=en Additionally, several million North Koreans are estimated to have fled North Korea over the course of the war.

Names

{{Infobox transliteration , title = Korean War , skhangul = 6·25 전쟁 or 한국 전쟁 , skhanja = 六二五戰爭 or 韓國戰爭 , skrr = Hanguk Jeonjaeng , skmr = Han'guk Chŏnjaeng , northkorea = , nkhangul = 조국해방전쟁 , nkhanja = 祖國解放戰爭 , nkrr = Joguk haebang Jeonjaeng , nkmr = Choguk haebang chǒnjaeng , northkorea2 = yes , ibox-order = ko4, ko3 In South Korea, the war is usually referred to as the "625 War" ({{Korean, hangul=6·25 전쟁, hanja=六二五戰爭, labels=no), the "625 Upheaval" ({{Korean, hangul=6·25 동란, hanja=六二五動亂, rr=yook-i-o dongnan, labels=no), or simply "625", reflecting the date of its commencement on 25 June. In North Korea, the war is officially referred to as the "Fatherland Liberation War" ({{Transliteration, ko, Choguk haebang chǒnjaeng) or alternatively the ''" Chosǒn'' orean''War"'' ({{Korean, hangul=조선전쟁, mr=Chosǒn chǒnjaeng, context=north, labels=no). In mainland China, the segment of the war after the intervention of the

is most commonly and officially known as the "Resisting America and Assisting Korea War" ({{Zh, t=抗美援朝战争, p=Kàngměi Yuáncháo Zhànzhēng, c=), although the term "'' Chosǒn'' War" ({{Zh, t=朝鮮戰爭, p= Cháoxiǎn Zhànzhēng) is sometimes used unofficially. The term "'' Hán'' (Korean) War" ({{Zh, t=韓戰, p= Hán Zhàn) is most commonly used in Taiwan (Republic of China), Hong Kong and Macau. In the US, the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a "

police action In military/security studies and international relations, police action is a military action undertaken without a formal declaration of war. Today the term counter-insurgency is more used. Since World War II, formal declarations of war have ...

" as the United States never formally declared war on its opponents and the operation was conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. It has been sometimes referred to in the English-speaking world as "The Forgotten War" or "The Unknown War" because of the lack of public attention it received both during and after the war, relative to the global scale of

, which preceded it, and the subsequent angst of the Vietnam War, which succeeded it.{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, p= 2

Background

Imperial Japanese rule (1910–1945)

{{Main, Korea under Japanese rule

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent for ...

severely diminished the influence of China over Korea in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), ushering in the short-lived

Korean Empire The Korean Empire () was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire stood until Japan's annexation of Korea in August 1910. During the Korean Empire, Emperor Gojong oversaw the G ...

.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p= A decade later, after defeating

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. Th ...

in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and ...

(1904–05), Japan made the Korean Empire its

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its inte ...

with the Eulsa Treaty in 1905, then annexed it with the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910. After that, the Korean Empire fell and Korea was directly ruled by Japan from 1910 to 1945. Many Korean nationalists fled the country. The

Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea The Korean Provisional Government (KPG), formally the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, was a partially recognized Korean government-in-exile based in Shanghai, China, and later in Chongqing, during the period of Japanese ...

was founded in 1919 in Nationalist China. It failed to achieve international recognition, failed to unite the various nationalist groups, and had a fractious relationship with its US-based founding president, Syngman Rhee.{{Sfn, Stueck, 2002, pp=19–20 From 1919 to 1925 and beyond, Korean

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

s led internal and external warfare against the Japanese.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=23{{Sfn, Dear, Foot, 1995, p=516 In China, the nationalist

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in Chin ...

and the communist

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

(PLA) helped organize Korean refugees against the Japanese military, which had also occupied parts of China. The Nationalist-backed Koreans, led by Yi Pom-Sok, fought in the Burma Campaign (December 1941 – August 1945). The communists, led among others by

, fought the Japanese in Korea and Manchuria.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=160–61, 195–96 At the

Cairo Conference The Cairo Conference (codenamed Sextant) also known as the First Cairo Conference, was one of the 14 summit meetings during World War II that occurred on November 22–26, 1943. The Conference was held in Cairo, Egypt, between the United King ...

in November 1943, China, the United Kingdom and the United States all decided that "in due course Korea shall become free and independent".

Korea divided (1945–1949)

{{Main, Division of Korea At the

Tehran Conference The Tehran Conference ( codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943, after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. It was held in the Soviet Union's embass ...

in November 1943 and the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the po ...

in February 1945, the Soviet Union promised to join its allies in the Pacific War within three months of the victory in Europe. Germany officially surrendered on 8 May 1945, and the USSR declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria on 8 August 1945, three months later. This was three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.{{Sfn, Dear, Foot, 1995, p=516 By 10 August, the Red Army had begun to occupy the north of Korea.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=24, 25 On the night of 10 August in Washington, US Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles H. Bonesteel III were assigned to divide Korea into Soviet and US occupation zones and proposed the 38th Parallel as the dividing line. This was incorporated into the US General Order No. 1 which responded to the

Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

on 15 August. Explaining the choice of the 38th Parallel, Rusk observed, "even though it was further north than could be realistically reached by US forces, in the event of Soviet disagreement ... we felt it important to include the capital of Korea in the area of responsibility of American troops". He noted that he was "faced with the scarcity of US 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".{{Sfn, Goulden, 1983, p=17 As Rusk's comments indicate, the US doubted whether the Soviet government would agree to this.{{Sfn, Appleman, 1998, p= Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, however, maintained his wartime policy of co-operation, and on 16 August the Red Army halted at the 38th Parallel for three weeks to await the arrival of US forces in the south.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=24, 25 On 7 September 1945,

General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

issued Proclamation No. 1 to the people of Korea, announcing U.S. military control over Korea south of the 38th parallel and establishing English as the official language during military control. On 8 September 1945, US Lieutenant General John R. Hodge arrived in

to accept the Japanese surrender south of the 38th Parallel.{{Sfn, Appleman, 1998, p= Appointed as military governor, Hodge directly controlled South Korea as head of the

United States Army Military Government in Korea The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body of the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 8 September 1945 to 15 August 1948. The country during this period was plagued with political and eco ...

(USAMGIK 1945–48).{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, p= 63 In December 1945, Korea was administered by a US-Soviet Union Joint Commission, as agreed at the Moscow Conference, with the aim of granting independence after a five-year trusteeship.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=25–26{{Sfn, Becker, 2005, p=53 The idea was not popular among Koreans and riots broke out. To contain them, the USAMGIK banned strikes on 8 December 1945 and outlawed the PRK Revolutionary Government and the PRK People's Committees on 12 December 1945.{{Sfn, Jager, 2013, pp=41–42 Following further large-scale civilian unrest,{{Sfn, Cumings, 1981, loc=chapter 3, 4 the USAMGIK declared martial law. Citing the inability of the Joint Commission to make progress, the US government decided to hold an election under United Nations auspices with the aim of creating an independent Korea. The Soviet authorities and the Korean Communists refused to co-operate on the grounds it would not be fair, and many South Korean politicians boycotted it.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, p=211{{Sfn, Jager, 2013, p=47 A

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

was held in the South on 10 May 1948.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=26 North Korea held

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

three months later on 25 August.{{Sfn, Malkasian, 2001, p=13 The resultant South Korean government promulgated a national political constitution on 17 July 1948, and elected Syngman Rhee as

President President most commonly refers to: * President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

on 20 July 1948. This election is generally considered to have been manipulated by the Rhee regime. The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was established on 15 August 1948. In the Soviet Korean Zone of Occupation, the Soviet Union agreed to the establishment of a communist government{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=26 led by Kim Il-sung. The Soviet Union withdrew its forces from Korea in 1948, and US troops withdrew in 1949.

Chinese Civil War (1945–1949)

{{Main, Chinese Civil War, Chinese Communist Revolution With the end of the war with Japan, the Chinese Civil War resumed in earnest between the Communists and Nationalists. While the Communists were struggling for supremacy in Manchuria, they were supported by the North Korean government with

matériel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specif ...

and manpower.{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, p=110 According to Chinese sources, the North Koreans donated 2,000 railway cars worth of supplies while thousands of Koreans served in the Chinese PLA during the war.{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, pp=110–11 North Korea also provided the Chinese Communists in Manchuria with a safe refuge for non-combatants and communications with the rest of China.{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, p=110 The North Korean contributions to the Chinese Communist victory were not forgotten after the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. As a token of gratitude, between 50,000 and 70,000 Korean veterans that served in the PLA were sent back along with their weapons, and they later played a significant role in the initial invasion of South Korea.{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, p=110 China promised to support the North Koreans in the event of a war against South Korea.{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, p=111 After the formation of the PRC, the PRC government named the Western nations, led by the US, as the biggest threat to its national security.{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, p=26 Basing this judgment on multiple factors, including the idea of a Chinese century of humiliation at the hands of Western powers beginning in the mid-19th century,{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, p=22 US support for the Nationalists during the Chinese Civil War,{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, p=41 and the ideological struggles between revolutionaries and reactionaries,{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, p=21 the PRC Chinese leadership believed that China would become a critical battleground in the US' crusade against Communism.{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, p=19 As a countermeasure and to elevate China's standing among the worldwide Communist movements, the PRC leadership adopted a foreign policy that actively promoted Communist revolutions throughout territories on China's periphery.{{Sfn, Chen, 1994, pp=25–26, 93

Communist insurgency in South Korea (1948–1950)

By 1948, a large-scale North Korea-backed insurgency had broken out in the southern half of the peninsula. This was exacerbated by the ongoing undeclared border war between the Koreas, which saw division-level engagements and thousands of deaths on both sides. The ROK in this time was almost entirely trained and focused on counterinsurgency, rather than conventional warfare. They were equipped and advised by a force of a few hundred American officers, who were largely successful in helping the ROKA to subdue guerrillas and hold its own against North Korean military (Korean People's Army, KPA) forces along the 38th parallel.Bryan, p. 76. Approximately 8,000 South Korean soldiers and police died in the insurgent war and border clashes. The first socialist uprising occurred without direct North Korean participation, though the guerrillas still professed support for the northern government. Beginning in April 1948 on the isolated island of Jeju, the campaign saw mass arrests and repression by the South Korean government in the fight against the South Korean Labor Party, resulting in a total of 30,000 violent deaths, among them 14,373 civilians (of whom ~2,000 were killed by rebels and ~12,000 by ROK security forces). The Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion overlapped with it, as several thousand army defectors waving red flags massacred right-leaning families. This resulted in another brutal suppression by the government and between 2,976 and 3,392 deaths. By May 1949, both uprisings had been crushed. Insurgency reignited in the spring of 1949 when attacks by guerrillas in the mountainous regions (buttressed by army defectors and North Korean agents) increased. Insurgent activity peaked in late 1949 as the ROKA engaged so-called People's Guerrilla Units. Organized and armed by the North Korean government, and backed up by 2,400 KPA commandos who had infiltrated through the border, these guerrillas launched a large offensive in September aimed at undermining the South Korean government and preparing the country for the KPA's arrival in force. This offensive failed. However, by this point the guerrillas were firmly entrenched in the Taebaek-san region of the

North Gyeongsang Province North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until t ...

(around Taegu), as well as in the border areas of the Gangwon Province.Bryan, p. 78. While the insurgency was ongoing, the ROKA and KPA engaged in multiple battalion-sized battles along the border, starting in May 1949. Serious border clashes between South and North continued on 4 August 1949, when thousands of North Korean troops attacked South Korean troops occupying territory north of the 38th Parallel. The 2nd and 18th ROK Infantry Regiments repulsed initial attacks in Kuksa-bong (above the 38th Parallel) and Ch'ungmu,{{cn, date=November 2022 and at the end of the clashes ROK troops were "completely routed". Border incidents decreased significantly by the start of 1950. Meanwhile, counterinsurgency efforts in the South Korean interior intensified; persistent operations, paired with worsening weather conditions, eventually denied the guerrillas sanctuary and wore away their fighting strength. North Korea responded by sending more troops to link up with existing insurgents and build more partisan cadres; the number of North Korean infiltrators had reached 3,000 soldiers in 12 units by the start of 1950, but all of these units were destroyed or scattered by the ROKA. On 1 October 1949, the ROKA launched a three-pronged assault on the insurgents in South Cholla and Taegu. By March 1950, the ROKA claimed 5,621 guerrillas killed or captured and 1,066 small arms seized. This operation crippled the insurgency. Soon after, the North Koreans made two final attempts to keep the uprising active, sending two battalion-sized units of infiltrators under the commands of Kim Sang-ho and Kim Moo-hyon. The first battalion was annihilated to a man over the course of several engagements by the ROKA 8th Division. The second battalion was annihilated by a two-battalion hammer-and-anvil maneuver by units of the ROKA 6th Division, resulting in a loss toll of 584 KPA guerrillas (480 killed, 104 captured) and 69 ROKA troops killed, plus 184 wounded. By spring of 1950, guerrilla activity had mostly subsided; the border, too, was calm.

Prelude to war (1950)

By 1949, South Korean and US military actions had reduced the active number of indigenous communist guerrillas in the South from 5,000 to 1,000. However, Kim Il-sung believed that widespread uprisings had weakened the South Korean military and that a North Korean invasion would be welcomed by much of the South Korean population. Kim began seeking Stalin's support for an invasion in March 1949, traveling to Moscow to attempt to persuade him.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 2002, pp=3–4 Stalin initially did not think the time was right for a war in Korea. PLA forces were still embroiled in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

, while US forces remained stationed in South Korea.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 2002, p=3 By spring 1950, he believed that the strategic situation had changed: PLA forces under Mao Zedong had secured final victory in China, US forces had withdrawn from Korea, and the Soviets had detonated their first nuclear bomb, breaking the US atomic monopoly. As the US had not directly intervened to stop the communist victory in China, Stalin calculated that they would be even less willing to fight in Korea, which had much less strategic significance. The Soviets had also cracked the codes used by the US to communicate with their embassy in Moscow, and reading these dispatches convinced Stalin that Korea did not have the importance to the US that would warrant a nuclear confrontation.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 2002, pp=9, 10 Stalin began a more aggressive strategy in Asia based on these developments, including promising economic and military aid to China through the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 2002, p=11 In April 1950, Stalin gave Kim permission to attack the government in the South under the condition that Mao would agree to send reinforcements if needed. For Kim, this was the fulfillment of his goal to unite Korea after its division by foreign powers. Stalin made it clear that Soviet forces would not openly engage in combat, to avoid a direct war with the US.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 2002, p=10 Kim met with Mao in May 1950. Mao was concerned the US would intervene but agreed to support the North Korean invasion. China desperately needed the economic and military aid promised by the Soviets.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, pp=139–40 However, Mao sent more ethnic Korean PLA veterans to Korea and promised to move an army closer to the Korean border.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 1993, p=29 Once Mao's commitment was secured, preparations for war accelerated.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 2002, p=13 Soviet generals with extensive combat experience from the Second World War were sent to North Korea as the Soviet Advisory Group. These generals completed the plans for the attack by May.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 1993, pp=29–30 The original plans called for a skirmish to be initiated in the Ongjin Peninsula on the west coast of Korea. The North Koreans would then launch a counterattack that would capture Seoul and encircle and destroy the ROK. The final stage would involve destroying South Korean government remnants and capturing the rest of South Korea, including the ports.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 2002, p=14 On 7 June 1950, Kim Il-sung called for a Korea-wide election on 5–8 August 1950 and a consultative conference in

Haeju Haeju () is a city located in South Hwanghae Province near Haeju Bay in North Korea. It is the administrative centre of South Hwanghae Province. As of 2008, the population of the city is estimated to be 273,300. At the beginning of the 20th cent ...

on 15–17 June 1950. On 11 June, the North sent three diplomats to the South as a peace overture that Rhee rejected outright.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 2002, p=10 On 21 June, Kim Il-Sung revised his war plan to involve a general attack across the 38th Parallel, rather than a limited operation in the Ongjin Peninsula. Kim was concerned that South Korean agents had learned about the plans and that South Korean forces were strengthening their defenses. Stalin agreed to this change of plan.{{Sfn, Weathersby, 2002, p=15 While these preparations were underway in the North, there were frequent clashes along the 38th Parallel, especially at Kaesong and Ongjin, many initiated by the South.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=247–53{{Sfn, Stueck, 2002, p=71 The ROK was being trained by the US

Korean Military Advisory Group The Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG) (officially United States Military Advisory Group to the Republic of Korea) was a United States military unit of the Korean War. It helped to train and provide logistic support for the Republic of Korea A ...

(KMAG). On the eve of war, KMAG commander General William Lynn Roberts voiced utmost confidence in the ROK and boasted that any North Korean invasion would merely provide "target practice".{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=255–56 For his part, Syngman Rhee repeatedly expressed his desire to conquer the North, including when US diplomat

John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (, ; February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American diplomat, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. He served as United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959 and was briefl ...

visited Korea on 18 June.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=249–58 Although some South Korean and US intelligence officers predicted an attack from the North, similar predictions had been made before and nothing had happened.{{Sfn, Millett, 2007, p=17 The Central Intelligence Agency noted the southward movement by the KPA, but assessed this as a "defensive measure" and concluded an invasion was "unlikely". On 23 June, UN observers inspected the border and did not detect that war was imminent.

Comparison of forces

Throughout 1949 and 1950, the Soviets continued arming North Korea. After the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, ethnic Korean units in the PLA were sent to North Korea.{{Sfn, Millett, 2007, p=14 Chinese involvement was extensive from the beginning, building on previous collaboration between the Chinese and Korean communists during the Chinese Civil War. In the fall of 1949, two PLA divisions composed mainly of Korean-Chinese troops (the 164th and 166th) entered North Korea, followed by smaller units throughout the rest of 1949; these troops brought with them not only their experience and training, but their weapons and other equipment, changing little but their uniforms. The reinforcement of the KPA with PLA veterans continued into 1950, with the 156th Division and several other units of the former Fourth Field Army arriving (also with their equipment) in February; the PLA 156th Division was reorganized as the KPA 7th Division. By mid-1950, between 50,000 and 70,000 former PLA troops had entered North Korea, forming a significant part of the KPA's strength on the eve of the war's beginning. Several generals, such as Lee Kwon-mu, were PLA veterans born to ethnic Koreans in China. The combat veterans and equipment from China, the tanks, artillery and aircraft supplied by the Soviets, and rigorous training increased North Korea's military superiority over the South, armed by the US military with mostly small arms, but no heavy weaponry such as tanks.{{Sfn, Millett, 2007, p=15 While older histories of the conflict often referred to these ethnic Korean PLA veterans as being sent from northern Korea to fight in the Chinese Civil War before being sent back, recent Chinese archival sources studied by Kim Donggill indicate that this was not the case. Rather, the soldiers were indigenous to China (part of China's longstanding ethnic Korean community) and were recruited to the PLA in the same way as any other Chinese citizen. According to the first official census in 1949 the population of North Korea numbered 9,620,000, and by mid-1950 North Korean forces numbered between 150,000 and 200,000 troops, organized into 10 infantry divisions, one tank division, and one air force division, with 210 fighter planes and 280 tanks, who captured scheduled objectives and territory, among them Kaesong,

Chuncheon Chuncheon (; ; formerly romanized as Chunchŏn; literally ''spring river'') is the capital of Gangwon Province in South Korea. The city lies in the north of the county, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River. There are so ...

Uijeongbu Uijeongbu () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Overview Uijeongbu is located north of the Korean capital Seoul; it lies inside a defile, with mountains on two sides, and commands a natural choke point across the main traditional i ...

and Ongjin. Their forces included 274 T-34-85 tanks, 200 artillery pieces, 110 attack bombers, and some 150

Yak The domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox or hairy cattle, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tibetan Plateau, Kachin ...

fighter planes, and 35 reconnaissance aircraft. In addition to the invasion force, the North had 114 fighters, 78 bombers, 105 T-34-85 tanks, and some 30,000 soldiers stationed in reserve in North Korea.{{Sfn, Appleman, 1998, p= Although each navy consisted of only several small warships, the North and South Korean navies fought in the war as sea-borne artillery for their armies. In contrast, the South Korean population was estimated at 20 million and its army was unprepared and ill-equipped. As of 25 June 1950 the ROK had 98,000 soldiers (65,000 combat, 33,000 support), no tanks (they had been requested from the US military, but requests were denied), and a 22-plane air force comprising 12 liaison-type and 10 AT-6 advanced-trainer airplanes. Large US garrisons and air forces were in Japan,{{Sfn, Appleman, 1998, p=17 but only 200–300 US troops were in Korea.{{Cite news , last=James , first=Jack , date=25 June 1950 , title=North Koreans invade South Korea , language=en , agency=United Press , url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1950/06/25/North-Koreans-invade-South-Korea/1012416555294/ , access-date=29 July 2017

Course of the war

At dawn on Sunday, 25 June 1950, the KPA crossed the 38th Parallel behind artillery fire.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=14 The KPA justified its assault with the claim that ROK troops attacked first and that the KPA were aiming to arrest and execute the "bandit traitor Syngman Rhee".{{Sfn, Appleman, 1998, p=21 Fighting began on the strategic Ongjin Peninsula in the west.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=260–63 There were initial South Korean claims that the 17th Regiment captured the city of Haeju, and this sequence of events has led some scholars to argue that the South Koreans fired first.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=260–63 Whoever fired the first shots in Ongjin, within an hour, KPA forces attacked all along the 38th Parallel. The KPA had a combined arms force including tanks supported by heavy artillery. The ROK had no tanks, anti-tank weapons or heavy artillery to stop such an attack. In addition, the South Koreans committed their forces in a piecemeal fashion and these were routed in a few days.{{Sfn, Millett, 2007, pp=18–19 On 27 June, Rhee evacuated from Seoul with some of the government. On 28 June, at 2 am, the ROK blew up the Hangang Bridge across the Han River in an attempt to stop the KPA. The bridge was detonated while 4,000 refugees were crossing it and hundreds were killed.{{Cite book , last=Johnston , first=William , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=64ZAy7NvwCgC&q=Han%20River%20demolish&pg=PA20 , title=A war of patrols: Canadian Army operations in Korea , date=1 November 2011 , publisher=Univ of British Columbia Pr , isbn=978-0774810081 , page=20 Destroying the bridge also trapped many ROK units north of the Han River.{{Sfn, Millett, 2007, pp=18–19 In spite of such desperate measures, Seoul fell that same day. A number of South Korean National Assemblymen remained in Seoul when it fell, and forty-eight subsequently pledged allegiance to the North.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=269–70 On 28 June, Rhee ordered the massacre of suspected political opponents in his own country.{{Cite book , last=Edwards , first=Paul , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scZN59DXeOwC&q=Rhee%20bodo%20league%20massacre%20order&pg=PA32 , title=Historical Dictionary of the Korean War , date=10 June 2010 , publisher=Scarecrow Press , isbn=978-0810867734 , page=32 In five days, the ROK, which had 95,000 troops on 25 June, was down to less than 22,000 troops. In early July, when US forces arrived, what was left of the ROK were placed under US operational command of the United Nations Command.

Factors in US intervention

The Truman administration was unprepared for the invasion. Korea was not included in the strategic Asian Defense Perimeter outlined by United States Secretary of State

Dean Acheson Dean Gooderham Acheson (pronounced ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer. As the 51st U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to 1953. He was also Truma ...

.{{Sfn, Kim, 1973, p=30 Truman himself was at his home in Independence, Missouri.{{Cite news , date=24 June 1950 , title=Press spokesman doubts President Truman yet told of Korea conflict , language=en , agency=UP , url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1950/06/24/Press-spokesman-doubts-President-Truman-yet-told-of-Korea-conflict/3625210094214/ , access-date=29 July 2017 Military strategists were more concerned with the security of Europe against the Soviet Union than East Asia. At the same time, the administration was worried that a war in Korea could quickly escalate without American intervention. Said diplomat

in a cable: "To sit by while Korea is overrun by unprovoked armed attack would start a disastrous chain of events leading most probably to world war."{{Sfn, Beschloss, 2018, p=447 While there was initial hesitance by some in the US government to get involved in the war, considerations about Japan played a part in the ultimate decision to engage on behalf of South Korea. Especially after the fall of China to the Communists, US experts on East Asia saw Japan as the critical counterweight to the Soviet Union and China in the region. While there was no US policy dealing with South Korea directly as a national interest, its proximity to Japan increased the importance of South Korea. Said Kim: "The recognition that the security of Japan required a non-hostile Korea led directly to President Truman's decision to intervene ... The essential point ... is that the American response to the North Korean attack stemmed from considerations of U.S. policy toward Japan."{{Sfn, Kim, 1973, p=46 Another major consideration was the possible Soviet reaction if the US intervened. The Truman administration was fearful that a war in Korea was a diversionary assault that would escalate to a general war in Europe once the United States committed in Korea. At the same time, " ere was no suggestion from anyone that the United Nations or the United States could back away from he conflict.{{Sfn, Rees, 1964, p=22 Yugoslavia—a possible Soviet target because of the Tito-Stalin Split—was vital to the defense of Italy and Greece, and the country was first on the list of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a ...

's post-North Korea invasion list of "chief danger spots".{{Cite journal , last=Schindler, John R. , date=24 February 1998 , title=Dodging Armageddon: The Third World War That Almost Was, 1950 , url=http://20committee.com/2015/09/29/dodging-armageddon-the-third-world-war-that-almost-was-1950/ , url-status=live , journal=Cryptologic Quarterly , pages=85–95 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930082157/http://20committee.com/2015/09/29/dodging-armageddon-the-third-world-war-that-almost-was-1950/ , archive-date=30 September 2015 Truman believed if aggression went unchecked, a chain reaction would be initiated that would marginalize the UN and encourage Communist aggression elsewhere. The UN Security Council approved the use of force to help the South Koreans, and the US immediately began using air and naval forces that were in the area to that end. The Truman administration still refrained from committing troops on the ground because some advisers believed the North Koreans could be stopped by air and naval power alone.{{Sfn, Rees, 1964, p=23 The Truman administration was still uncertain if the attack was a ploy by the Soviet Union or just a test of US resolve. The decision to commit ground troops became viable when a communiqué was received on 27 June indicating the Soviet Union would not move against US forces in Korea.{{Sfn, Rees, 1964, p=26 The Truman administration now believed it could intervene in Korea without undermining its commitments elsewhere.

United Nations Security Council Resolutions

{{Further, List of United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning North Korea On 25 June 1950, the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the North Korean invasion of South Korea, with UN Security Council Resolution 82. The Soviet Union, a veto-wielding power, had boycotted the Council meetings since January 1950, protesting

's occupation of China's permanent seat in the UN Security Council.{{Sfn, Malkasian, 2001, p=16 After debating the matter, the Security Council, on 27 June 1950, published Resolution 83 recommending member states provide military assistance to the Republic of Korea. On 27 June President Truman ordered US air and sea forces to help South Korea. On 4 July the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister accused the US of starting armed intervention on behalf of South Korea. The Soviet Union challenged the legitimacy of the war for several reasons. The ROK intelligence upon which Resolution 83 was based came from US Intelligence; North Korea was not invited as a sitting temporary member of the UN, which violated

UN Charter The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, UN system, including its Organ ...

Article 32; and the fighting was beyond the UN Charter's scope, because the initial north–south border fighting was classed as a civil war. Because the Soviet Union was boycotting the Security Council at the time, legal scholars posited that deciding upon an action of this type required the unanimous vote of all the five permanent members including the Soviet Union. Within days of the invasion, masses of ROK soldiers—of dubious loyalty to the Syngman Rhee regime—were retreating southwards or defecting en masse to the northern side, the KPA.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=23

United States' response (July–August 1950)

As soon as word of the attack was received, Acheson informed President Truman that the North Koreans had invaded South Korea.{{Sfn, Goulden, 1983, p=48 Truman and Acheson discussed a US invasion response and agreed that the US was obligated to act, comparing the North Korean invasion with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and th ...

's aggressions in the 1930s, with the conclusion being that the mistake of

appeasement Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governme ...

must not be repeated. Several US industries were mobilized to supply materials, labor, capital, production facilities, and other services necessary to support the military objectives of the Korean War. President Truman later explained that he believed fighting the invasion was essential to the US goal of the global

containment Containment was a geopolitical strategic foreign policy pursued by the United States during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism after the end of World War II. The name was loosely related to the term '' cordon sanitaire'', which ...

of communism as outlined in the National Security Council Report 68 (NSC 68) (declassified in 1975): {{Blockquote, Communism was acting in Korea, just as Hitler, Mussolini and the Japanese had ten, fifteen, and twenty years earlier. I felt certain that if South Korea was allowed to fall, Communist leaders would be emboldened to override nations closer to our own shores. If the Communists were permitted to force their way into the Republic of Korea without opposition from the free world, no small nation would have the courage to resist threat and aggression by stronger Communist neighbors. In August 1950, the President and the Secretary of State obtained the consent of Congress to appropriate $12 billion for military action in Korea. Because of the extensive defense cuts and the emphasis placed on building a nuclear bomber force, none of the services were in a position to make a robust response with conventional military strength. General Omar Bradley, Chairman of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...

, was faced with re-organizing and deploying a US military force that was a shadow of its World War II counterpart.{{Sfn, Blair, 2003, p=290 Acting on Secretary of State Acheson's recommendation, President Truman ordered

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "mil ...

in Japan General

to transfer matériel to the South Korean military while giving air cover to the evacuation of US nationals. The President disagreed with advisers who recommended unilateral US bombing of the North Korean forces and ordered the US Seventh Fleet to protect the Republic of China (Taiwan), whose government asked to fight in Korea. The United States denied Taiwan's request for combat, lest it provoke a PRC retaliation.{{Sfn, Rees, 1964 , page = 27 Because the United States had sent the Seventh Fleet to "neutralize" the Taiwan Strait, Chinese premier

criticized both the UN and US initiatives as "armed aggression on Chinese territory".{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=140

The drive south and Pusan (July–September 1950)

The

Battle of Osan The Battle of Osan ( ko, 오산 전투) was the first engagement between the United States and North Korea during the Korean War. On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, an American task force of 540 infantry supported by an artillery battery, wa ...

, the first significant US engagement of the Korean War, involved the 540-soldier

Task Force Smith The Battle of Osan ( ko, 오산 전투) was the first engagement between the United States and North Korea during the Korean War. On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, an American task force of 540 infantry supported by an artillery battery, wa ...

, which was a small forward element of the 24th Infantry Division which had been flown in from Japan.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=45 On 5 July 1950, Task Force Smith attacked the KPA at

Osan Osan () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, approximately south of Seoul. The population of the city is around 200,000. The local economy is supported by a mix of agricultural and industrial enterprises. It is famous for one of the ...

but without weapons capable of destroying the KPA tanks. The KPA defeated the US soldiers; the result was 180 American dead, wounded, or taken prisoner. The KPA progressed southwards, pushing back US forces at Pyongtaek, Chonan, and Chochiwon, forcing the 24th Division's retreat to Taejeon, which the KPA captured in the

Battle of Taejon The Battle of Taejon (14–21 July 1950) was an early battle of the Korean War, between U.S. and North Korean forces. Forces of the United States Army attempted to defend the headquarters of the 24th Infantry Division. The 24th Infantry Divisi ...

; the 24th Division suffered 3,602 dead and wounded and 2,962 captured, including its commander, Major General William F. Dean.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=48 By August, the KPA steadily pushed back the ROK and the

Eighth United States Army The Eighth Army is a U.S. field army which is the commanding formation of all United States Army forces in South Korea. It commands U.S. and South Korean units and is headquartered at the Camp Humphreys,Pusan. This {{Convert, 140, mi, km, order=flip, abbr=off, adj=on perimeter enclosed about 10% of Korea, in a line partially defined by the

Nakdong River The Nakdonggang River or Nakdonggang () is the longest river in South Korea, and passes through major cities such as Daegu and Busan. It takes its name from its role as the eastern border of the Gaya confederacy during Korea's Three Kingdoms ...

. Although Kim's early successes led him to predict he would end the war by the end of August, Chinese leaders were more pessimistic. To counter a possible US deployment, Zhou Enlai secured a Soviet commitment to have the Soviet Union support Chinese forces with air cover, and deployed 260,000 soldiers along the Korean border, under the command of

Gao Gang Gao Gang (; 1905 – August 1954) was a Communist Party of China (CPC) leader during the Chinese Civil War and the early years of the People's Republic of China (PRC), before becoming the victim of the first major purge within the CPC since befo ...

. Zhou commanded Chai Chengwen to conduct a topographical survey of Korea, and directed Lei Yingfu, Zhou's military advisor in Korea, to analyze the military situation in Korea. Lei concluded that MacArthur would most likely attempt a landing at Incheon. After conferring with Mao that this would be MacArthur's most likely strategy, Zhou briefed Soviet and North Korean advisers of Lei's findings, and issued orders to PLA commanders deployed on the Korean border to prepare for US naval activity in the

.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=141 In the resulting

Battle of Pusan Perimeter The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter ( ko, 부산 교두보 전투) was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of th ...

(August–September 1950), the UN forces withstood KPA attacks meant to capture the city at the Naktong Bulge, P'ohang-dong, and

Taegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

. The United States Air Force (USAF) interrupted KPA logistics with 40 daily ground support

sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfar ...

s that destroyed 32 bridges, halting most daytime road and rail traffic. KPA forces were forced to hide in tunnels by day and move only at night.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=47–48, 66 To deny materiel to the KPA, the USAF destroyed logistics depots, petroleum refineries, and harbors, while the US Navy air forces attacked transport hubs. Consequently, the over-extended KPA could not be supplied throughout the south.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=58 On 27 August, 67th Fighter Squadron aircraft mistakenly attacked facilities in Chinese territory and the Soviet Union called the UN Security Council's attention to China's complaint about the incident. The US proposed that a commission of India and Sweden determine what the US should pay in compensation but the Soviets vetoed the US proposal. Meanwhile, US garrisons in Japan continually dispatched soldiers and matériel to reinforce defenders in the Pusan Perimeter.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=59–60 Tank battalions deployed to Korea directly from the US mainland from the port of San Francisco to the port of Pusan, the largest Korean port. By late August, the Pusan Perimeter had some 500 medium tanks battle-ready.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=61 In early September 1950, UN forces outnumbered the KPA 180,000 to 100,000 soldiers.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p={{Sfn, Appleman, 1998, p=61

Battle of Incheon (September 1950)

{{Main, Battle of Incheon IncheonLandingMcArthur

Against the rested and re-armed Pusan Perimeter defenders and their reinforcements, the KPA were undermanned and poorly supplied; unlike the UN forces, they lacked naval and air support.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=58, 61 To relieve the Pusan Perimeter, General MacArthur recommended an amphibious landing at Incheon, near Seoul and well over {{Convert, 100, mi, km, order=flip, abbr=on behind the KPA lines.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=67 On 6 July, he ordered Major General Hobart R. Gay, commander of the US 1st Cavalry Division, to plan the division's amphibious landing at Incheon; on 12–14 July, the 1st Cavalry Division embarked from

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

, Japan, to reinforce the 24th Infantry Division inside the Pusan Perimeter. Soon after the war began, General MacArthur began planning a landing at Incheon, but

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

opposed him.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=67 When authorized, he activated a combined US Army and Marine Corps, and ROK force. The US X Corps, led by Major General Edward Almond, consisted of 40,000 soldiers of the

, the 7th Infantry Division and around 8,600 ROK soldiers.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=68 By 15 September, the amphibious assault force faced few KPA defenders at Incheon: military intelligence, psychological warfare, guerrilla reconnaissance, and protracted bombardment facilitated a relatively light battle. However, the bombardment destroyed most of the city of Incheon.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=70

Breakout from the Pusan Perimeter

{{Main, Pusan Perimeter offensive, UN September 1950 counteroffensive, Second Battle of Seoul On 16 September Eighth Army began its breakout from the Pusan Perimeter. ''Task Force Lynch'', 3rd Battalion,

7th Cavalry Regiment The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Irish air " Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated in some of the largest ...

, and two 70th Tank Battalion units (Charlie Company and the Intelligence–Reconnaissance Platoon) advanced through {{Convert, 106.4, mi, order=flip, abbr=on of KPA territory to join the 7th Infantry Division at Osan on 27 September. X Corps rapidly defeated the KPA defenders around Seoul, thus threatening to trap the main KPA force in Southern Korea.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=71–72 On 18 September, Stalin dispatched General H. M. Zakharov to North Korea to advise Kim Il-sung to halt his offensive around the Pusan perimeter and to redeploy his forces to defend Seoul. Chinese commanders were not briefed on North Korean troop numbers or operational plans. As the overall commander of Chinese forces, Zhou Enlai suggested that the North Koreans should attempt to eliminate the UN forces at Incheon only if they had reserves of at least 100,000 men; otherwise, he advised the North Koreans to withdraw their forces north.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=143 On 25 September, Seoul was recaptured by UN forces. US air raids caused heavy damage to the KPA, destroying most of its tanks and much of its artillery. KPA troops in the south, instead of effectively withdrawing north, rapidly disintegrated, leaving

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populati ...

vulnerable.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=143 During the general retreat only 25,000 to 30,000 KPA soldiers managed to reach the KPA lines. On 27 September, Stalin convened an emergency session of the Politburo, in which he condemned the incompetence of the KPA command and held Soviet military advisers responsible for the defeat.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=143

UN forces invade North Korea (September–October 1950)

{{Main, UN offensive into North Korea On 27 September, MacArthur received the top secret National Security Council Memorandum 81/1 from Truman reminding him that operations north of the 38th Parallel were authorized only if "at the time of such operation there was no entry into North Korea by major Soviet or Chinese Communist forces, no announcements of intended entry, nor a threat to counter our operations militarily". On 29 September MacArthur restored the government of the Republic of Korea under Syngman Rhee.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=143 On 30 September, US Defense Secretary

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...

sent an eyes-only message to MacArthur: "We want you to feel unhampered tactically and strategically to proceed north of the 38th parallel." During October, the South Korean police executed people who were suspected to be sympathetic to North Korea,{{Cite news , date=9 February 2010 , title=Goyang Geumjeong Cave Massacre memorial service , work= Hankyoreh , url=http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/403731.html , url-status=live , access-date=20 January 2012 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516121629/http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/403731.html , archive-date=16 May 2012 and similar massacres were carried out until early 1951.{{Cite news , last1=Charles J. Hanley , last2=Jae-Soon Chang , date=6 December 2008 , title=Children 'executed' in 1950 South Korean killings , work=

U-T San Diego ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' a ...

, agency=

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...

, url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2008/dec/06/korea-mass-executions-120608/ , url-status=live , access-date=1 September 2012 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104124044/http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2008/dec/06/korea-mass-executions-120608/ , archive-date=4 November 2012 The Joint Chiefs of Staff on 27 September sent to General MacArthur a comprehensive directive to govern his future actions: the directive stated that the primary goal was the destruction of the KPA, with unification of the Korean Peninsula under Rhee as a secondary objective "if possible"; the Joint Chiefs added that this objective was dependent on whether or not the Chinese and Soviets would intervene, and was subject to changing conditions. Korean War, train attack

On 30 September, Zhou Enlai warned the US that China was prepared to intervene in Korea if the US crossed the 38th Parallel. Zhou attempted to advise KPA commanders on how to conduct a general withdrawal by using the same tactics that allowed Chinese communist forces to successfully escape Chiang Kai-shek's encirclement campaigns in the 1930s, but by some accounts, KPA commanders did not use these tactics effectively.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, pp=143–44 Historian

Bruce Cumings Bruce Cumings (born September 5, 1943) is an American historian of East Asia, professor, lecturer and author. He is the Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in History, and the former chair of the history department at ...

argues, however, that the KPA's rapid withdrawal was strategic, with troops melting into the mountains from where they could launch guerrilla raids on the UN forces spread out on the coasts.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=278–81 By 1 October 1950, the UN Command repelled the KPA northwards past the 38th Parallel; the ROK advanced after them, into North Korea.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=79–94 MacArthur made a statement demanding the KPA's unconditional surrender.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=144 Six days later, on 7 October, with UN authorization, the UN Command forces followed the ROK forces northwards.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=81 The X Corps landed at Wonsan (in southeastern North Korea) and Riwon (in northeastern North Korea) on 26 October, but these cities had already been captured by ROK forces.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=87–88 The Eighth US Army drove up western Korea and captured Pyongyang on 19 October 1950.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=90 The 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team made their first of two combat jumps during the Korean War on 20 October 1950 at

Sunchon Sunch'ŏn () is a city in South Pyongan province, North Korea. It has a population of 297,317, and is home to various manufacturing plants. The city is on the Taedong River. History In 1413, the name of the city became Sunchon, due to a rena ...

and Sukchon. The mission was to cut the road north going to China, preventing North Korean leaders from escaping from Pyongyang; and to rescue US

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

. At month's end, UN forces held 135,000 KPA prisoners of war. As they neared the Sino-Korean border, the UN forces in the west were divided from those in the east by {{Convert, 50–100, mi, km, order=flip, abbr=on of mountainous terrain.{{Sfn, Stueck, 2002, pp=92–93 In addition to the 135,000 captured, the KPA had also suffered some 200,000 soldiers killed or wounded for a total of 335,000 casualties since the end of June 1950, and had lost 313 tanks (mostly T-34/85 models). A mere 25,000 KPA regulars retreated across the 38th Parallel, as their military had entirely collapsed. The UN forces on the peninsula numbered 229,722 combat troops (including 125,126 Americans and 82,786 South Koreans), 119,559 rear area troops, and 36,667 US Air Force personnel.{{Sfn, Clodfelter, 1989, p=11 Taking advantage of the UN Command's strategic momentum against the communists, MacArthur believed it necessary to extend the Korean War into China to destroy depots supplying the North Korean war effort. Truman disagreed, and ordered caution at the Sino-Korean border.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=83

China intervenes (October–December 1950)

{{stack, On 30 June 1950, five days after the outbreak of the war,

, premier of the PRC and vice-chairman of the Central Military Committee of the CCP (CMCC), decided to send a group of Chinese military intelligence personnel to North Korea to establish better communications with Kim II-Sung as well as to collect first-hand materials on the fighting. One week later, on 7 July, Zhou and Mao chaired a conference discussing military preparations for the Korean Conflict. Another conference took place on 10 July. Here it was decided that the Thirteenth Army Corps under the Fourth Field Army of the

(PLA), one of the best trained and equipped units in China, would be immediately transformed into the Northeastern Border Defense Army (NEBDA) to prepare for "an intervention in the Korean War if necessary". On 13 July the CMCC formally issued the order to establish the NEBDA, appointing Deng Hua, the commander of the Fifteenth Army Corps and one of the most talented commanders of the Chinese Civil War, to coordinate all preparation efforts.{{Rp, 11–12 On 20 August 1950, Premier Zhou Enlai informed the UN that "Korea is China's neighbor... The Chinese people cannot but be concerned about a solution of the Korean question". Thus, through neutral-country diplomats, China warned that in safeguarding Chinese

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military attac ...

, they would intervene against the UN Command in Korea.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=83 President Truman interpreted the communication as "a bald attempt to blackmail the UN", and dismissed it. Mao ordered that his troops should be ready for action by the end of August. Stalin, by contrast, was reluctant to escalate the war with a Chinese intervention. On 1 October 1950, the day that UN troops crossed the 38th Parallel, the Soviet ambassador forwarded a telegram from Stalin to Mao and Zhou requesting that China send five to six divisions into Korea, and Kim Il-sung sent frantic appeals to Mao for Chinese military intervention. At the same time, Stalin made it clear that Soviet forces themselves would not directly intervene.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=144 {{stack, 1954 deng hua

In a series of emergency meetings that lasted from 2 to 5 October, Chinese leaders debated whether to send Chinese troops into Korea. There was considerable resistance among many leaders, including senior military leaders, to confronting the US in Korea.{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, pp=355–56 Mao strongly supported intervention, and Zhou was one of the few Chinese leaders who firmly supported him. After

Lin Biao ) , serviceyears = 1925–1971 , branch = People's Liberation Army , rank = Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China , commands ...

politely refused Mao's offer to command Chinese forces in Korea (citing his upcoming medical treatment),{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, p=355 Mao decided that

would be the commander of the Chinese forces in Korea after Peng agreed to support Mao's position.{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, p=355 Mao then asked Peng to speak in favor of intervention to the rest of the Chinese leaders. After Peng made the case that if US troops conquered Korea and reached the Yalu they might cross it and invade China, the Politburo agreed to intervene in Korea.{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, p=359 On 4 August 1950, with a planned invasion of Taiwan aborted due to the heavy US naval presence, Mao reported to the Politburo that he would intervene in Korea when the PLA's Taiwan invasion force was reorganized into the PLA North East Frontier Force. On 8 October 1950, Mao redesignated the PLA North East Frontier Force as the

(PVA). To enlist Stalin's support, Zhou and a Chinese delegation arrived in Moscow on 10 October, at which point they flew to Stalin's home on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

.{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, p=360 There they conferred with the top Soviet leadership, which included Joseph Stalin as well as

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolshevik ...

and

Georgy Malenkov Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov ( – 14 January 1988) was a Soviet politician who briefly succeeded Joseph Stalin as the leader of the Soviet Union. However, at the insistence of the rest of the Presidium, he relinquished control over the p ...

. Stalin initially agreed to send military equipment and ammunition but warned Zhou that the

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

would need two or three months to prepare any operations. In a subsequent meeting, Stalin told Zhou that he would only provide China with equipment on a credit basis and that the Soviet Air Force would only operate over Chinese airspace, and only after an undisclosed period of time. Stalin did not agree to send either military equipment or air support until March 1951.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, pp=146, 149 Mao did not find Soviet air support especially useful, as the fighting was going to take place on the south side of the Yalu.{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, p=361 Soviet shipments of matériel, when they did arrive, were limited to small quantities of trucks, grenades, machine guns, and the like.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, p=266 Immediately on his return to Beijing on 18 October 1950, Zhou met with Mao Zedong, Peng Dehuai and Gao Gang, and the group ordered two hundred thousand PVA troops to enter North Korea, which they did on 19 October.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, pp=147–48 UN aerial reconnaissance had difficulty sighting PVA units in daytime, because their march and bivouac discipline minimized aerial detection.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=102 The PVA marched "dark-to-dark" (19:00–03:00), and aerial camouflage (concealing soldiers, pack animals, and equipment) was deployed by 05:30. Meanwhile, daylight advance parties scouted for the next bivouac site. During daylight activity or marching, soldiers were to remain motionless if an aircraft appeared, until it flew away;{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=102 PVA officers were under order to shoot security violators. Such battlefield discipline allowed a three-

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military * Division (military), a formation typically consistin ...

army to march the {{Convert, 286, mi, order=flip, abbr=on from An-tung, Manchuria, to the combat zone in some 19 days. Another division night-marched a circuitous mountain route, averaging {{Convert, 18, mi, order=flip, abbr=on daily for 18 days.{{Sfn, Appleman, 1998, p= Meanwhile, on 15 October 1950, President Truman and General MacArthur met at Wake Island. This meeting was much publicized because of the General's discourteous refusal to meet the President on the continental United States.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=88 To President Truman, MacArthur speculated there was little risk of Chinese intervention in Korea,{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=89 and that the PRC's opportunity for aiding the KPA had lapsed. He believed the PRC had some 300,000 soldiers in Manchuria and some 100,000–125,000 soldiers at the Yalu River. He further concluded that, although half of those forces might cross south, "if the Chinese tried to get down to Pyongyang, there would be the greatest slaughter" without air force protection. {{stack, Warkorea American Soldiers

After secretly crossing the Yalu River on 19 October, the PVA 13th Army Group launched the First Phase Offensive on 25 October, attacking the advancing UN forces near the Sino-Korean border. This military decision made solely by China changed the attitude of the Soviet Union. Twelve days after PVA troops entered the war, Stalin allowed the Soviet Air Force to provide air cover and supported more aid to China. After inflicting heavy losses on the ROK II Corps at the Battle of Onjong, the first confrontation between Chinese and US military occurred on 1 November 1950. Deep in North Korea, thousands of soldiers from the PVA 39th Army encircled and attacked the US

8th Cavalry Regiment The 8th Cavalry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army formed in 1866 during the American Indian Wars. The 8th Cavalry continued to serve under a number of designations, fighting in every other major U.S. conflict since, except Wo ...

with three-prong assaults—from the north, northwest, and west—and overran the defensive position flanks in the

Battle of Unsan The Battle of Unsan (), also known as the Battle of Yunshan (), was a series of engagements of the Korean War that took place from 25 October to 4 November 1950 near Unsan, North Pyongan province in present-day North Korea. As part of the Peo ...

. The surprise assault resulted in the UN forces retreating back to the Ch'ongch'on River, while the PVA unexpectedly disappeared into mountain hideouts following victory. It is unclear why the Chinese did not press the attack and follow up their victory.{{citation needed, date=July 2022 The UN Command, however, were unconvinced that the Chinese had openly intervened because of the sudden PVA withdrawal. On 24 November, the Home-by-Christmas Offensive was launched with the US Eighth Army advancing in northwest Korea, while US X Corps attacked along the Korean east coast. But the PVA were waiting in ambush with their

, which they executed at two sectors: in the East at the Chosin Reservoir and in the Western sector at Ch'ongch'on River.{{citation needed, date=July 2022 On 13 November, Mao appointed Zhou Enlai the overall commander and coordinator of the war effort, with Peng as field commander.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, pp=147–48 On 25 November on the Korean western front, the PVA 13th Army Group attacked and overran the ROK II Corps at the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, and then inflicted heavy losses on the US 2nd Infantry Division on the UN forces' right flank.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=98–99 Believing that they could not hold against the PVA the Eighth Army began to retreat from North Korea crossing the 38th Parallel in mid-December.{{Sfn, Mossman, 1990, p=160 UN morale hit rock bottom when Lieutenant General Walton Walker, commander of the US Eighth Army, was killed on 23 December 1950 in an automobile accident.{{citation needed, date=July 2022 In the east, on 27 November, the PVA 9th Army Group initiated the

Battle of Chosin Reservoir The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Battle of Lake Changjin (), was an important battle in the Korean War. The name "Chosin" is derived from the Japanese pronunciation "''Chōshin'', instead of th ...

. Here the UN forces fared comparatively better: like the Eighth Army the surprise attack also forced X Corps to retreat from northeast Korea, but they were in the process able to break out from the attempted encirclement by the PVA and execute a successful tactical withdrawal. X Corps managed to establish a defensive perimeter at the port city of

Hungnam Hŭngnam is a district of Hamhung, the second largest city in North Korea. It is a port city on the eastern coast on the Sea of Japan. It is only from the slightly inland city of Hamhung. In 2005 it became a ward of Hamhung. History The port a ...

on 11 December and were able to evacuate by 24 December in order to reinforce the badly depleted US Eighth Army to the south.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=104–11{{Sfn, Mossman, 1990, p=158 During the evacuation, about 193 shiploads of UN forces and matériel (approximately 105,000 soldiers, 98,000 civilians, 17,500 vehicles, and 350,000 tons of supplies) were evacuated to Pusan.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=110 The SS ''Meredith Victory'' was noted for evacuating 14,000 refugees, the largest rescue operation by a single ship, even though it was designed to hold 12 passengers. Before escaping, the UN forces razed most of Hungnam city, with particular attention to the port facilities. The UN retreat from North Korea also saw the massive evacuation from the capital city of

. In early December, UN forces, including the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Br ...

's 29th Infantry Brigade, evacuated Pyongyang, along with large numbers of refugees. Around 4.5 million North Koreans are estimated to have fled from North Korea to either the South or elsewhere abroad. On 16 December 1950, President Truman declared a national state of emergency with Presidential Proclamation No. 2914, 3 C.F.R. 99 (1953), which remained in force until 14 September 1978.{{Refn , name = nbJolley1971 , group = lower-alpha , See 50 U.S.C. S 1601: "All powers and authorities possessed by the President, any other officer or employee of the Federal Government, or any executive agency... as a result of the existence of any declaration of national emergency in effect on 14 September 1976 are terminated two years from 14 September 1976."; Jolley v. INS, 441 F.2d 1245, 1255 n.17 (5th Cir. 1971). The next day, 17 December 1950, Kim Il-sung was deprived of the right of command of KPA by China. China justified its entry into the war as a response to "American aggression in the guise of the UN". Later, the Chinese claimed that US bombers had violated PRC national airspace on three separate occasions and attacked Chinese targets before China intervened.

Fighting around the 38th Parallel (January–June 1951)

A ceasefire presented by the UN to the PRC shortly after the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River on December 11, 1950, was rejected by the Chinese government which was convinced of the PVA's invincibility after its victory in that battle and the wider

, and also wanted to demonstrate China's desire for a total victory through the expulsion of the UN forces from Korea.{{Sfn, Zhang, 1995, pp=119–126 With Lieutenant General

assuming the command of the US Eighth Army on 26 December, the PVA and the KPA launched their Third Phase Offensive (also known as the "Chinese New Year's Offensive") on New Year's Eve of 1950/51. Utilizing night attacks in which UN fighting positions were encircled and then assaulted by numerically superior troops who had the element of surprise, the attacks were accompanied by loud trumpets and gongs, which fulfilled the double purpose of facilitating tactical communication and mentally disorienting the enemy. UN forces initially had no familiarity with this tactic, and as a result, some soldiers panicked, abandoning their weapons and retreating to the south.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=117 The offensive overwhelmed UN forces, allowing the PVA and KPA to capture Seoul for the second time on 4 January 1951. Following this, the CPV party committee issued orders regarding tasks during rest and reorganization on 8 January 1951, outlining Chinese war goals. The orders read: "the central issue is for the whole party and army to overcome difficulties ... to improve tactics and skills. When the next campaign starts ... we will annihilate all enemies and liberate all Korea." In his telegram to Peng on 14 January, Mao stressed the importance of preparing for "the last battle" in the spring in order to "fundamentally resolve the oreanissue". Korean War bombing Wonsan

These setbacks prompted General MacArthur to consider using nuclear weapons against the Chinese or North Korean interiors, with the intention that radioactive fallout zones would interrupt the Chinese supply chains. However, upon the arrival of the charismatic General Ridgway, the ''esprit de corps'' of the bloodied Eighth Army immediately began to revive.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=113 UN forces retreated to

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a popula ...

in the west,

Wonju Wonju () is the most populous city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city is located approximately east of Seoul. Wonju was the site of three crucial battles during the Korean War. Geography Wonju sits at the southwestern corner of G ...

in the center, and the territory north of Samcheok in the east, where the battlefront stabilized and held.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=117 The PVA had outrun its logistics capability and thus were unable to press on beyond Seoul as food, ammunition, and matériel were carried nightly, on foot and bicycle, from the border at the Yalu River to the three battle lines.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=118 In late January, upon finding that the PVA had abandoned their battle lines, General Ridgway ordered a reconnaissance-in-force, which became Operation Thunderbolt (25 January 1951).{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=121 A full-scale advance followed, which fully exploited the UN's air superiority,{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=120 concluding with the UN forces reaching the Han River and recapturing Wonju.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=121 Following the failure of ceasefire negotiations in January, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 498 on 1 February, condemning the PRC as an aggressor, and called upon its forces to withdraw from Korea. In early February, the ROK 11th Division ran the operation to destroy the guerrillas and their sympathizer citizens in Southern Korea. During the operation, the division and police conducted the Geochang massacre and Sancheong–Hamyang massacre.{{Cite news , date=10 February 2003 , title=SURVIVOR Hundreds were killed in a 1951 massacre. One man is left to remember. , work=

JoongAng Daily ''Korea JoongAng Daily'' is the English edition of the South Korean national daily newspaper ''JoongAng Ilbo''. The newspaper was first published on October 17, 2000, originally named as ''JoongAng Ilbo English Edition''. It mainly carries news ...

, url=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=1932280 , url-status=live , access-date=6 April 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608041139/http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=1932280 , archive-date=8 June 2011 In mid-February, the PVA counterattacked with the Fourth Phase Offensive and achieved initial victory at

Hoengseong Hoengseong County is a county in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The roots of '' Codonopsis lanceolata'' ( ko, deodeok, script=Latn), a bonnet bellflower species, play an important role in local agriculture. The Korean Minjok Leadership Academy ...

. But the offensive was soon blunted by US IX Corps at Chipyong-ni in the center.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=121 The US 23rd Regimental Combat Team and the French Battalion fought a short but desperate

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

that broke the attack's momentum.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=121 The battle is sometimes known as the " Gettysburg of the Korean War": 5,600 South Korean, US, and French troops were surrounded on all sides by 25,000 PVA. UN forces had previously retreated in the face of large PVA/KPA forces instead of getting cut off, but this time they stood and fought, and won.

In the last two weeks of February 1951, ''Operation Thunderbolt'' was followed by

Operation Killer Operation Killer was the start of the second major counter offensive launched by United Nations Command (UN) forces against the Chinese Communist People's Volunteer Army (PVA) and the North Korean Army (KPA) during the Korean War between 20 Feb ...

, carried out by the revitalized Eighth Army. It was a full-scale, battlefront-length attack staged for maximum exploitation of firepower to kill as many KPA and PVA troops as possible.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=121 Operation Killer concluded with US I Corps re-occupying the territory south of the Han River, and IX Corps capturing Hoengseong.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=122 On 7 March 1951, the Eighth Army attacked with Operation Ripper, expelling the PVA and the KPA from Seoul on 14 March 1951. This was the fourth and final conquest of the city in a year's time, leaving it a ruin; the 1.5 million pre-war population was down to 200,000, and people were suffering from severe food shortages.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=122 On 1 March 1951, Mao sent a cable to Stalin emphasizing the difficulties faced by Chinese forces and the need for air cover, especially over supply lines. Apparently impressed by the Chinese war effort, Stalin agreed to supply two air force divisions, three anti-aircraft divisions, and six thousand trucks. PVA troops in Korea continued to suffer severe logistical problems throughout the war. In late April Peng Dehuai sent his deputy, Hong Xuezhi, to brief Zhou Enlai in Beijing. What Chinese soldiers feared, Hong said, was not the enemy, but having no food, bullets, or trucks to transport them to the rear when they were wounded. Zhou attempted to respond to the PVA's logistical concerns by increasing Chinese production and improving supply methods, but these efforts were never sufficient. At the same time, large-scale air defense training programs were carried out, and the

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Pe ...

(PLAAF) began participating in the war from September 1951 onward.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=149 The Fourth Phase Offensive had catastrophically failed, in contrast to the success of the Second Phase Offensive and limited gains of the Third Phase Offensive. The U.N. forces, after earlier defeats and subsequent retraining, proved much harder to infiltrate by Chinese light infantry than they had been in previous months. From 31 January to 21 April, the Chinese had suffered 53,000 casualties. On 11 April 1951, President Truman relieved General MacArthur as Supreme Commander in Korea.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=123–27 There were several reasons for the dismissal. MacArthur had crossed the 38th Parallel in the mistaken belief that the Chinese would not enter the war, leading to major allied losses. He believed that whether to use nuclear weapons should be his decision, not the President's.{{Sfn, Stein, 1994, p=69 MacArthur threatened to destroy China unless it surrendered. While MacArthur felt total victory was the only honorable outcome, Truman was more pessimistic about his chances once involved in a larger war and felt a truce and orderly withdrawal from Korea could be a valid solution.{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, p= 600 MacArthur was the subject of congressional hearings in May and June 1951, which determined that he had defied the orders of the President and thus had violated the

US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

.{{Sfn, Stein, 1994, p=79 A popular criticism of MacArthur was that he never spent a night in Korea, and directed the war from the safety of Tokyo.{{Sfn, Halberstam, 2007, p= 498 Centurion tanks and infantry of the Gloucestershire Regiment advancing to attack Hill 327 in Korea, March 1951

Centurion tanks and infantry of the Gloucestershire Regiment advancing to attack Hill 327 in Korea, March 1951

MacArthur was relieved primarily due to his determination to expand the war into China, which other officials believed would needlessly escalate a limited war and consume too many already overstretched resources. Despite MacArthur's claims that he was restricted to fighting a limited war when China was fighting all-out, congressional testimony revealed China was using restraint as much as the US was, as they were not using air power against front-line troops, communication lines, ports, naval air forces, or staging bases in Japan, which had been crucial to the survival of UN forces in Korea. Simply fighting on the peninsula had already tied down significant portions of US airpower; as

Air Force chief of staff The chief of staff of the Air Force (acronym: CSAF, or AF/CC) is a statutory office () held by a general in the United States Air Force, and as such is the principal military advisor to the secretary of the Air Force on matter pertaining to ...

Hoyt Vandenberg Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (January 24, 1899 – April 2, 1954) was a United States Air Force general. He served as the second Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the second Director of Central Intelligence. During World War II, Vandenberg was ...

said, 80–85% of the tactical capacity, one-fourth of the strategic portion, and 20% of air defense forces of the USAF were engaged in a single country. There was also fear that crossing into China would provoke the Soviet Union into entering the war. General Omar Bradley testified that there were 35 Russian divisions totaling some 500,000 troops in the Far East, and if sent into action with the approximately 85 Russian submarines in the vicinity of Korea, they could overwhelm US forces and cut supply lines, as well as potentially assist China in taking over territory in Southeast Asia. General Ridgway was appointed Supreme Commander in Korea, and he regrouped the UN forces for successful counterattacks,{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=127 while General

James Van Fleet General James Alward Van Fleet (March 19, 1892 – September 23, 1992) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and gradu ...

assumed command of the US Eighth Army.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=130 Further attacks slowly depleted the PVA and KPA forces; Operations ''Courageous'' (23–28 March 1951) and ''Tomahawk'' (23 March 1951) (a combat jump by the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team) were a joint ground and airborne infiltration meant to trap PVA forces between Kaesong and Seoul. UN forces advanced to the ''Kansas Line'', north of the 38th Parallel.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=131 The PVA counterattacked in April 1951, with the Fifth Phase Offensive, with three field armies (approximately 700,000 men).{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=131–32 The first thrust of the offensive fell upon I Corps, which fiercely resisted in the

Battle of the Imjin River The Battle of the Imjin River ( fil, Labanan sa Ilog Imjin), also known as the Battle of Solma-ri ( ko, 설마리 전투) or Battle of Gloster Hill () in South Korea, or as Battle of Xuemali () in China, took place 22–25 April 1951 during the ...

(22–25 April 1951) and the

Battle of Kapyong The Battle of Kapyong (or Gapyeong) ( ko, 가평전투, 22–25 April 1951), also known as the Battle of Jiaping (), was fought during the Korean War between United Nations Command (UN) forces—primarily Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand� ...

(22–25 April 1951), blunting the impetus of the offensive, which was halted at the ''No-name Line'' north of Seoul.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=133–34 Casualty ratios were grievously disproportionate; Peng had expected a 1–1 or 2-1 ratio, but instead, Chinese combat casualties from 22 to 29 April totaled between 40,000 and 60,000 compared to only 4,000 for the UN – a casualty ratio between 10–1 and 15–1. By the time Peng had called off the attack in the western sector on 29 April, the three participating armies had lost a third of their front-line combat strength within a week. Additional casualties were incurred on 30 April. On 15 May 1951, the PVA commenced the second impulse of the Spring Offensive and attacked the ROK and US X Corps in the east at the Soyang River. 370,000 PVA and 114,000 KPA troops had been mobilized for the second step of the Fifth Phase Offensive, with the bulk attacking in the eastern sector with about a quarter attempting to pin the US I Corps and IX Corps in the western sector. After initial success, they were halted by 20 May and repulsed over the following days, with western histories generally designating 22 May as the end of the offensive.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=136–37 At month's end, the Chinese planned the third step of the Fifth Phase Offensive (withdrawal), which they estimated would take 10 to 15 days to complete for their 340,000 remaining men, and set the retreat date for the night of 23 May. They were caught off guard when the US Eighth Army counterattacked and regained the ''Kansas Line'' on the morning of 12 May, 23 hours before the expected withdrawal.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=137–38Xiaobing 2014, p. 181. The surprise attack turned the retreat into "the most severe loss since our forces had entered Korea"; from 16 May to 23 May, the PVA had suffered another 45,000 to 60,000 casualties before their remaining soldiers managed to evacuate back north. Per official Chinese statistics, the Fifth Phase Offensive as a whole had cost the PVA 102,000 soldiers (85,000 killed/wounded, 17,000 captured), with unknown but significant losses for the KPA. The end of the Fifth Phase Offensive preceded the start of the

UN May–June 1951 counteroffensive The UN May–June 1951 counteroffensive was a military operation performed by the United Nations Command (UN) during the Korean War launched in response to the Chinese spring offensive of April-May 1951. It was the final large-scale offensive o ...

. During the counteroffensive, the US-led coalition captured land up to about {{Convert, 6, mi, km, 0, order=flip, abbr=on north of the 38th Parallel, with most forces stopping at the ''Kansas Line'' and a minority going further to the ''Wyoming Line.'' PVA and KPA forces suffered greatly during this offensive, especially in the Chuncheon sector and at Chiam-ni and Hwacheon; in the latter sector alone the PVA/KPA suffered over 73,207 casualties, including 8,749 captured, compared to 2,647 total casualties of the US IX Corps which engaged them. The UN's ''Kansas Line'' halt and subsequent offensive action stand-down began the stalemate that lasted until the armistice of 1953. The disastrous failure of the Fifth Phase Offensive (which Peng later recalled as one of only four mistakes he made in his military career) "led Chinese leaders to change their goal from driving the UNF out of Korea to merely defending China's security and ending the war through negotiations".

Stalemate (July 1951 – July 1953)

For the remainder of the war, the UN and the PVA/KPA fought but exchanged little territory, as the stalemate held. Large-scale bombing of North Korea continued, and protracted armistice negotiations began on 10 July 1951 at Kaesong, an ancient capital of Korea located in PVA/KPA held territory.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=145, 175–77 On the Chinese side, Zhou Enlai directed peace talks, and Li Kenong and Qiao Guanghua headed the negotiation team.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=149 Combat continued while the belligerents negotiated; the goal of the UN forces was to recapture all of South Korea and to avoid losing territory.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=159 The PVA and the KPA attempted similar operations and later effected military and psychological operations in order to test the UN Command's resolve to continue the war. The two sides constantly traded artillery fire along the front, the American-led forces possessing a large firepower advantage over the Chinese-led forces. For example, in the last three months of 1952 the UN fired 3,553,518 field gun shells and 2,569,941 mortar shells, while the Communists fired 377,782 field gun shells and 672,194 mortar shells: an overall 5.83:1 ratio in the UN's favor. The Communist insurgency, reinvigorated by North Korean support and scattered bands of KPA stragglers, also resurged in the south. In the autumn of 1951, Van Fleet ordered Major General Paik Sun-yup to break the back of guerrilla activity. From December 1951 to March 1952, ROK security forces claimed to have killed 11,090 partisans and sympathizers and captured 9,916 more. M46 tiger paint

The principal battles of the stalemate include the

Battle of Bloody Ridge The Battle of Bloody Ridge was a ground combat battle that took place during the Korean War from 18 August to 5 September 1951. By the summer of 1951, the Korean War had reached a stalemate as peace negotiations began at Kaesong. The opposing ...

(18 August–15 September 1951),{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=160 the

Battle of the Punchbowl The Battle of the Punchbowl ( ko, 펀치볼 전투), was one of the last battles of the movement phase of the Korean War. Following the breakdown of armistice negotiations in August 1951, the United Nations Command (UN) decided to launch a lim ...

(31 August-21 September 1951), the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (13 September–15 October 1951),{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=161–62 the

Battle of Old Baldy The Battle of Old Baldy refers to a series of five engagements for Hill 266 in west-central Korea. They occurred over a period of 10 months in 1952–1953, though there was also vicious fighting both before and after these engagements. Backgr ...

(26 June–4 August 1952), the

Battle of White Horse The Battle of White Horse ( ko, 백마고지 전투 or Baengma-goji, ), was a battle during the Korean War hill in the Iron Triangle, formed by Pyonggang at its peak and Gimhwa-eup and Cheorwon-eup at its base, a strategic transportation rout ...

(6–15 October 1952), the

Battle of Triangle Hill The Battle of Triangle Hill, also known as Operation Showdown or the Shangganling Campaign (),Chinese sources often mistranslates Shangganling Campaign as the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge. was a protracted military engagement during the Korean ...

(14 October–25 November 1952), the

Battle of Hill Eerie The Battle of Hill Eerie ( tgl, Labanan sa Eerie Hill; ko, 섬뜩한 언덕 전투, RR: ''Seomtteughan Eondeog Jeontu'') refers to several Korean War engagements between the United Nations Command (UN) forces and the Chinese People's Volunteer ...

(21 March–21 June 1952), the sieges of

Outpost Harry Outpost Harry was a remote Korean War outpost located on a tiny hilltop in what was commonly referred to as the " Iron Triangle" on the Korean Peninsula. This was an area approximately 60 miles (100 km) northeast of Seoul and was the most d ...

(10–18 June 1953), the Battle of the Hook (28–29 May 1953), the Battle of Pork Chop Hill (23 March–16 July 1953), and the

Battle of Kumsong The Battle of Kumsong, also known as the Jincheng Campaign (), was one of the last battles of the Korean War. During the ceasefire negotiations seeking to end the Korean War, the United Nations Command (UNC) and Chinese and North Korean forces ...

(13–27 July 1953). PVA troops suffered from deficient military equipment, serious logistical problems, overextended communication and supply lines, and the constant threat of UN bombers. All of these factors generally led to a rate of Chinese casualties that was far greater than the casualties suffered by UN troops. The situation became so serious that, in November 1951, Zhou Enlai called a conference in Shenyang to discuss the PVA's logistical problems. At the meeting it was decided to accelerate the construction of railways and airfields in the area, to increase the number of trucks available to the army, and to improve air defense by any means possible. These commitments did little to directly address the problems confronting PVA troops.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=148 02 Dad in action april1952 Korea sepia

In the months after the Shenyang conference, Peng Dehuai went to Beijing several times to brief Mao and Zhou about the heavy casualties suffered by Chinese troops and the increasing difficulty of keeping the front lines supplied with basic necessities. Peng was convinced that the war would be protracted and that neither side would be able to achieve victory in the near future. On 24 February 1952, the Military Commission, presided over by Zhou, discussed the PVA's logistical problems with members of various government agencies involved in the war effort. After the government representatives emphasized their inability to meet the demands of the war, Peng, in an angry outburst, shouted: "You have this and that problem... You should go to the front and see with your own eyes what food and clothing the soldiers have! Not to speak of the casualties! For what are they giving their lives? We have no aircraft. We have only a few guns. Transports are not protected. More and more soldiers are dying of starvation. Can't you overcome some of your difficulties?" The atmosphere became so tense that Zhou was forced to adjourn the conference. Zhou subsequently called a series of meetings, where it was agreed that the PVA would be divided into three groups, to be dispatched to Korea in shifts; to accelerate the training of Chinese pilots; to provide more anti-aircraft guns to the front lines; to purchase more military equipment and ammunition from the Soviet Union; to provide the army with more food and clothing; and to transfer the responsibility of logistics to the central government.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, pp=148–49 With peace negotiations ongoing, the Chinese attempted one final offensive in the final weeks of the war to capture territory: on 10 June, 30,000 Chinese troops struck two South Korean and one US divisions on a {{Convert, 8, mi, km, 0, abbr=on, order=flip front, and on 13 July, 80,000 Chinese soldiers struck the east-central Kumsong sector, with the brunt of their attack falling on four South Korean divisions. In both cases, the Chinese had some success in penetrating South Korean lines, but failed to capitalize, particularly when the US forces present responded with overwhelming firepower. Chinese casualties in their final major offensive of the war (above normal wastage for the front) were about 72,000, including 25,000 killed in action compared to 14,000 for the UN (the vast majority of these deaths were South Koreans, though 1,611 were Americans). The Communists fired 704,695 field gun shells in June–July compared to 4,711,230 fired by the UN, a ratio of 1:6.69. June 1953 saw the highest monthly artillery expenditure of the war by both sides.

Armistice (July 1953 – November 1954)

{{Main, Korean Armistice Agreement C Coy 2 RAR soldiers on The Hook Jun 1953 (AWM 157648)

The on-again, off-again armistice negotiations continued for two years,{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=144–53 first at Kaesong, on the border between North and South Korea, and then at the neighboring village of Panmunjom.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=147 A major, problematic negotiation point was prisoner of war (POW) repatriation.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=187–99 The PVA, KPA and UN Command could not agree on a system of repatriation because many PVA and KPA soldiers refused to be repatriated back to the north, which was unacceptable to the Chinese and North Koreans.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=189–90 A Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission, under the chairman Indian General K. S. Thimayya, was subsequently set up to handle the matter.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=242–45 In 1952, the US elected a new president, and on 29 November 1952, the president-elect,

, went to Korea to learn what might end the Korean War.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=240 Eisenhower took office on 20 January 1953. Joseph Stalin died a few weeks later on 5 March. The new Soviet leaders, engaged in their internal power struggle, had no desire to continue supporting China's efforts in Korea and issued a statement calling for an end to the hostilities. China could not continue the war without Soviet aid and North Korea was no longer a major player. Armistice talks entered a new phase. With the United Nations' acceptance of India's proposed Korean War armistice, the KPA, the PVA and the UN Command signed the

on 27 July 1953. South Korean president Syngman Rhee refused to sign the agreement. The war is considered to have ended at this point, even though there was no peace treaty. North Korea nevertheless claims that it won the Korean War. Under the Armistice Agreement, the belligerents established the

(DMZ), along the frontline which vaguely follows the 38th Parallel. In the eastern part, the DMZ runs north of the 38th Parallel; to the west, it travels south of it. Kaesong, site of the initial armistice negotiations, originally was in pre-war South Korea, but now is part of North Korea. The DMZ has since been patrolled by the KPA and the ROK and the US still operating as the UN Command. The Armistice also called upon the governments of South Korea, North Korea, China and the United States to participate in continued peace talks. After the war, Operation Glory was conducted from July to November 1954, to allow combatant countries to exchange their dead. The remains of 4,167 US Army and US Marine Corps dead were exchanged for 13,528 KPA and PVA dead, and 546 civilians dead in UN prisoner-of-war camps were delivered to the South Korean government. After Operation Glory, 416 Korean War unknown soldiers were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (The Punchbowl), on the island of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O ...

, Hawaii. Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) records indicate that the PRC and North Korea transmitted 1,394 names, of which 858 were correct. From 4,167 containers of returned remains, forensic examination identified 4,219 individuals. Of these, 2,944 were identified as from the US, and all but 416 were identified by name. From 1996 to 2006, North Korea recovered 220 remains near the Sino-Korean border.

Division of Korea (1954–present)

{{See also, Korean Demilitarized Zone Korean War armistice agreement 1953

The Korean Armistice Agreement provided for monitoring by an international commission. Since 1953, the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), composed of members from the Swiss and Swedish Armed Forces, has been stationed near the DMZ. In April 1975, South Vietnam's capital was captured by the People's Army of Vietnam. Encouraged by the success of the Communist revolution in Indochina, Kim Il-sung saw it as an opportunity to invade the South. Kim visited China in April of that year and met with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai to ask for military aid. Despite Pyongyang's expectations, however, Beijing refused to help North Korea for another war in Korea.{{Cite web , last=Ria Chae , date=May 2012 , title=NKIDP e-Dossier No. 7: East German Documents on Kim Il Sung's April 1975 Trip to Beijing , url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/nkidp-e-dossier-no-7-east-german-documents-kim-il-sung%E2%80%99s-april-1975-trip-to-beijing#_ftn2 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104124051/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/nkidp-e-dossier-no-7-east-german-documents-kim-il-sung%E2%80%99s-april-1975-trip-to-beijing , archive-date=4 November 2012 , access-date=30 May 2012 , series=North Korea International Documentation Project , publisher=Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars ObservationPostOuellette

Since the armistice, there have been numerous incursions and acts of aggression by North Korea. From 1966 to 1969, a large number of cross-border incursions took place in what has been referred to as the Korean DMZ Conflict or the Second Korean War. In 1968, a North Korean commando team unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate South Korean president

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 196 ...

in the Blue House Raid. In 1976, the axe murder incident was widely publicized. Since 1974, four incursion tunnels leading to Seoul have been uncovered. In 2010, a North Korean submarine torpedoed and sank the South Korean

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

{{ROKS, Cheonan, PCC-772, 6, resulting in the deaths of 46 sailors. Again in 2010, North Korea fired artillery shells on Yeonpyeong island, killing two military personnel and two civilians. After a new wave of UN sanctions, on 11 March 2013, North Korea claimed that the armistice had become invalid. On 13 March 2013, North Korea confirmed it ended the 1953 Armistice and declared North Korea "is not restrained by the North-South declaration on non-aggression".{{Cite web , last=Chang-Won , first=Lim , title=North Korea confirms end of war armistice , url=http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/9765-north-korea-confirms-end-of-war-armistice , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702052515/http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/9765-north-korea-confirms-end-of-war-armistice , archive-date=2 July 2014 , access-date=17 June 2014 , publisher=Tolo News On 30 March 2013, North Korea stated that it entered a "state of war" with South Korea and declared that "The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over".{{Cite news , date=30 March 2013 , title=North Korea enters 'state of war' with South , work=BBC News , url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21979127 , url-status=live , access-date=30 March 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330013512/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21979127 , archive-date=30 March 2013 Speaking on 4 April 2013, the US Secretary of Defense,

Chuck Hagel Charles Timothy Hagel ( born October 4, 1946)Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense, is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to shoot down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their termina ...

anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological, or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight traje ...

system to Guam, because of a credible and realistic nuclear threat from North Korea. In 2016, it was revealed that North Korea approached the United States about conducting formal peace talks to formally end the war. While the White House agreed to secret peace talks, the plan was rejected due to North Korea's refusal to discuss nuclear disarmament as part of the terms of the treaty.{{Cite news , last1=Cassella , first1=Megan , last2=Chiacu , first2=Doina , date=21 February 2016 , title=U.S. rejected North Korea peace talks offer before last nuclear test: State Department , work= Reuters , url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-nuclear-idUSKCN0VU0XE , url-status=live , access-date=22 February 2016 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222022637/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-nuclear-idUSKCN0VU0XE , archive-date=22 February 2016 On 27 April 2018, it was announced that North Korea and South Korea agreed to talks to end the ongoing 65-year conflict. They committed themselves to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. On 22 September 2021, South Korean President

Moon Jae-In Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

reiterated his call to formally end the Korean War, in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

Characteristics

Casualties

Approximately 3 million people died in the Korean War, the majority of whom were civilians, making it perhaps the deadliest conflict of the Cold War-era.{{Cite book , last=Cumings , first=Bruce , title=The Korean War: A History , publisher=

Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Modern Library became an ...

, date=2011 , isbn=9780812978964 , page=35 , quote=Various encyclopedias state that the countries involved in the three-year conflict suffered a total of more than 4 million casualties, of which at least 2 million were civilians—a higher percentage than in World War II or Vietnam. A total of 36,940 Americans lost their lives in the Korean theater; of these, 33,665 were killed in action, while 3,275 died there of non-hostile causes. Some 92,134 Americans were wounded in action, and decades later, 8,176 were still reported as missing. South Korea sustained 1,312,836 casualties, including 415,004 dead. Casualties among other UN allies totaled 16,532, including 3,094 dead. Estimated North Korean casualties numbered 2 million, including about one million civilians and 520,000 soldiers. An estimated 900,000 Chinese soldiers lost their lives in combat. , author-link=Bruce Cumings{{Cite book , last=Lewy , first=Guenter , title=America in Vietnam , title-link=America in Vietnam , publisher= Oxford University Press , date=1980 , isbn=9780199874231 , pages=450–453 , quote=For the Korean War the only hard statistic is that of American military deaths, which included 33,629 battle deaths and 20,617 who died of other causes. The North Korean and Chinese Communists never published statistics of their casualties. The number of South Korean military deaths has been given as in excess of 400,000; the South Korean Ministry of Defense puts the number of killed and missing at 281,257. Estimates of communist troops killed are about one-half million. The total number of Korean civilians who died in the fighting, which left almost every major city in North and South Korea in ruins, has been estimated at between 2 and 3 million. This adds up to almost 1 million military deaths and a possible 2.5 million civilians who were killed or died as a result of this extremely destructive conflict. The proportion of civilians killed in the major wars of this century (and not only in the major ones) has thus risen steadily. It reached about 42 percent in World War II and may have gone as high as 70 percent in the Korean War. ... we find that the ratio of civilian to military deaths n Vietnamis not substantially different from that of World War II and is well below that of the Korean War. , author-link=Guenter Lewy{{Cite book , last=Kim , first=Samuel S. , title=International Relations of Asia , publisher= Rowman & Littlefield , date=2014 , isbn=9781442226418 , page=45 , chapter=The Evolving Asian System , quote=With three of the four major Cold War fault lines—divided Germany, divided Korea, divided China, and divided Vietnam—East Asia acquired the dubious distinction of having engendered the largest number of armed conflicts resulting in higher fatalities between 1945 and 1994 than any other region or sub-region. Even in Asia, while Central and South Asia produced a regional total of 2.8 million in human fatalities, East Asia's regional total is 10.4 million including the Chinese Civil War (1 million), the Korean War (3 million), the Vietnam War (2 million), and the Pol Pot

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the La ...

in Cambodia (1 to 2 million). Samuel S. Kim lists the Korean War as the deadliest conflict in East Asia—itself the region most affected by armed conflict related to the Cold War–from 1945 to 1994, with 3 million dead, more than the Vietnam War and Chinese Civil War during the same period. Although only rough estimates of civilian fatalities are available, scholars from Guenter Lewy to Bruce Cumings have noted that the percentage of civilian casualties in Korea was higher than in World War II or the Vietnam War, with Cumings putting civilian casualties at 2 million and Lewy estimating civilian deaths in the range of 2 million to 3 million. Cumings states that civilians represent "at least" half of the war's casualties, while Lewy suggests that the civilian portion of the death toll "may have gone as high as 70 percent", compared to Lewy's estimates of 42% in World War II and 30%–46% in the Vietnam War. Data compiled by the

Peace Research Institute Oslo The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO; no, Institutt for fredsforskning) is a private research institution in peace and conflict studies, based in Oslo, Norway, with around 100 employees. It was founded in 1959 by a group of Norwegian researc ...

(PRIO) lists just under 1 million "battle deaths" over the course of the Korean War (with a range of 644,696 to 1.5 million) and a mid-value estimate of 3 million total deaths (with a range of 1.5 million to 4.5 million), attributing the difference to excess mortality among civilians from one-sided massacres, starvation, and disease. Compounding this devastation for Korean civilians, virtually all of the major cities on the entire Korean Peninsula were destroyed as a result of the war. In both per capita and absolute terms, North Korea was the country most devastated by the war. According to Charles K. Armstrong, the war resulted in the death of an estimated 12%–15% of the North Korean population ({{Circa 10 million), "a figure close to or surpassing the proportion of Soviet citizens killed in World War II".{{Cite journal , last=Armstrong , first=Charles K. , date=20 December 2010 , title=The Destruction and Reconstruction of North Korea, 1950–1960 , url=https://apjjf.org/-Charles-K--Armstrong/3460/article.pdf , journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal , volume=8 , issue=51 , page=1 , access-date=13 September 2019 , quote=The number of Korean dead, injured or missing by war's end approached three million, ten percent of the overall population. The majority of those killed were in the North, which had half of the population of the South; although the DPRK does not have official figures, possibly twelve to fifteen percent of the population was killed in the war, a figure close to or surpassing the proportion of Soviet citizens killed in World War II.

Military

{{See also, Australia in the Korean War, l1=Australia, Belgian United Nations Command, l2=Belgium and Luxembourg, 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade, l3=Canada, Colombian Battalion, l4=Colombia, Kagnew Battalion, l5=Ethiopia, French Battalion, l6=France, Greek Expeditionary Force (Korea), l7=Greece, Regiment van Heutsz#Korean War, l8=Netherlands, New Zealand in the Korean War, l9=New Zealand, Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea, l10=Philippines, Thailand in the Korean War, l11=Thailand, Turkish Brigade, l12=Turkey, 2 Squadron SAAF#Korean War, l13=South Africa, British Commonwealth Forces Korea, l14=United Kingdom, United States in the Korean War, l15=United States {{See also, People's Volunteer Army, l1=China, North Korea in the Korean War, l2=North Korea, Soviet Union in the Korean War, l3=Soviet Union According to the data from the US Department of Defense, the US suffered 33,686 battle deaths, along with 2,830 non-battle deaths, and 17,730 other deaths during the Korean War.{{Cite news , last=Rhem, Kathleen T. , date=8 June 2000 , title=Defense.gov News Article: Korean War Death Stats Highlight Modern DoD Safety Record , publisher=defense.gov. US Department of Defense , url=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45275 , access-date=3 March 2016 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114121831/http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45275 , archive-date=14 January 2012 American combat casualties were over 90 percent of non-Korean UN losses. U.S. battle deaths were 8,516 up to their first engagement with the Chinese on 1 November 1950. The first four months of the Korean War, that is, the war prior to the Chinese intervention (which started near the end of October), were by far the bloodiest per day for the US forces as they engaged and destroyed the comparatively well-equipped KPA in intense fighting. American medical records show that from July to October 1950, the US Army sustained 31 percent of the combat deaths it ultimately incurred in the whole 37-month war. The U.S. spent US$30 billion in total on the war. Some 1,789,000 American soldiers served in the Korean War, accounting for 31 percent of the 5,720,000 Americans who served on active-duty worldwide from June 1950 to July 1953. South Korea reported some 137,899 military deaths and 24,495 missing. Deaths from the other non-American U.N. militaries totaled 3,730, with another 379 missing. Data from official Chinese sources reported that the PVA had suffered 114,000 battle deaths, 34,000 non-battle deaths, 340,000 wounded, and 7,600 missing during the war. 7,110 Chinese POWs were repatriated to China. In 2010, the Chinese government revised their official tally of war losses to 183,108 dead (114,084 in combat, 70,000 outside of combat) and 25,621 missing. Overall, 73 percent of Chinese infantry troops served in Korea (25 of 34 armies, or 79 of 109 infantry divisions, were rotated in). More than 52 percent of the Chinese air force, 55 percent of the tank units, 67 percent of the artillery divisions, and 100 percent of the railroad engineering divisions were sent to Korea as well. Chinese soldiers who served in Korea faced a greater chance of being killed than those who served in World War II or the Chinese Civil War. In terms of financial cost, China spent over 10 billion yuan on the war (roughly US$3.3 billion), not counting USSR aid which had been donated or forgiven.Xiaobing 2009, p. 112. This included $1.3 billion in money owed to the Soviet Union by the end of it. This was a relatively large cost, as China had only 1/25 the national income of the United States. Spending on the Korean War constituted 34–43 percent of China's annual government budget from 1950 to 1953, depending on the year. Despite its underdeveloped economy, Chinese military spending was the world's fourth-largest globally for most of the war after that of the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, though by 1953, with the winding down of the Korean War (which ended halfway through the year) and the escalation of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh ( Democratic Republic of ...

(which reached its peak in 1953–1954), French spending also surpassed Chinese spending by about a third. According to the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, North Korean military losses totaled 294,151 dead, 91,206 missing, and 229,849 wounded, giving North Korea the highest military deaths of any belligerent in both absolute and relative terms.Andrew C. Nahm; James Hoare (2004). "Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Korea". Scarecrow Press, pp. 129–130. The PRIO Battle Deaths Dataset gave a similar figure for North Korean military deaths of 316,579.Bethany Lacina and Nils Petter Gleditsch, 2005. ―Monitoring Trends in Global Combat: A New Dataset of Battle Deaths.‖ European Journal of Population: 21(2–3): 145–166. Korean data available a
"The PRIO Battle Deaths Dataset, 1946–2008, Version 3.0"
pp. 359–362 Chinese sources reported similar figures for the North Korean military of 290,000 "casualties" and 90,000 captured. The exact financial cost of the war for North Korea is unknown, but was known to be massive in terms of both direct losses and lost economic activity; the country was devastated both by the cost of the war itself and the American strategic bombing campaign, which among other things destroyed 85 percent of North Korea's buildings and 95 percent of its power generation capacity. The Chinese and North Koreans estimated that about 390,000 soldiers from the United States, 660,000 soldiers from South Korea and 29,000 other UN soldiers were "eliminated" from the battlefield. Western sources estimate the PVA suffered about 400,000 killed and 486,000 wounded, while the KPA suffered 215,000 killed and 303,000 wounded. Cumings cites a much higher figure of 900,000 fatalities among Chinese soldiers.

Civilian

According to the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, there were over three-quarters of a million confirmed violent civilians deaths during the war, another million civilians were pronounced missing, and millions more ended up as refugees. In South Korea, some 373,500 civilians were killed, more than 225,600 wounded, and over 387,740 were listed as missing. During the first communist occupation of Seoul alone, the KPA massacred 128,936 civilians and deported another 84,523 to North Korea. On the other side of the border, some 1,594,000 North Koreans were reported as casualties including 406,000 civilians reported as killed, and 680,000 missing. Over 1.5 million North Koreans fled to the South during the war.

US unpreparedness for war

In a postwar analysis of the unpreparedness of US Army forces deployed to Korea during the summer and fall of 1950, Army Major General Floyd L. Parks stated that "Many who never lived to tell the tale had to fight the full range of ground warfare from offensive to delaying action, unit by unit, man by man ... at we were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat ... does not relieve us from the blame of having placed our own flesh and blood in such a predicament." Dutch soldier returns sniper fire in Korea-1952

Dutch soldier returns sniper fire in Korea-1952

By 1950, US Secretary of Defense

Louis A. Johnson Louis Arthur Johnson (January 10, 1891April 24, 1966) was an American politician and attorney who served as the second United States Secretary of Defense from 1949 to 1950. He was the Assistant Secretary of War from 1937 to 1940 and the 15th ...

had established a policy of faithfully following President Truman's defense economization plans and had aggressively attempted to implement it even in the face of steadily increasing external threats. He consequently received much of the blame for the initial setbacks in Korea and the widespread reports of ill-equipped and inadequately trained US military forces in the war's early stages.{{Sfn, Blair, 2003, p= As an initial response to the invasion, Truman called for a naval blockade of North Korea and was shocked to learn that such a blockade could be imposed only "on paper" since the US Navy no longer had the warships with which to carry out his request.{{Sfn, Blair, 2003, p={{Cite web , date=6 July 1950 , title=Memorandum of Information for the Secretary – Blockade of Korea , url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/korea/large/week2/kw_78_1.jpg , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809213846/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/korea/large/week2/kw_78_1.jpg , archive-date=9 August 2007 , access-date=28 July 2007 , publisher=Truman Presidential Library – Archives Army officials, desperate for weaponry, recovered

Sherman tank } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It ...

s and other equipment from World War II Pacific battlefields and reconditioned them for shipment to Korea.{{Sfn, Blair, 2003, p= Army Ordnance officials at Fort Knox pulled down M26 Pershing tanks from display pedestals around Fort Knox in order to equip the third company of the Army's hastily formed

70th Tank Battalion The 70th Armor Regiment is an armored (tank) unit of the United States Army. It was constituted as the 70th Tank Battalion in July 1940, an independent tank battalion intended to provide close support to infantry units. In this role, it saw act ...

. Without adequate numbers of tactical fighter-bomber aircraft, the Air Force took F-51 (P-51) propeller-driven aircraft out of storage or from existing

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

squadrons, and rushed them into front-line service. A shortage of spare parts and qualified maintenance personnel resulted in improvised repairs and overhauls. A Navy helicopter pilot aboard an active duty warship recalled fixing damaged rotor blades with masking tape in the absence of spares. US Army Reserve and

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...

infantry soldiers and new inductees (called to duty to fill out understrength infantry divisions) found themselves short of nearly everything needed to repel the North Korean forces: artillery, ammunition, heavy tanks, ground-support aircraft, even effective anti-tank weapons such as the M20 3.5-inch (89 mm) ''Super Bazooka''. Some Army combat units sent to Korea were supplied with worn out, 'red-lined' M1 rifles or carbines in immediate need of ordnance depot overhaul or repair. Only the Marine Corps, whose commanders had stored and maintained their World War II surplus inventories of equipment and weapons, proved ready for deployment, though they still were woefully under-strength, as well as in need of suitable landing craft to practice amphibious operations (Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson had transferred most of the remaining craft to the Navy and reserved them for use in training Army units).{{Cite journal , last=Krulak , first=Lieutenant General Victor H., USMC, retired , date=June 2000 , title=You Can't Get There From Here: The Inchon Story , url=http://www.usna.com/News_pubs/Publications/Shipmate/2000/2000_06/inchon.htm , journal=Shipmate , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021113195108/http://www.usna.com/News_pubs/Publications/Shipmate/2000/2000_06/inchon.htm , archive-date=13 November 2002 Due to public criticism of his handling of the Korean War, Truman decided to ask for Johnson's resignation. On 19 September 1950, Johnson resigned as Secretary of Defense, and the president quickly replaced him with General George C. Marshall.

Armored warfare

The initial assault by KPA forces was aided by the use of Soviet T-34-85 tanks.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=14, 43 A KPA tank corps equipped with about 120 T-34s spearheaded the invasion. These drove against the ROK with few anti-tank weapons adequate to deal with the T-34s.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=39 Additional Soviet armor was added as the offensive progressed.{{Sfn, Perrett, 1987, pp=134–35 The KPA tanks had a good deal of early successes against ROK infantry, Task Force Smith and the US

M24 Chaffee The M24 Chaffee (officially Light Tank, M24) was an American light tank used during the later part of World War II; it was also used in post–World War II conflicts including the Korean War, and by the French in the War in Algeria and the Fi ...

light tanks that they encountered.{{Sfn, Stein, 1994, p=18 Interdiction by ground attack aircraft was the only means of slowing the advancing KPA armor. The tide turned in favor of the UN forces in August 1950 when the KPA suffered major tank losses during a series of battles in which the UN forces brought heavier equipment to bear, including M4A3 Sherman and M26 medium tanks, as well as the British

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 le ...

, Churchill and

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

tanks.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, pp=182–84 The Incheon landings on 15 September cut off the KPA supply lines, causing their armored forces and infantry to run out of fuel, ammunition, and other supplies. As a result of this and the Pusan perimeter breakout, the KPA had to retreat, and many of the T-34s and heavy weapons had to be abandoned. By the time the KPA withdrew from the South, a total of 239 T-34s and 74

SU-76 The SU-76 ('' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 76'') was a Soviet light self-propelled gun used during and after World War II. The SU-76 was based on a lengthened version of the T-70 light tank chassis and armed with the 76 mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3 ...

self-propelled guns were lost.{{Sfn, Perrett, 1987, p=135 After November 1950, KPA armor was rarely encountered. Following the initial assault by the north, the Korean War saw limited use of tanks and featured no large-scale tank battles. The mountainous, forested terrain, especially in the eastern central zone, was poor tank country, limiting their mobility. Through the last two years of the war in Korea, UN tanks served largely as infantry support and mobile artillery pieces.{{Sfn, Ravino, Carty, 2003, p=130

Naval warfare

{{Further, List of US Navy ships sunk or damaged in action during the Korean conflict {{Naval engagements of the Korean War KoreanWarNavyGunfire

Because neither Korea had a significant navy, the war featured few naval battles. A skirmish between North Korea and the UN Command occurred on 2 July 1950; the US Navy cruiser {{USS, Juneau, CL-119, 6, the Royal Navy cruiser {{HMS, Jamaica, 44, 6 and the Royal Navy frigate {{HMS, Black Swan, L57, 6 fought four North Korean torpedo boats and two mortar gunboats, and sank them. USS ''Juneau'' later sank several ammunition ships that had been present. The last sea battle of the Korean War occurred days before the Battle of Incheon; the ROK ship ''PC-703'' sank a North Korean minelayer in the Battle of Haeju Island, near Incheon. Three other supply ships were sunk by ''PC-703'' two days later in the

. Thereafter, vessels from the UN nations held undisputed control of the sea about Korea. The gunships were used in shore bombardment, while the aircraft carriers provided air support to the ground forces. During most of the war, the UN navies patrolled the west and east coasts of North Korea, sinking supply and ammunition ships and denying the North Koreans the ability to resupply from the sea. Aside from very occasional gunfire from North Korean shore batteries, the main threat to UN navy ships was from

magnetic mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

s. During the war, five US Navy ships were lost to mines: two minesweepers, two minesweeper escorts, and one ocean tug. Mines and gunfire from North Korean coastal artillery damaged another 87 US warships, resulting in slight to moderate damage.

Aerial warfare

{{Further, MiG Alley, USAF Units and Aircraft of the Korean War, Korean People's Air Force The war was the first in which

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, jet ...

played the central role in air combat. Once-formidable fighters such as the P-51 Mustang,

F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contrac ...

, and

Hawker Sea Fury The Hawker Sea Fury is a British fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy, and one of the fastest production single reciprocating engine aircraft eve ...

{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=174—all piston-engined, propeller-driven, and designed during World War II—relinquished their air-superiority roles to a new generation of faster, jet-powered fighters arriving in the theater. For the initial months of the war, the

P-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, pro ...

F9F Panther The Grumman F9F Panther is one of the United States Navy's first successful carrier-based jet fighters, as well as Grumman’s first jet fighter. A single-engined, straight-winged day fighter, it was armed with four cannons and could carry ...

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

and other jets under the UN flag dominated the

Korean People's Air Force The Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force (KPAAF; ; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍航空 및 反航空軍 ) is the unified military aviation force of North Korea. It is the second largest branch of the Korean People's Army comprising an estimated ...

(KPAF) propeller-driven Soviet

Yakovlev Yak-9 The Yakovlev Yak-9 (russian: Яковлев Як-9) is a single-engine, single-seat multipurpose fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union and its allies during World War II and the early Cold War. It was a development of the robust and succes ...

and

Lavochkin La-9 The Lavochkin La-9 ( NATO reporting name Fritz) was a Soviet fighter aircraft produced shortly after World War II. It was one of the last piston engined fighters to be produced before the widespread adoption of the jet engine. Development La-9 ...

s.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=182{{Sfn, Werrell, 2005, p=71 By early August 1950, the KPAF was reduced to only about 20 planes.{{Cite web , last=Correll , first=John T. , date=1 April 2020 , title=The Difference in Korea , url=https://www.airforcemag.com/article/the-difference-in-korea/ , access-date=14 June 2020 , website=

Air Force Magazine The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit, professional military association for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, its declared mission is ...

The Chinese intervention in late October 1950 bolstered the KPAF with the

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one o ...

, one of the world's most advanced jet fighters.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=182 The heavily armed MiGs were faster than first-generation UN jets and therefore could reach and destroy US

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

bomber flights despite their fighter escorts. With increasing B-29 losses, the USAF was forced to switch from a daylight bombing campaign to the safer but less accurate nighttime bombing of targets.{{Citation needed, date=June 2022 The USAF countered the MiG-15 by sending over three squadrons of its most capable fighter, the

. These arrived in December 1950.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=183{{Sfn, Werrell, 2005, pp=76–77 The MiG was designed as a bomber interceptor. It had a very high service ceiling—{{Convert, 50000, ft, m, sigfig=2, order=flip, abbr=on and carried very heavy weaponry: one 37 mm cannon and two 23 mm cannons. The F-86 had a ceiling of {{Convert, 42000, ft, m, sigfig=2, order=flip, abbr=on and were armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns, which were range adjusted by radar gunsights. If coming in at higher altitude, the advantage of choosing to engage or not went to the MiG. Once in a level flight

dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every maj ...

, both swept-wing designs attained comparable maximum speeds of around {{Convert, 660, mi/h, km/h, sigfig=2, abbr=on, order=flip. The MiG climbed faster, but the Sabre turned and dived better. In the summer and autumn of 1951, the outnumbered Sabres of the USAF's 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing—only 44 at one point—continued seeking battle in

MiG Alley "MiG Alley" was the name given by United Nations (UN) pilots during the Korean War to the northwestern portion of North Korea, where the Yalu River empties into the Yellow Sea. It was the site of numerous dogfights between UN fighter pilots an ...

, where the Yalu River marks the Chinese border, against Chinese and North Korean air forces capable of deploying some 500 aircraft. Following Colonel Harrison Thyng's communication with the Pentagon, the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing finally reinforced the beleaguered 4th Wing in December 1951; for the next year-and-a-half stretch of the war, aerial warfare continued. Unlike the Vietnam War, in which the Soviet Union only officially sent "advisers", the

64th Fighter Aviation Corps The 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (64th IAK) was an aviation corps of the Soviet Air Forces. The corps was the parent unit for Soviet interceptor units based in northeastern Manchuria during the Korean War. History The Korean War broke out in June ...

saw action in the Korean air war. Fearful of confronting the US directly, the Soviet Union denied the involvement of their personnel in anything other than an advisory role, but air combat quickly resulted in Soviet pilots dropping their code signals and speaking over the wireless in Russian. This known direct Soviet participation was a ''

casus belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

'' that the UN Command deliberately overlooked, lest the war expand to include the Soviet Union, and potentially escalate into atomic warfare.{{Sfn, Stokesbury, 1990, p=182 After the war, and to the present day, the USAF reports an F-86 Sabre

kill ratio Loss exchange ratio is a figure of merit in attrition warfare. It is usually relevant to a condition or state of war where one side depletes the resources of another through attrition. Specifically and most often used as a comparator in aerial co ...

in excess of 10:1, with 792 MiG-15s and 108 other aircraft shot down by Sabres, and 78 Sabres lost to enemy fire. The Soviet Air Force reported some 1,100 air-to-air victories and 335 MiG combat losses, while China's PLAAF reported 231 combat losses, mostly MiG-15s, and 168 other aircraft lost. The KPAF reported no data, but the UN Command estimates some 200 KPAF aircraft lost in the war's first stage, and 70 additional aircraft after the Chinese intervention. The USAF disputes Soviet and Chinese claims of 650 and 211 downed F-86s, respectively. More modern estimates place the overall kill ratio at around 1.8:1 with the ratio dropping to 1.3:1 against MiG-15s with Soviet pilots. Regardless of the actual ratio, American Sabres were very effective at controlling the skies over Korea; since no other UN fighter could contend with the MiG-15, F-86s largely took over air combat once they arrived, relegating other aircraft to performing air-to-ground duties. Despite being outnumbered (the number of Sabres in theater never exceeded 150 while MiG-15s reached 900 at their peak), North Korean and Chinese aircraft were seldom encountered south of Pyongyang. UN ground forces, supply lines, and infrastructure were not attacked from the air and although North Korea had 75 airfields capable of supporting MiGs, after 1951 any serious effort to operate from them was abandoned, keeping them based across the Yalu River in the safety of China. This confined most air-to-air engagements to MiG Alley, giving UN aircraft free rein to conduct strike missions over enemy territory with little fear of interception. Although jet dogfights are remembered as a prominent part of the Korean War, counter-air missions comprised just 12% of Far East Air Forces sorties, and four times as many sorties were performed for

close air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...

and interdiction. The war marked a major milestone not only for fixed-wing aircraft, but also for

rotorcraft A rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings or rotor blades, which generate lift by rotating around a vertical mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor. The Interna ...

, featuring the first large-scale deployment of

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and t ...

s for

medical evacuation Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

(medevac). In 1944–1945, during the Second World War, the YR-4 helicopter saw limited ambulance duty, but in Korea, where rough terrain trumped the

jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motor ...

as a speedy medevac vehicle, helicopters like the

Sikorsky H-19 The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (company model number S-55) was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom ...

helped reduce fatal casualties to a dramatic degree when combined with complementary medical innovations such as

Mobile Army Surgical Hospital Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals were U.S. Army field hospital units conceptualized in 1946 as replacements for the World War II-era Auxiliary Surgical Group hospital units, which had become obsolete. MASH Units were in operation from the Korean ...

s. As such, the medical evacuation and care system for the wounded was so effective for the UN forces that a wounded soldier who arrived at a MASH unit alive typically had a 97% chance of survival. The limitations of jet aircraft for

highlighted the helicopter's potential in the role, leading to the development of the helicopter gunships used in the Vietnam War (1965–75).

Bombing of North Korea

{{Main, Bombing of North Korea The initial bombing attack on North Korea was approved on the fourth day of the war, 29 June 1950, by General Douglas MacArthur immediately upon request by the commanding general of the Far East Air Forces (FEAF), George E. Stratemeyer.{{Cite journal , last=Kim , first=Taewoo , date=2012 , title=Limited War, Unlimited Targets: U.S. Air Force Bombing of North Korea during the Korean War, 1950–1953 , journal=Critical Asian Studies , volume=44 , issue=3 , pages=467–492 , doi=10.1080/14672715.2012.711980 , s2cid=142704845. Major bombing began in late July. U.S. airpower conducted 7,000 close support and interdiction airstrikes that month, which helped slow the North Korean rate of advance to {{Convert, 2, mi, km, 0, order=flip, abbr=on a day. On 12 August 1950, the USAF dropped 625 tons of bombs on North Korea; two weeks later, the daily tonnage increased to some 800 tons. From June through October, official US policy was to pursue

precision bombing Precision bombing refers to the attempted aerial bombing of a target with some degree of accuracy, with the aim of maximising target damage or limiting collateral damage. An example would be destroying a single building in a built up area causing ...

aimed at communication centers (railroad stations, marshaling yards, main yards, and railways) and industrial facilities deemed vital to war-making capacity. The policy was the result of debates after World War II, in which US policy rejected the mass civilian bombings that had been conducted in the later stages of World War II as unproductive and immoral. In early July, General Emmett O'Donnell Jr. requested permission to firebomb five North Korean cities. He proposed that MacArthur announce that the UN would employ the firebombing methods that "brought Japan to its knees". The announcement would warn the leaders of North Korea "to get women and children and other noncombatants the hell out". According to O'Donnell, MacArthur responded, "No, Rosie, I'm not prepared to go that far yet. My instructions are very explicit; however, I want you to know that I have no compunction whatever to your bombing bona fide military objectives, with high explosives, in those five industrial centers. If you miss your target and kill people or destroy other parts of the city, I accept that as a part of war." In September 1950, MacArthur said in his public report to the UN, "The problem of avoiding the killing of innocent civilians and damages to the civilian economy is continually present and given my personal attention." In October 1950, FEAF commander General Stratemeyer requested permission to attack the city of

Sinuiju Sinŭiju (''Sinŭiju-si'', ; known before 1925 in English as Yeng Byen City) is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, Liaoning, China across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North P'yŏngan province. Part ...

, a provincial capital with an estimated population of 60,000, "over the widest area of the city, without warning, by burning and high explosive". MacArthur's headquarters responded the following day: "The general policy enunciated from Washington negates such an attack unless the military situation clearly requires it. Under present circumstances this is not the case." Following the intervention of the Chinese in November, General MacArthur ordered increased bombing on North Korea which included firebombing against the country's arsenals and communications centers and especially against the "Korean end" of all the bridges across the Yalu River. As with the aerial bombing campaigns over Germany and Japan in World War II, the nominal objective of the USAF was to destroy North Korea's war infrastructure and shatter the country's morale. On 3 November 1950, General Stratemeyer forwarded to MacArthur the request of Fifth Air Force commander General Earle E. Partridge for clearance to "burn Sinuiju". As he had done previously in July and October, MacArthur denied the request, explaining that he planned to use the town's facilities after seizing it. However, at the same meeting, MacArthur agreed for the first time to a firebombing campaign, agreeing to Stratemeyer's request to burn the city of Kanggye and several other towns: "Burn it if you so desire. Not only that, Strat, but burn and destroy as a lesson to any other of those towns that you consider of military value to the enemy." The same evening, MacArthur's chief of staff told Stratemeyer that the firebombing of Sinuiju had also been approved. In his diary, Stratemeyer summarized the instructions as follows: "Every installation, facility, and village in North Korea now becomes a military and tactical target." Stratemeyer sent orders to the Fifth Air Force and Bomber Command to "destroy every means of communications and every installation, factory, city, and village". On 5 November 1950, General Stratemeyer gave the following order to the commanding general of the Fifth Air Force: "Aircraft under Fifth Air Force control will destroy all other targets including all buildings capable of affording shelter." The same day, twenty-two B-29s attacked

Kanggye Kanggye () is the provincial capital of Chagang, North Korea and has a population of 251,971. Because of its strategic importance, derived from its topography, it has been of military interest from the time of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Hi ...

, destroying 75% of the city. After MacArthur was removed as UN Supreme Commander in Korea in April 1951, his successors continued this policy and ultimately extended it to all of North Korea. The U.S. dropped a total of 635,000 tons of bombs, including 32,557 tons of napalm, on Korea, more than during the whole Pacific campaign of World War II.{{Cite journal , last=Armstrong , first=Charles , date=20 December 2010 , title=The Destruction and Reconstruction of North Korea, 1950–1960 , url=http://www.japanfocus.org/-charles_k_-armstrong/3460/article.html , journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal , volume=8 , issue=51 North Korea ranks alongside Cambodia (500,000 tons), Laos (2 million tons) and South Vietnam (4 million tons) as among the most heavily bombed countries in history, with Laos suffering the most extensive bombardment relative to its size and population. B-26B 452BW(L) bombing Korea 29May1951

Almost every substantial building in North Korea was destroyed as a result.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=297–98{{Sfn, Jager, 2013, pp=237–42 The war's highest-ranking US POW, Major General William F. Dean, reported that the majority of North Korean cities and villages he saw were either rubble or snow-covered wasteland. North Korean factories, schools, hospitals, and government offices were forced to move underground, and air defenses were "non-existent". In November 1950, the North Korean leadership instructed their population to build dugouts and mud huts and to dig tunnels, in order to solve the acute housing problem. US Air Force General

Curtis LeMay Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was an American Air Force general who implemented a controversial strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific theater of World War II. He later served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air ...

commented: "We went over there and fought the war and eventually burned down every town in North Korea anyway, some way or another, and some in South Korea, too." US Colonel Dean Rusk, later secretary of state, stated the US bombed "everything that moved in North Korea, every brick standing on top of another." Pyongyang, which saw 75 percent of its area destroyed, was so devastated that bombing was halted as there were no longer any worthy targets left. On 28 November, Bomber Command reported on the campaign's progress: 95 percent of Manpojin was destroyed, along with 90 percent of Hoeryong, Namsi and Koindong, 85 percent of Chosan, 75 percent of both Sakchu and

Huichon Hŭich'ŏn () is a city in the southern part of Chagang Province, North Korea. The population is 168,180 (2008 data). History The region surrounding the city became Huichon County in 1896. It was originally part of North Pyongan province durin ...

and 20 percent of

Uiju Ŭiju County is a kun, or county, in North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The county has an area of 420 km², and a population of 110,018 (2008 data). Name Ŭiju appears as Uiju in South Korea's Revised Romanization and as Yizhou in Chines ...

. According to USAF damage assessments, "Eighteen of twenty-two major cities in North Korea had been at least half obliterated."{{Cite journal , last=Conway-Lanz , first=Sahr , date=15 September 2014 , title=The Ethics of Bombing Civilians After World War II: The Persistence of Norms Against Targeting Civilians in the Korean War , url=http://japanfocus.org/-Sahr-Conway_Lanz/4180/article.html , journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal , volume=12 , issue=37 By the end of the campaign, US bombers had difficulty in finding targets and were reduced to bombing footbridges or jettisoning their bombs into the sea.{{Cite book , last=Robinson , first=Michael E , url=https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/119 , title=Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey , publisher=University of Hawaii Press , date=2007 , isbn=978-0824831745 , location=Honolulu, HI , page
119120
} In May 1953, five major North Korean dams were bombed. According to Charles K. Armstrong, the bombing of these dams and ensuing floods threatened several million North Koreans with starvation, although large-scale famine was averted with emergency aid provided by North Korea's allies. General Matthew Ridgway said that except for air power, "the war would have been over in 60 days with all Korea in Communist hands". UN air forces flew 1,040,708 combat and combat support sorties during the war. FEAF flew the majority at 710,886 (69.3% of sorties), with the U.S. Navy performing 16.1%, the U.S. Marine Corps 10.3%, and 4.3% by other allied air forces. As well as conventional bombing, the Communist side claimed that the U.S. used biological weapons. These claims have been disputed; Conrad Crane asserts that while the US worked towards developing chemical and biological weapons, the US military "possessed neither the ability, nor the will", to use them in combat.

US threat of atomic warfare

On 5 November 1950, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff issued orders for the retaliatory atomic bombing of Manchurian PRC military bases, if either their armies crossed into Korea or if PRC or KPA bombers attacked Korea from there. President Truman ordered the transfer of nine

Mark 4 nuclear bomb The Mark 4 nuclear bomb was an American implosion-type nuclear bomb based on the earlier Mark 3 Fat Man design, used in the Trinity test and the bombing of Nagasaki. With the Mark 3 needing each individual component to be hand-assembled by only h ...

s "to the Air Force's

Ninth Bomb Group The 9th Reconnaissance Wing (9 RW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command and Sixteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California. The wing is also the host unit at Beale. Its mission is t ...

, the designated carrier of the weapons ... ndsigned an order to use them against Chinese and Korean targets", which he never transmitted.{{Sfn, Cumings, 2005, pp=289–92 Many US officials viewed the deployment of nuclear-capable (but not nuclear-armed) B-29 bombers to Britain as helping to resolve the

Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, ro ...

of 1948–1949. Truman and Eisenhower both had military experience and viewed nuclear weapons as potentially usable components of their military. During Truman's first meeting to discuss the war on 25 June 1950, he ordered plans be prepared for attacking Soviet forces if they entered the war. By July, Truman approved another B-29 deployment to Britain, this time with bombs (but without their cores), to remind the Soviets of US offensive ability. Deployment of a similar fleet to Guam was leaked to ''The New York Times''. As UN forces retreated to Pusan, and the CIA reported that mainland China was building up forces for a possible invasion of Taiwan, the Pentagon believed that Congress and the public would demand using nuclear weapons if the situation in Korea required them.{{Cite journal , last=Dingman , first=R. , date=1988–1989 , title=Atomic Diplomacy during the Korean War , journal=International Security , volume=13 , issue=3 , pages=50–91 , doi=10.2307/2538736 , jstor=2538736 , s2cid=154823668 As PVA forces pushed back the UN forces from the Yalu River, Truman stated during a 30 November 1950 press conference that using nuclear weapons was "always nderactive consideration", with control under the local military commander.{{R, jstor2538736 The Indian ambassador, K. Madhava Panikkar, reports "that Truman announced he was thinking of using the atom bomb in Korea. But the Chinese seemed unmoved by this threat ... The PRC's propaganda against the US 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 useful to the leaders of the Revolution, to enable them to keep up the tempo of their activities." After his statement caused concern in Europe, Truman met on 4 December 1950 with UK prime minister and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

spokesman Clement Attlee, French Premier

René Pleven René Pleven (; 15 April 1901 – 13 January 1993) was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (UDSR), a political party that was meant ...

, and French Foreign Minister

Robert Schuman Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman (; 29 June 18864 September 1963) was a Luxembourg-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat (Popular Republican Movement) political thinker and activist. Twice Prime Minister of France, a re ...

to discuss their worries about atomic warfare and its likely continental expansion. The US' forgoing atomic warfare was not because of "a disinclination by the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China to escalate he Korean War, but because UN allies—notably the UK, the Commonwealth, and France—were concerned about a

geopolitical Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers ...

imbalance rendering NATO defenseless while the US fought China, who then might persuade the Soviet Union to conquer Western Europe. The Joint Chiefs of Staff advised Truman to tell Attlee that the US would use nuclear weapons only if necessary to protect an evacuation of UN troops, or to prevent a "major military disaster".{{R, jstor2538736 On 6 December 1950, after the Chinese intervention repelled the UN armies from northern North Korea, General J. Lawton Collins (Army Chief of Staff), General MacArthur, Admiral C. Turner Joy, General George E. Stratemeyer and staff officers Major General Doyle Hickey, Major General Charles A. Willoughby and Major General Edwin K. Wright met in Tokyo to plan strategy countering the Chinese intervention; they considered three potential atomic warfare scenarios encompassing the next weeks and months of warfare. * In the first scenario: If the PVA continued attacking in full and the UN Command was forbidden to blockade and bomb China, and without Taiwanese reinforcements, and without an increase in US forces until April 1951 (four National Guard divisions were due to arrive), then atomic bombs might be used in North Korea. * In the second scenario: If the PVA continued full attacks and the UN Command blockaded China and had effective aerial reconnaissance and bombing of the Chinese interior, and the Taiwanese soldiers were maximally exploited, and tactical atomic bombing was to hand, then the UN forces could hold positions deep in North Korea. * In the third scenario: if China agreed to not cross the 38th Parallel border, General MacArthur recommended UN acceptance of an armistice disallowing PVA and KPA troops south of the parallel, and requiring PVA and KPA guerrillas to withdraw northwards. The US Eighth Army would remain to protect the Seoul–Incheon area, while X Corps would retreat to Pusan. A UN commission should supervise implementation of the armistice. Both the Pentagon and the State Department were cautious about using nuclear weapons because of the risk of general war with China and the diplomatic ramifications. Truman and his senior advisors agreed, and never seriously considered using them in early December 1950 despite the poor military situation in Korea.{{R, jstor2538736 In 1951, the US escalated closest to atomic warfare in Korea. Because China deployed new armies to the Sino-Korean frontier, ground crews at the

Kadena Air Base (IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its hi ...

, Okinawa, assembled atomic bombs for Korean warfare, "lacking only the essential pit nuclear cores". In October 1951, the United States effected Operation Hudson Harbor to establish a nuclear weapons capability. USAF B-29 bombers practiced individual bombing runs from Okinawa to North Korea (using dummy nuclear or conventional bombs), coordinated from

Yokota Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa. The base houses 14,000 p ...

in east-central Japan. ''Hudson Harbor'' tested "actual functioning of all activities which would be involved in an atomic strike, including weapons assembly and testing, leading, ndground control of bomb aiming". The bombing run data indicated that atomic bombs would be tactically ineffective against massed infantry, because the "timely identification of large masses of enemy troops was extremely rare". General Matthew Ridgway was authorized to use nuclear weapons if a major air attack originated from outside Korea. An envoy was sent to Hong Kong to deliver a warning to China. The message likely caused Chinese leaders to be more cautious about potential US use of nuclear weapons, but whether they learned about the B-29 deployment is unclear and the failure of the two major Chinese offensives that month likely was what caused them to shift to a defensive strategy in Korea. The B-29s returned to the United States in June.{{R, jstor2538736 Despite the greater destructive power that atomic weapons would bring to the war, their effects on determining the war's outcome would have likely been minimal. Tactically, given the dispersed nature of PVA/KPA forces, the relatively primitive infrastructure for staging and logistics centers, and the small number of bombs available (most would have been conserved for use against the Soviets), atomic attacks would have limited effects against the ability of China to mobilize and move forces. Strategically, attacking Chinese cities to destroy civilian industry and infrastructure would cause the immediate dispersion of the leadership away from such areas and give propaganda value for the communists to galvanize the support of Chinese civilians. Since the Soviets were not expected to intervene with their few primitive atomic weapons on China or North Korea's behalf, the threat of a possible nuclear exchange was unimportant in the decision to not deploy atomic bombs; their use offered little operational advantage, and would undesirably lower the "threshold" for using atomic weapons against non-nuclear states in future conflicts. When Eisenhower succeeded Truman in early 1953 he was similarly cautious about using nuclear weapons in Korea. The administration prepared contingency plans to use them against China, but like Truman, the new president feared that doing so would result in Soviet attacks on Japan. The war ended as it began, without US nuclear weapons deployed near battle.{{R, jstor2538736

War crimes

Civilian deaths and massacres

{{Further, Bodo League massacre, Seoul National University Hospital massacre, No Gun Ri Massacre, Sinchon Massacre, Ganghwa massacre, Sancheong-Hamyang massacre, Geochang massacre South Korean soldiers walk among dead political prisoners, Taejon, South Korea

South Korean soldiers walk among dead political prisoners, Taejon, South Korea

There were numerous atrocities and massacres of civilians throughout the Korean War committed by both sides, starting in the war's first days. On 28 June 1950, North Korean troops committed the

Seoul National University Hospital massacre The Seoul National University Hospital massacre () was a massacre of 700 to 900 doctors, nurses, inpatient civilians and wounded soldiers by the Korean People's Army (KPA) on 28 June 1950 at the Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul distr ...

.{{Cite web , date=4 June 2010 , title=서울대병원, 6.25전쟁 참전 용사들을 위한 추모제 가져 , url=http://www.snuh.org/pub/snuh/sub02/sub01/1179268_3957.jsp , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120040603/http://www.snuh.org/pub/snuh/sub02/sub01/1179268_3957.jsp , archive-date=20 January 2013 , access-date=19 July 2012 , publisher=

Seoul National University Hospital Seoul National University Hospital (서울대학교병원) is one of the oldest and biggest hospitals in South Korea. It is a general and teaching hospital of Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public ...

, df=dmy-all On the same day, South Korean President Syngman Rhee ordered the

Bodo League massacre The Bodo League massacre () was a massacre and war crime against communists and suspected sympathizers (many of whom were civilians who had no connection with communism or communists) that occurred in the summer of 1950 during the Korean War. ...

, beginning mass killings of suspected leftist sympathizers and their families by South Korean officials and right-wing groups.{{Cite news , date=18 August 2008 , title=Unearthing proof of Korea killings , work=

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

, url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7567936.stm , url-status=live , access-date=5 April 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901133448/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7567936.stm , archive-date=1 September 2013{{Cite news , date=11 February 2009 , title=U.S. Allowed Korean Massacre in 1950 , work=

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

, agency=Associated Press , url=http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-4234885.html , url-status=live , access-date=5 April 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512171017/http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-4234885.html , archive-date=12 May 2013 Estimates of those killed during the Bodo League massacre range from at least 60,000–110,000 (Kim Dong-choon) to 200,000 (Park Myung-lim).{{Cite news , date=10 July 2010 , title=Korea bloodbath probe ends; US escapes much blame , work=The San Diego Union Tribune , url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-korea-bloodbath-probe-ends-us-escapes-much-blame-2010jul10-story.html , access-date=11 June 2019 , quote=Last November, after investigating petitions from surviving relatives, the commission announced it had verified and identified 4,934 execution victims. But historian Kim Dong-choon, the former commissioner who led that investigation, estimates at least 60,000 to 110,000 died, and similar numbers were summarily executed when northern troops were driven from South Korea later in 1950 and alleged southern collaborators were rounded up. 'I am estimating conservatively,' he said. Korean War historian Park Myung-lim, methodically reviewing prison records, said he believes perhaps 200,000 were slaughtered in mid-1950 alone. The British protested to their allies about later South Korean mass executions, and saved some citizens. In 2005–2010, a South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigated atrocities and other human rights violations through much of the 20th century, from the Japanese colonial period through the Korean War and beyond. It excavated some mass graves from the Bodo League massacres and confirmed the general outlines of those political executions. Of the Korean War-era massacres the commission was petitioned to investigate, 82% were perpetrated by South Korean forces, with 18% perpetrated by North Korean forces. The commission also received petitions alleging more than 200 large-scale killings of South Korean civilians by the U.S. military during the war, mostly air attacks. It confirmed several such cases, including refugees crowded into a cave attacked with napalm bombs, which survivors said killed 360 people, and an air attack that killed 197 refugees gathered in a field in the far south. It recommended South Korea seek reparations from the United States, but in 2010 a reorganized commission under a new, conservative government concluded that most U.S. mass killings resulted from "military necessity", while in a small number of cases, they concluded, the U.S. military had acted with "low levels of unlawfulness" but the commission recommended against seeking reparations. In the most notorious U.S. massacre, investigated separately, not by the commission, American troops killed an estimated 250–300 refugees, mostly women and children, at No Gun Ri in central South Korea (26–29 July 1950). U.S. commanders, fearing enemy infiltrators among refugee columns, had adopted a policy of stopping civilian groups approaching U.S. lines, including by gunfire. After years of rejecting survivors' accounts, the U.S. Army investigated and in 2001 acknowledged the No Gun Ri killings, but claimed they were not ordered and "not a deliberate killing".{{Rp, x South Korean officials, after a parallel investigation, said they believed there were orders to shoot. The survivors' representatives denounced what they described as a U.S. "whitewash". The US bombing of North Korea has been condemned as a war crime by some authors, because it often included bombing civilian targets and caused many civilians casualties. According to Bruce Cumings, "What hardly any Americans know or remember is that we carpet-bombed the north for three years with next to no concern for civilian casualties.” Author Blaine Harden has called the bombing campaign a "major war crime“ and described it as "long, leisurely and merciless”. He says it's "perhaps the most forgotten part of a forgotten war".

Prisoners of War (POWs)

{{See also, Korean War POWs detained in North Korea, Hill 303 massacre, List of American and British defectors in the Korean War KoreanWar NKPA POW

Chinese POWs

At Geoje prison camp on Geoje Island, Chinese POWs experienced anti-communist lecturing and missionary work from secret agents from the US and Taiwan in No. 71, 72 and 86 camps. Pro-Communist POWs experienced torture, cutting off of limbs, or were executed in public.Decrypt the truth that ten thousands pow went to Taiwan
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415021221/http://mil.sohu.com/20130729/n382803693.shtml , date=15 April 2015 2013-07-29, retrieved on 18 June 2017 (in Chinese) Being forced to write confession letters and receiving tattoos of an anti-Communism slogan and

Flag of the Republic of China A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design emplo ...

were also commonly seen, in case any wanted to go back to mainland China. Pro-Communist POWs who could not endure the torture formed an underground group to fight the pro-Nationalist POWs secretly by assassinationChina's Korean War POWs find you can't go home again , The Japan Times
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161217014644/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2000/06/28/national/history/chinas-korean-war-pows-find-you-cant-go-home-again , date=17 December 2016 2000-06-28, retrieved on 18 June 2017 which led to the Geoje uprising. The rebellion captured Francis Dodd, and was suppressed by the 187th Infantry Regiment. In the end, 14,235 Chinese POWs went to Taiwan and fewer than 6,000 POWs returned to mainland China.{{Sfn, Hermes, 1992a Those who went to Taiwan are called "righteous men" and experienced brainwashing again and were sent to the army or were arrested;POW of PVA in Taiwan
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806162946/http://mjlsh.usc.cuhk.edu.hk/Book.aspx?cid=4&tid=1401 , date=6 August 2016 , 谌旭彬, Hong Kong Chinese University while the survivors who returned to mainland China were welcomed as a "hero" first, but experienced anti-brainwashing, strict interrogation, and house arrest eventually, after the tattoos were discovered. After 1988, the Taiwanese government allowed POWs to go back to mainland China, and helped remove anti-communist tattoos; while the mainland Chinese government started to allow mainland Chinese prisoners of war to return from Taiwan.

=UN Command POWs

= The United States reported that North Korea mistreated prisoners of war: soldiers were beaten, starved, put to

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of e ...

, marched to death, and summarily executed. The KPA killed POWs at the battles for Hill 312, Hill 303, the Pusan Perimeter, Daejeon and

; these massacres were discovered afterwards by the UN forces. Later, a US Congress war crimes investigation, the United States Senate Subcommittee on Korean War Atrocities of the Permanent Subcommittee of the Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, reported that "two-thirds of all American prisoners of war in Korea died as a result of war crimes". Although the Chinese rarely executed prisoners like their North Korean counterparts, mass starvation and diseases swept through the Chinese-run POW camps during the winter of 1950–51. About 43 percent of US POWs died during this period. The Chinese defended their actions by stating that all Chinese soldiers during this period were suffering mass starvation and diseases due to logistical difficulties. The UN POWs said that most of the Chinese camps were located near the easily supplied Sino-Korean border and that the Chinese withheld food to force the prisoners to accept the communism indoctrination programs. According to Chinese reports, over a thousand US POWs died by the end of June 1951, while a dozen British POWs died, and all Turkish POW survived. According to Hastings, wounded US POWs died for lack of medical attention and were fed a diet of corn and millet "devoid of vegetables, almost barren of proteins, minerals, or vitamins" with only 1/3 the calories of their usual diet. Especially in early 1951, thousands of prisoners lost the will to live and "declined to eat the mess of sorghum and rice they were provided". Hill 303 Survivors

The unpreparedness of US POWs to resist heavy communist indoctrination during the Korean War led to the

Code of the United States Fighting Force The Code of the U.S. Fighting Force is a code of conduct that is an ethics guide and a United States Department of Defense directive consisting of six articles to members of the United States Armed Forces, addressing how they should act in comb ...

which governs how US military personnel in

combat Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

should act when they must "evade capture, resist while a prisoner or escape from the enemy". North Korea may have detained up to 50,000 South Korean POWs after the ceasefire.{{Cite journal , last=Heo , first=Man-ho , date=2002 , title=North Korea's Continued Detention of South Korean POWs since the Korean and Vietnam Wars , url=http://www.kida.re.kr/data/2006/04/14/08-heo.pdf , url-status=dead , journal=The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis , volume=14 , issue=2 , pages=141–165 , doi=10.1080/10163270209464030 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108084151/http://www.kida.re.kr/data/2006/04/14/08-heo.pdf , archive-date=8 January 2016{{Rp, 141 Over 88,000 South Korean soldiers were missing and the KPA claimed they captured 70,000 South Koreans.{{Rp, 142 However, when ceasefire negotiations began in 1951, the KPA reported they held only 8,000 South Koreans. The UN Command protested the discrepancies and alleged that the KPA were forcing South Korean POWs to join the KPA.{{Sfn, Hermes, 1992, p=136 The KPA denied such allegations. They claimed their POW rosters were small because many POWs were killed in UN air raids and that they had released ROK soldiers at the front. They insisted only volunteers were allowed to serve in the KPA.{{Sfn, Hermes, 1992, p=143{{Rp, 143 By early 1952, UN negotiators gave up trying to get back the missing South Koreans.{{Sfn, Hermes, 1992, p=149 The POW exchange proceeded without access to South Korean POWs who were not on the PVA/KPA rosters.{{Sfn, Hermes, 1992, p=514 North Korea continued to claim that any South Korean POW who stayed in the North did so voluntarily. However, since 1994, South Korean POWs have been escaping North Korea on their own after decades of captivity. {{As of, 2010, the South Korean

Ministry of Unification The Ministry of Unification is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung-hee. It gained it ...

reported that 79 ROK POWs escaped the North. The South Korean government estimates 500 South Korean POWs continue to be detained in North Korea. The escaped POWs have testified about their treatment and written memoirs about their lives in North Korea.{{Cite book , last=Yoo , first=Young-Bok , url=http://tearsofbloodbook.blogspot.com/ , title=Tears of Blood: A Korean POW's Fight for Freedom, Family and Justice , publisher=Korean War POW Affairs-USA , date=2012 , isbn=978-1479383856 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517152742/http://tearsofbloodbook.blogspot.com/ , archive-date=17 May 2013 , url-status=live They report they were not told about the POW exchange procedures, and were assigned to work in mines in the remote northeastern regions near the Chinese and Russian border.{{Rp, 31 Declassified

Soviet Foreign Ministry The Ministry of External Relations (MER) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (russian: Министерство иностранных дел СССР) was founded on 6 July 1923. It had three names during its existence: People's Co ...

documents corroborate such testimony. In 1997, the Geoje POW Camp in South Korea was turned into a memorial.

Starvation

{{See also, National Defense Corps Incident In December 1950, the South Korean National Defense Corps was founded; the soldiers were 406,000 drafted citizens. In the winter of 1951, 50,000 to 90,000 South Korean National Defense Corps soldiers starved to death while marching southward under the PVA offensive when their commanding officers embezzled funds earmarked for their food. This event is called the

National Defense Corps Incident The National Defense Corps Incident ( ko, 국민방위군 사건, Hanja: 國民防衛軍事件) was a death march that occurred in the winter of 1951 during the Korean War. On 11 December 1950, South Korea issued an act establishing the Nationa ...

. Although his political allies certainly profited from corruption, it remains controversial if Syngman Rhee was personally involved in or benefited from the corruption.{{Cite book , last=Terence Roehrig , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfQggLWwyi4C&pg=PA139 , title=Prosecution of Former Military Leaders in Newly Democratic Nations: The Cases of Argentina, Greece, and South Korea , publisher=McFarland & Company , date=2001 , isbn=978-0786410910 , page=139 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921221320/https://books.google.com/books?id=zfQggLWwyi4C&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139 , archive-date=21 September 2015 , url-status=live

Recreation

{{Further, United Service Organizations BobHopeKoreanWar3

In 1950, Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall and

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States D ...

Francis P. Matthews called on the United Service Organizations (USO) which was disbanded by 1947 to provide support for US servicemen. By the end of the war, more than 113,000 USO volunteers from the US were working at the home front and abroad. Many stars came to Korea to give their performances.{{Cite book , last=Paul M. Edwards , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xA34hGXAjlIC&q=korean%20war%20USO&pg=PA123 , title=Prosecution of Former Military Leaders in Newly Democratic Nations: The Cases of Argentina, Greece, and South Korea , publisher=Greenwood , date=2006 , isbn=978-0313332487 , pages=123–24 Throughout the Korean War, comfort stations (brothels) were operated by South Korean officials for UN soldiers despite prostitution being ostensibly illegal.{{Cite book , last=Höhn , first=Maria , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PvwcGFI0C9sC&q=Yanggongju%20prostitute&pg=PA46 , title=Over There: Living with the U.S. Military Empire from World War Two to the Present , publisher=

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

, date=2010 , isbn=978-0822348276 , pages=51–52

Aftermath

{{Main, Aftermath of the Korean War Postwar recovery was different in the two Koreas. South Korea, which started from a far lower industrial base than North Korea (the latter contained 80% of Korea's heavy industry in 1945), stagnated in the first postwar decade. In 1953, South Korea and the United States signed a

Mutual Defense Treaty A defense pact (or defence pact in Commonwealth spelling) is a type of treaty or military alliance in which the signatories promise to support each other militarily and to defend each other.Volker Krause, J. David Singer "Minor Powers, Allianc ...

. In 1960, the April Revolution occurred and students joined an anti-Syngman Rhee demonstration; 142 were killed by police; in consequence Syngman Rhee resigned and left for exile in the United States.

's May 16 coup enabled social stability. From 1965 to 1973, South Korea dispatched troops to South Vietnam and received $235,560,000 in allowance and military procurement from the United States. GNP increased fivefold during the Vietnam War.{{Cite web , date=2 July 2008 , script-title=ko:1965년 전투병 베트남 파병 의결 , url=http://news.donga.com/3/all/20080702/8597259/1 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616085410/http://news.donga.com/3/all/20080702/8597259/1 , archive-date=16 June 2013 , access-date=24 September 2011 , website= Dong-a Ilbo , language=ko South Korea industrialized and modernized. South Korea had one of the world's fastest-growing economies from the early 1960s to the late 1990s. In 1957, South Korea had a lower per capita GDP than Ghana, and by 2010, it was a developed country and ranked thirteenth in the world (Ghana was 86th). As a result of the war, "North Korea had been virtually destroyed as an industrial society". After the armistice, Kim Il-Sung requested Soviet economic and industrial assistance. In September 1953, the Soviet government agreed to "cancel or postpone repayment for all ... outstanding debts", and promised to grant North Korea one billion

rubles The ruble (American English) or rouble ( Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''r ...

in monetary aid, industrial equipment and consumer goods. Eastern European members of the

Soviet Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

also contributed with "logistical support, technical aid, ndmedical supplies". China canceled North Korea's war debts, provided 800 million yuan, promised trade cooperation and sent in thousands of troops to rebuild damaged infrastructure. Contemporary North Korea remains underdeveloped. North Korea has continued to be a totalitarian dictatorship since the end of the war, with an elaborate

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

around the Kim dynasty.{{Cite news , date=9 April 2018 , title=North Korea country profile , work=BBC News , url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15256929{{Cite news , title=Kim Jong Un's North Korea: Life inside the totalitarian state , newspaper=Washington Post , url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/north-korea-defectors/{{Cite web , date=2018 , title=Totalitarianism , url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/totalitarianism , publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica The

means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as an ...

are owned by the state through state-run enterprises and collectivized farms. Most services—such as healthcare, education, housing and food production—are subsidized or state-funded. Estimates based on the most recent North Korean census suggest that 240,000 to 420,000 people died as a result of the 1990s

North Korean famine The North Korean Famine (), also known as the Arduous March or the March of Suffering (), was a period of famine, mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1994 to 1998 in North Korea. During this time there was an increase in ...

and that there were 600,000 to 850,000 unnatural deaths in North Korea from 1993 to 2008.{{Cite journal , last1=Spoorenberg , first1=Thomas , last2=Schwekendiek , first2=Daniel , date=2012 , title=Demographic Changes in North Korea: 1993–2008 , journal=

Population and Development Review ''Population and Development Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Population Council. It was established in 1975 and the journal is co-edited by Raya Muttarak and Joshua Wilde. The j ...

, volume=38 , issue=1 , pages=133–158 , doi=10.1111/j.1728-4457.2012.00475.x A study by South Korean anthropologists of North Korean children who had defected to China found that 18-year-old males were {{Convert, 13, cm, in, frac=2, abbr=on shorter than South Koreans their age because of malnutrition. Korean Peninsula at night - 2012 - NASA

Present-day North Korea follows ''

Songun ''Songun'' is the " military-first" policy of North Korea, prioritizing the Korean People's Army in the affairs of state and allocation of resources. "Military-first" as a principle guides political and economic life in North Korea, with "mi ...

'', or "military-first" policy. It is the country with the highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 7,769,000 active, reserve and paramilitary personnel, or approximately {{Percentage, 7,769,000, {{UN_Population, Dem. People's Republic of Korea of its population. Its active duty army of 1.28 million is the fourth-largest in the world, after China, the United States and India; consisting of {{Percentage, 1280000, {{UN_Population, Dem. People's Republic of Korea, 1 of its population. North Korea possesses nuclear weapons. A 2014 UN inquiry into abuses of

human rights in North Korea The human rights record of North Korea is often considered to be the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations, the European Union and groups such as Human Rights Watch all critical of the country's record. M ...

concluded that, "the gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world," with

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

and

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

holding similar views.{{Cite web , last=Amnesty International , author-link=Amnesty International , date=2007 , title=Our Issues, North Korea , url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/north_korea/index.do , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070329050950/http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/north_korea/index.do , archive-date=29 March 2007 , access-date=1 August 2007 , website=Human Rights Concerns{{Citation , title=Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Chapter VII. Conclusions and recommendations , date=17 February 2014 , url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc , work=United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights , page=346 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227104633/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc , access-date=1 November 2014 , archive-date=27 February 2014 , url-status=live{{Cite web , last=Kay Seok , date=15 May 2007 , title=Grotesque indifference , url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/16/nkorea15944.htm , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929174709/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/16/nkorea15944.htm , archive-date=29 September 2007 , access-date=1 August 2007 , website=

{{Cite web , date=17 February 2009 , title=Human Rights in North Korea , url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/02/17/human-rights-north-korea , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429044053/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/02/17/human-rights-north-korea , archive-date=29 April 2011 , access-date=13 December 2010 , website=hrw.org , publisher=Human Rights Watch South Korean

anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Cent ...

after the war was fueled by the presence and behavior of US military personnel (

USFK United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a sub-unified command of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK is the joint headquarters for U.S. combat-ready fighting forces and components under the ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC) – a ...

) and US support for Park's authoritarian regime, a fact still evident during the country's democratic transition in the 1980s. However, anti-Americanism has declined significantly in South Korea in recent years, from 46% favorable in 2003 to 74% favorable in 2011, making South Korea one of the most pro-US countries in the world. A large number of

mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

"GI babies" (offspring of US and other UN soldiers and Korean women) were filling up the country's orphanages. Because Korean traditional society places significant weight on paternal family ties, bloodlines, and purity of race, children of mixed race or those without fathers are not easily accepted in South Korean society. International adoption of Korean children began in 1954. The US Immigration Act of 1952 legalized the

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

of non-blacks and non-whites as US citizens and made possible the entry of military spouses and children from South Korea after the Korean War. With the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, which substantially changed US immigration policy toward non-Europeans,

Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply r ...

became one of the fastest-growing Asian groups in the United States. Mao Zedong's decision to take on the United States in the Korean War was a direct attempt to confront what the Communist bloc viewed as the strongest anti-Communist power in the world, undertaken at a time when the Chinese Communist regime was still consolidating its own power after winning the

. Mao supported intervention not to save North Korea, but because he believed that a military conflict with the US was inevitable after the US entered the war, and to appease the Soviet Union to secure military dispensation and achieve Mao's goal of making China a major world military power. Mao was equally ambitious in improving his own prestige inside the communist international community by demonstrating that his Marxist concerns were international. In his later years, Mao believed that Stalin only gained a positive opinion of him after China's entrance into the Korean War. Inside mainland China, the war improved the long-term prestige of Mao, Zhou, and Peng, allowing the Chinese Communist Party to increase its legitimacy while weakening anti-Communist dissent.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=150 NKmuseum

The Chinese government has encouraged the point of view that the war was initiated by the United States and South Korea, though ComIntern documents have shown that Mao sought approval from Joseph Stalin to enter the war. In Chinese media, the Chinese war effort is considered as an example of China's engaging the strongest power in the world with an under-equipped army, forcing it to retreat, and fighting it to a military stalemate. These successes were contrasted with China's historical humiliations by Japan and by Western powers over the previous hundred years, highlighting the abilities of the PLA and the Chinese Communist Party. The most significant negative long-term consequence of the war for China was that it led the United States to guarantee the safety of Chiang Kai-shek's regime in Taiwan, effectively ensuring that Taiwan would remain outside of PRC control through the present day.{{Sfn, Barnouin, Yu, 2006, p=150 Mao had also discovered the usefulness of large-scale mass movements in the war while implementing them among most of his ruling measures over PRC. Finally, anti-U.S. sentiments, which were already a significant factor during the Chinese Civil War, were ingrained into Chinese culture during the Communist propaganda campaigns of the Korean War.{{Citation , last=Zhang , first=Hong , title=The Making of Urban Chinese Images of the United States, 1945–1953 , pages=164–167 , date=2002 , place=Westport, CT , publisher=Greenwood Press , isbn=978-0313310010 The Korean War affected other participant combatants. Turkey, for example, entered NATO in 1952, and the foundation was laid for bilateral diplomatic and trade relations with South Korea.

Notes

{{Notelist

References

Citations

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National Archives of Korea National Archives of Korea is an agency of South Korean government, charged with preserving government-produced articles and records. It is headquartered in Government Complex Daejeon and has branches in Busan and Seongnam, and an office in S ...

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The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in 2003. The last p ...

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McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes refere ...

, date=1983 , isbn=978-0070235809 , location=New York , page=17 * {{Cite book , last=Halberstam , first=David , title=The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War , title-link=The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War , publisher=Hyperion , date=2007 , isbn=978-1401300524 , location=New York , author-link=David Halberstam * {{Cite book , last=Hanley , first=Charles J. , title= Ghost Flames: Life and Death in a Hidden War, Korea 1950-1953 , publisher=Public Affairs , date=2020 , isbn=9781541768154 , location=New York, New York , author-link=Charles J. Hanley * {{Cite book , last1=Hanley , first1=Charles J. , title= The Bridge at No Gun Ri: A Hidden Nightmare from the Korean War , last2=Choe , first2=Sang-Hun , last3=Mendoza , first3=Martha , publisher=Henry Holt and Company , date=2001 , isbn=0-8050-6658-6 , location=New York , author-link=Charles J. Hanley * Hermes, Walter G. ''Truce Tent and Fighting Front''. ultiple editions *{{source attribution, * {{Citation , last=Hermes , first=Walter G. , title=Truce Tent and Fighting Front , url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/korea/truce/fm.htm , date=1992 , place=Washington, DC , publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army , isbn=978-0160359576 ** {{Cite book , last=Hermes , first=Walter G , title=Truce Tent and Fighting Front , publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army , date=1992a , isbn=978-1410224842 , series=United States Army in the Korean War , location=Washington, DC , pages=135–144 , chapter=VII. Prisoners of War , chapter-url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/korea/truce/ch7.htm , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106070252/http://www.history.army.mil/books/korea/truce/ch7.htm , archive-date=6 January 2010 , url-status=live}
Appendix B-2
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505200529/http://www.history.army.mil///books/korea/truce/appb.htm , date=5 May 2017 * {{Cite book , last=Jager , first=Sheila Miyoshi , title=Brothers at War – The Unending Conflict in Korea , publisher=Profile Books , date=2013 , isbn=978-1846680670 , location=London , author-link=Sheila Miyoshi Jager * {{Cite book , last=Kim , first=Yǒng-jin , title=Major Powers and Korea , publisher=Research Institute on Korean Affairs , date=1973 , location=Silver Spring, MD , oclc=251811671 * Lee, Steven. “The Korean War in History and Historiography.” ''Journal of American-East Asian Relations'' 21#2 (2014): 185–206. doi:10.1163/18765610-02102010. * Lin, L., et al. "Whose history? An analysis of the Korean war in history textbooks from the United States, South Korea, Japan, and China". ''Social Studies'' 100.5 (2009): 222–232
online
* {{Cite book , last=Malkasian , first=Carter , title=The Korean War, 1950–1953 , publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn , date=2001 , isbn=978-1579583644 , series=Essential Histories , location=London; Chicago * Matray, James I., and Donald W. Boose Jr, eds. ''The Ashgate research companion to the Korean War'' (2014
excerpt
covers historiography * Matray, James I. "Conflicts in Korea" in Daniel S. Margolies, ed. ''A Companion to Harry S. Truman'' (2012) pp 498–531; emphasis on historiography. * {{Cite book , last=Millett , first=Allan R. , title=The Korean War: The Essential Bibliography , publisher=Potomac Books Inc. , date=2007 , isbn=978-1574889765 , series=The Essential Bibliography Series , location=Dulles, VA *{{source attribution, {{Cite book , last=Mossman , first=Billy C. , url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/korea/ebb/fm.htm , title=Ebb and Flow, November 1950 – July 1951 , publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army , date=1990 , series=United States Army in the Korean War , volume=5 , location=Washington, DC , oclc=16764325 , access-date=3 May 2010 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129051533/https://history.army.mil/books/korea/ebb/fm.htm , archive-date=29 January 2021 , url-status=dead * {{Cite book , last=Perrett , first=Bryan , url=https://archive.org/details/sovietarmoursinc0000perr , title=Soviet Armour Since 1945 , publisher=Blandford , date=1987 , isbn=978-0713717358 , location=London * {{Cite book , last1=Ravino , first1=Jerry , title=Flame Dragons of the Korean War , last2=Carty , first2=Jack , publisher=Turner , date=2003 , location=Paducah, KY * {{Cite book , last=Rees , first=David , title=Korea: The Limited War , publisher=St Martin's , date=1964 , location=New York , oclc=1078693 * {{Cite book , last=Rivera , first=Gilberto , url=http://a.co/7rnKNnB , title=Puerto Rican Bloodshed on The 38th Parallel: U.S. Army Against Puerto Ricans Inside the Korean War , date=3 May 2016 , isbn=978-1539098942 , page=24 * {{Cite book , last=Stein , first=R. Conrad , url=https://archive.org/details/koreanwarthefor00stei , title=The Korean War: "The Forgotten War" , publisher=Enslow Publishers , date=1994 , isbn=978-0894905261 , location=Hillside, NJ * {{Cite book , last=Stokesbury , first=James L , title=A Short History of the Korean War , publisher=Harper Perennial , date=1990 , isbn=978-0688095130 , location=New York * {{Citation , last=Stueck , first=William W. , title=The Korean War: An International History , url=https://archive.org/details/koreanwarinterna0000stue , date=1995 , place=Princeton, NJ , publisher=Princeton University Press , isbn=978-0691037677 * {{Citation , last=Stueck , first=William W. , title=Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History , date=2002 , place=Princeton, NJ , publisher=Princeton University Press , isbn=978-0691118475 * {{Citation , last=Weathersby , first=Kathryn , title=Soviet Aims in Korea and the Origins of the Korean War, 1945–50: New Evidence From the Russian Archives , url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/soviet-aims-korea-and-the-origins-the-korean-war-1945-50-new-evidence-the-russian , date=1993 , publisher=Cold War International History Project: Working Paper No. 8 * {{Citation , last=Weathersby , first=Kathryn , title="Should We Fear This?" Stalin and the Danger of War with America , url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/should-we-fear-stalin-and-the-danger-war-america , date=2002 , publisher=Cold War International History Project: Working Paper No. 39 * {{Cite book , last=Werrell , first=Kenneth P. , title=Sabres Over MiG Alley , publisher=

Naval Institute Press The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is a private non-profit military association that offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds s ...

, date=2005 , isbn=978-1591149330 , location=Annapolis, MD * {{Cite book , last1=Zaloga , first1=Steven J. , title=Soviet Tanks in Combat 1941–45: The T-28, T-34, T-34-85, and T-44 Medium Tanks , last2=Kinnear , first2=Jim , last3=Aksenov , first3=Andrey , last4=Koshchavtsev , first4=Aleksandr , date=1997 , publisher=Concord Publication , isbn=9623616155 , series=Armor at War , location=Hong Kong , ref=Zaloga-1997 * {{Citation , last=Zhang , first=Shu Guang , title=Mao's Military Romanticism: China and the Korean War, 1950–1953 , date=1995 , place=Lawrence, KS , publisher=University Press of Kansas , isbn=978-0700607235 {{Refend

External links

{{Sister project links, Korean War, voy=Korean War * Records o
the United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea (UNCURK) (1950–1973)
at the United Nations Archives

Historical

Anniversary of the Korean War Armistice: Truman on Acheson's Crucial Role in Going to War
Shapell Manuscript Foundation

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626024426/http://eisenhower.archives.gov/research/online_documents/korean_war.html , date=26 June 2014
North Korea International Documentation Project

Grand Valley State University Veteran's History Project digital collection

nbsp;– four testimonials in '' The New York Times''
Collection of Books and Research Materials on the Korean War
an online collection of the United States Army Center of Military History
Korean War, US Army Signal Corps Photograph Collection
US Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
The Korean War at History.com

* {{Internet Archive short film, id=gov.archives.li.263.927, name=Film No. 927

Media

West Point Atlas of the Korean War

The Korean War You Never Knew
nbsp;– slideshows by '' Life'' magazine
US Army Korea Media Center official Korean War online image archive

Rare pictures of the Korean War from the U.S. Library of Congress and National Archives

* ttp://www.britishpathe.com/workspace.php?id=32&display=listBritish PathéOnline newsreel archive featuring films on the war
CBC Digital Archives – Forgotten Heroes: Canada and the Korean War

Uncertain Enemies: Soviet Pilots in the Korean War
''Air Power History.'' (Spring 1997). 44, 1, 32–45.

Organizations

Memorials

Korean Children's War Memorial

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