Korea+9+3+2+1

9 - After 1950, U.S. policy toward Korea changed from limited defense below the 38th parallel to reactionary politics caused by fear of expanding communism in Asia.

After FDR died, Soviets and American troops stationed on Korean land to try to take over Japanese lands and to make them surrender. However, problems evolved whem the Soviets did not allow American soldiers over the dividing line of the two sections of Korea that seperated the American troops from the Soviet troops known as the 38th parallel.

On June 25, 1950, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched a well-executed surprise invasion of the Republic of Korea. This act initiated the Korean War and dramatically changed U.S. policy toward Korea and all of East Asia.

In early 1948, Washington began to redeploy U.S. combat units, and by early 1950, only the 500-man Korea Military Advisory Group remained to train and support the Republic of Korea armed forces. Soviet military units also withdrew from the North, but they also left administrative and training cadres.

With the U.S. diplomatic and military retreat from Korea and the Sino-Soviet alliance, reunification by force of the Korean peninsula by the Kim Il Sung regime seemed inevitable.

President Truman authorized a limited commitment of U.S. air and naval units, military equipment to the Republic of Korea, and ordered the Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait to deter a concurrent escalation of fighting between the two Chinas.

The United States requested that member states of the UN provide military support to assist the South Korean defenders. Since the Soviet Union was boycotting the Security Council, the UN resolution condemning the Democratic People's Republic of Korea passed unanimously. Washington then began the process of gaining UN agreement for direct military action by member states under U.S. command.

On July 7, the UN passed a resolution that called for a multinational effort under Gen. MacArthur's direction.

After two months of intense fighting in Korea, the Truman administration was now confronted with the policy issue of whether or not to allow MacArthur to cross the 38th parallel with ground forces. This action had the potential to trigger the direct intervention by either China, Russia, or both.

3 - This picture depicts a soldier stationed in Korea, writing a letter. In the times of war, soldiers have a strong tendancy of becoming extremely homesick and lonely, and their only connection to home is via letters.

Emotions were intense and strong in the times of war. The only comfort a soldier had was his brother soldier standing next to him. This is only one example of the acts of kindness these bonding brothers showed towards each other.



2 - This map here helps to better understand what went on over in Korea. It indicates the major battles, the different routes and fofensives, and how the two sides were seperated throughout the course of the war.

This topographical map of Triangle Hill shows the different sides and set ups of the two armies, and draws out the landscape of which the soldiers were battling on. Not only can you tell what kind of a battle is about to take place from this map, but you can also tell what kind of land the soldiers had to fight on.

1 - //"In my generation, this was not the first occasion when the strong had attacked the weak….Communism was acting in Korea just as Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese had acted 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."// — President Harry Truman