Korean war : On July 1, part of the U.
S. Army 24th Infantry Divisionflew from Japan to Pusan, a city located at the southern tip of Korea. They werethe first American troops to reach Korea and other troops from other UN nationsbegan arriving in Korea shortly after the Americans. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Category:historyPaper Title:Korean warText:On July 1, part of the U.
S. Army 24th Infantry Division flew from Japan toPusan, a city located at the southern tip of Korea. They were the first Americantroops to reach Korea and other troops from other UN nations began arriving inKorea shortly after the Americans. On July 8, with the approval of the UN Security Council, Truman named GeneralMacArthur commander in chief of the United Nations Command. The command hadauthority over all the Allies- South Koreans, Americans and the troops fromother UN countries. MacArthur directed allied operations from his headquartersin Tokyo, Japan.
By August 2nd, the Communists had already captured the cities Seoul andTaejon and pushed the Allies back to the Pusan Perimeter. The Pusan Perimeterwas a battle line in the southeast corner of South Korea. The victory had almostgone to North Korea but through the help of reinforcements, the allies were ableto fight off the North Koreans in the advance. The North Koreans lost about58,000 soldiers and much equipment in this area alone. The decisive point that changed the course of the war was the Inchon landing.
On Sept. 15, 1950, marines and soldiers of the U. S. X Corps sailed from Japan toInchon, on the northwest coast of South Korea. General MacArthur personallydirected the surprise attack.
It required extreme careful planning because thetides at Inchon vary more than 30 feet. Each boat had to land at high tidebecause any boat near the shore when the tide dropped would be trapped in themud. The troops who landed at Inchon cut off the North Koreans in the PusanPerimeter area from those north of Inchon. They fought fiercely and managed todrive the North Koreans out. The troops then moved toward Seoul and took backSeoul on September 26. MacArthur demanded surrender by the North Koreans butthey stubbornly rejected it.
Late in September, the Allies prepared to invade North Korea. South Koreantroops crossed into North Korea on October 1st and captured many coastal cities. When the North Koreans were driven all the way back to the borders of China,China warned against further advances toward its border. But General MacArthur,hoping to end the war before winter set in, ordered the Allies to press on. MacArthur and political leaders in Washington underestimated the size of theChinese armies.
MacArthur believed the Allied forces outnumbered the Chinese andthat the Chinese would be used for defense only. He also thought that Allied airpower could prevent additional Chinese troops from entering North Korea. Alliedplanes roamed the length of Korea, and Allied warships sailed unchallenged alongthe coastlines, bombarding enemy ports. Everyone had confidence that the warwould be over by Christmas. But hopes for a quick end to the war soon disappeared.
China sent a hugeforce against the Allies on November 26 and 27 and forced them to retreat. Allies began to retreat starting on December 4 and by Christmas Eve, 105,000U. S. and Korean troops, 91,000 refugees, and 17,500 vehicles had been evacuatedby sea from North Korea.
By March 14, the war had changed. The two sides dug in along a battle linenorth of the 38th parallel and most of the battles were concentrated in theseareas. Truce talks began in July, but fighting continued for two more years. Neither side made important advances, but they fought many bitter battles forstrategic positions. One of the most controversial events of the war took place on April 11, 1951,when President Truman removed General MacArthur from command and replaced himwith Ridgway. The Presidents action resulted from a continuing disputebetween MacArthur and defense leaders in Washington as to how the Allies shouldconduct the war.
MacArthur wanted total victory by bombing bases in Manchuria,China and use all-out-measures. Truman fearing such actions might lead toa third World war, dismissed MacArthur as UN commander. Many people were growing weary by this war and peace talks increased. Trucetalks began on July 10 at Kaesong and were moved to Panmunjom on October 25. Asettlement seemed near on November 27, when both sides agreed that the existingbattle line would be the final dividing line between North and South Korea if atruce were reached within 30 days. But unfortunately, a truce was not reachedwithin the time limit mainly due to the issue of voluntary repatriation ofprisoners.
The UN Command had insisted that prisoners of both sides be allowedto choose whether or not they would return to their homelands. Many Chineseprisoners of the Allies violently protested against a forced return to lifeunder Communism. The North Korean captives also refused to return home. TheCommunists could not agree to the UN demand without admitting that Communism hadthus far failed to secure the loyalty of all its citizens. By late April 1952, the truce talks were firmly deadlocked over voluntaryrepatriation and fighting continued along the battle line. On October 8, the UNCommand adjourned the truce talk stating the talks would resume when theCommunists were ready to offer a helpful suggesting for settling the issue ofvoluntary repatriation.
After Stalins death, Soviet leaders began talking of the need to settledisputes peacefully. On March 28, the Communists accepted an earlier offer bythe UN Command for an exchange of sick and wounded prisoners. The Communistsalso indicated that the truce talks should be resumed. The exchange took placein April and May.
The UN Command received 684 sick and wounded prisoners,including 149 Americans. It returned 6,670 Communist prisoners. The truce talks were resumed on April 26, and the Communists acceptedvoluntary repatriation. They agreed to let prisoners indicate their choice tothe Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission, which consisted ofrepresentatives of Czechoslovakia, India, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland. An armistice agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, and the fighting ended. Abuffer zone, called the Demilitarized Zone, divided the two sides.
It was 2. 5miles wide along the final battle line. South Korea gained about 1,500 squaremiles of territory. Both sides agreed not to increase their military strength. AMilitary Armistice Commission, with representatives from both sides, was set upto enforce the armistice terms. The armistice also provided for a politicalconference to work out a final settlement.
After the armistice was signed, each side charged the other with torture andstarvation of prisoners, and other war crimes. The North Koreans and ChineseCommunists were also accused of brainwashing prisoners. The UN General Assemblyadopted a general resolution condemning such acts. The United States spent about $67 billion on the war. Almost all parts ofKorea were heavily damaged.
About 1 million civilians were killed in SouthKorea, and property damage was estimated at more than $1 billion. Statistics forcivilian deaths and damage in North Korea are unknown because they were notgiven. The UN Command and the Communists completed an exchange of 88,539 prisonersin September 1953. The Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission took custodyof prisoners who refused to return to their homelands. The armistice providedthat delegates from the various countries could visit these prisoners and try topersuade them to go home.
But 14,227 Chinese, 7,825 North Koreans, 325 SouthKoreans, 21 Americans, and 1 British prisoner refused to return. In 1954, Soviet officials and representatives of countries that had fought inKorea met in Geneva, Switzerland. But the negotiators failed to draw up apermanent peace plan and they were unable to settle the question of unifyingKorea. A permanent peace treaty has never been signed. -Caridi, Ronald J. TheKorean War and American Politics: The Republican Party as a Case Study.
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1968. -Cummings, Bruce. Origins of the Korean War. Prince University Press, 1981. -Truman, Harry S.
Years of Trial and Hope. Doubleday, 1956.-http://www.thehistorynet.com-http://mcel.pacificu.edu-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
