Korean War
On the 10th of August 1945, Soviet forces entered northern Korea and secured most major cities by the 24th of August. US Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles H. Bonesteel III were assigned to divide Korea into Soviet and US occupation zones on that same day. They proposed the 38th parallel as the dividing line, which was incorporated into US General Order No. 1 responding to Japan's surrender on the 15th of August. Joseph Stalin halted the Red Army at the 38th parallel for three weeks to await US arrival. On the 7th of September 1945, General Douglas MacArthur issued Proclamation No. 1 announcing US military control over Korea south of the 38th parallel. US Lieutenant General John R. Hodge arrived in Incheon on the 8th of September to accept the Japanese surrender south of the 38th parallel. He directly controlled South Korea as head of the United States Army Military Government in Korea from 1945 to 1948. In December 1945, Korea was administered by the US, Soviet Union Joint Commission to grant independence after a five-year trusteeship. Waiting five years for independence was unpopular among Koreans, and riots broke out. The Communist Party supported the trusteeship while Kim Ku and Syngman Rhee led the anti-trusteeship movement against both governments. To contain them, the USAMGIK banned strikes on the 8th of December and outlawed the PRK Revolutionary Government and People's Committees on the 12th of December. Following further civilian unrest, the USAMGIK declared martial law. Citing the inability of the Joint Commission to make progress, the UN decided to hold an election under UN auspices to create an independent Korea. The Soviet authorities and Korean communists refused to participate in the election. The final attempt to establish a unified government was thwarted by North Korea's refusal. Due to concerns about division caused by an election without North Korea's participation, many South Korean politicians boycotted it. The 1948 South Korean general election was held in May. The resultant South Korean government promulgated a national political constitution on the 17th of July and elected Syngman Rhee as president on the 20th of July. The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was established on the 15th of August 1948. In the Soviet-Korean Zone of Occupation, the Soviets agreed to the establishment of a communist government led by Kim Il Sung. The 1948 North Korean parliamentary elections took place in August. The Soviet Union withdrew its forces in 1948 and the US in 1949.
At dawn on the 25th of June 1950, the KPA crossed the 38th parallel behind artillery fire. Fighting began on the strategic Ongjin Peninsula in the west. There were initial South Korean claims that the 17th Regiment had counterattacked at Haeju; some scholars argue the claimed counterattack was instead the instigating attack. However, the report that contained the Haeju claim contained errors and outright falsehoods. KPA forces attacked all along the 38th parallel within an hour. The KPA had a combined arms force including tanks supported by heavy artillery. The ROK had no tanks, anti-tank weapons, or heavy artillery. The South Koreans committed their forces in a piecemeal fashion, and these were routed in a few days. On the 27th of June, Rhee evacuated Seoul with some of the government. At 02:00 on the 28th of June 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. Destroying the bridge trapped many ROK units north of the river. In spite of such desperate measures, Seoul fell that same day. Some South Korean National Assemblymen remained in Seoul when it fell, and 48 subsequently pledged allegiance to the North. On the 28th of June, Rhee ordered the massacre of suspected political opponents in his own country. In five days, the ROK, which had 95,000 troops on the 25th of June, was down to less than 22,000 troops. In early July, when US forces arrived, what was left of the ROK was placed under US operational command of the United Nations Command. As soon as word of the attack was received, Acheson informed Truman that the North Koreans had invaded South Korea. Truman and Acheson discussed a US invasion response and agreed the US was obligated to act. US industries were mobilized to supply materials, labor, capital, production facilities, and other services necessary to support the military objectives of the Korean War. Truman later explained he believed fighting the invasion was essential to the containment of communism as outlined in the National Security Council Report 68 (NSC 68). In August 1950, Truman and Acheson obtained the consent of Congress to appropriate $12 billion for military action. Because of the extensive defense cuts and emphasis on building a nuclear bomber force, none of the services were able to make a robust response with conventional military strength. General Omar Bradley, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was faced with deploying a force that was a shadow of its World War II counterpart. The Battle of Osan, the first significant US engagement, involved the 540-soldier Task Force Smith, a small forward element of the 24th Infantry Division flown in from Japan. On the 5th of July 1950, Task Force Smith attacked the KPA at Osan but without weapons capable of destroying KPA tanks. The KPA defeated the US, with 180 American casualties. 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 24th Division suffered 3,602 dead and wounded and 2,962 captured, including its commander, Major General William F. Dean. By August, the KPA steadily pushed back the ROK and the Eighth United States Army southwards. Facing a veteran and well-led KPA force, and lacking sufficient anti-tank weapons, artillery or armor, the Americans retreated and the KPA advanced down the Peninsula. The inability of US forces to stop the 1950 North Korean summer offensive cost the Eighth Army 4,280 killed in action, 12,377 wounded, with 2,107 missing and 401 confirmed captured between the 5th of July and the 16th of September 1950. In addition, the lives of tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers and civilians were lost as well. By September, UN forces were hemmed into a corner of southeast Korea, near Pusan. This perimeter enclosed about 10% of Korea, in a line defined by the Nakdong River.
Against the rested and rearmed Pusan Perimeter defenders and their reinforcements, the KPA were undermanned and poorly supplied; unlike the UN, they lacked naval and air support. To relieve the Pusan Perimeter, MacArthur recommended an amphibious landing at Incheon, near Seoul, well over behind the KPA lines. On the 6th of July, he ordered Major General Hobart R. Gay, commander of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, to plan an amphibious landing at Incheon. When authorized, he activated a combined US Army and Marine Corps, and ROK force. The X Corps, consisted of 40,000 troops of the 1st Marine Division, the 7th Infantry Division and around 8,600 ROK soldiers. By the 15th of September, the amphibious force faced few KPA defenders at Incheon: military intelligence, psychological warfare, guerrilla reconnaissance, and protracted bombardment facilitated a light battle. However, the bombardment destroyed most of Incheon. On the 16th of September Eighth Army began its breakout from the Pusan Perimeter. Task Force Lynch, 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, and 70th Tank Battalion units advanced through of KPA territory to join the 7th Infantry Division at Osan on the 27th of September. X Corps rapidly defeated the KPA defenders around Seoul, thus threatening to trap the main KPA force. On the 18th of September, Stalin dispatched General H. M. Zakharov to advise Kim to halt his offensive around the Pusan Perimeter, and redeploy his forces to defend Seoul. Chinese commanders were not briefed on North Korean troop numbers or operational plans. Zhou suggested 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. On the 25th of September, Seoul was recaptured by UN forces. US air raids caused heavy damage to the KPA, destroying most of its tanks and artillery. KPA troops in the south, instead of effectively withdrawing north, rapidly disintegrated, leaving Pyongyang vulnerable. During the retreat, only 25,000-30,000 KPA soldiers managed to reach the KPA lines. On the 27th of September, Stalin convened an emergency session of the Politburo, where he condemned the incompetence of the KPA command and held Soviet military advisers responsible for the defeat. On the 27th of September, MacArthur received secret National Security Council Memorandum 81/1 from Truman reminding him operations north of the 38th parallel was 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 the 29th of September, MacArthur restored the government of the Republic of Korea under Syngman Rhee. The Joint Chiefs of Staff on the 27th of September sent MacArthur a comprehensive directive: it stated the primary goal was the destruction of the KPA, with the unification of the Peninsula under Rhee as a secondary objective "if possible"; the Joint Chiefs added this objective was dependent on whether the Chinese and Soviets would intervene, and was subject to changing conditions. On the 30th of September, Zhou warned the US that China was prepared to intervene 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 escape Nationalist encirclement campaigns in the 1930s, but KPA commanders did not use these tactics effectively. Bruce Cumings 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. By the 1st of October, the UN Command had driven the KPA past the 38th parallel, and RoK forces pursued the KPA northwards. MacArthur demanded the KPA's unconditional surrender. On the 7th of October, with UN authorization, the UN Command forces followed the ROK forces northwards. The US Eighth Army drove up western Korea and captured Pyongyang on the 19th of October. On the 20th of October, the US 187th Airborne Regiment made their first of their two combat jumps during the war at Sunchon and Sukchon. The mission was to cut the road north to China, prevent North Korean leaders from escaping Pyongyang, and rescue US prisoners of war. 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 of mountainous terrain. In addition to the 135,000 captured, the KPA had suffered some 200,000 soldiers killed or wounded, for a total of 335,000 casualties since the end of June 1950, and lost 313 tanks. A mere 25,000 KPA regulars retreated across the 38th parallel, as their military had 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.
On the 3rd of October 1950, China attempted to warn the US, through its embassy in India, it would intervene if UN forces crossed the 38th parallel. The US did not respond as policymakers in Washington, including Truman, considered it a bluff. On the 15th of October Truman and MacArthur met at Wake Island. This was much publicized because of MacArthur's discourteous refusal to meet the president in the contiguous US. To Truman, MacArthur speculated there was little risk of Chinese intervention in Korea, and the PRC's opportunity for aiding the KPA had lapsed. He believed the PRC had 300,000 soldiers in Manchuria and 100,000, 125,000 at the Yalu River. He 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 Soviet air force protection. Meanwhile, on the 13th of October, the Politburo decided China would intervene even without Soviet air support, basing its decision on a belief superior morale could defeat an enemy that had superior equipment. To that end, 200,000 Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) troops crossed the Yalu into North Korea. UN aerial reconnaissance had difficulty sighting PVA units in the daytime, because their march and bivouac discipline minimized detection. 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 remained motionless if an aircraft appeared; PVA officers were under orders to shoot security violators. Such battlefield discipline allowed a three-division army to march the from An-tung, Manchuria, to the combat zone in 19 days. Another division night-marched a circuitous mountain route, averaging daily for 18 days. After secretly crossing the Yalu River on the 19th of October, the PVA 13th Army Group launched the First Phase Offensive on the 25th of October, attacking advancing UN forces near the Sino-Korean border. This 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 Forces 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 the 1st of November 1950. Deep in North Korea, thousands of soldiers from the PVA 39th Army encircled and attacked the US 8th Cavalry Regiment with three-prong assaults, from the north, northwest, and west, and overran the defensive position flanks in the Battle of Unsan. On the 13th of November, Mao appointed Zhou overall commander and coordinator of the war effort, with Peng Dehuai as field commander. On the 25th of 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. Believing they could not hold against the PVA, the Eighth Army began to retreat, crossing the 38th parallel in mid-December. In the east, on the 27th of November, the PVA 9th Army Group initiated the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Here, the UN forces fared better: like the Eighth Army, the surprise attack forced X Corps to retreat from northeast Korea, but they were able to break out from the attempted encirclement by the PVA and execute a successful tactical withdrawal. X Corps established a defensive perimeter at the port city of Hungnam on the 11th of December and evacuated by the 24th of December, to reinforce the depleted Eighth Army to the south. 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. 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, with particular attention to the port. In early December UN forces, including the British Army's 29th Infantry Brigade, evacuated Pyongyang along with refugees. Around 4.5 million North Koreans are estimated to have fled South or elsewhere abroad. On the 16th of December Truman declared a national state of emergency with Proclamation No. 2914, 3 C.F.R. 99 (1953), which remained in force until September 1978. The next day, the 17th of December, Kim Il Sung was deprived of the right of command of KPA by China.
For the rest of the war, the UN and the PVA/KPA fought but exchanged little territory. Large-scale bombing of North Korea continued, and protracted armistice negotiations began on the 10th of July 1951 at Kaesong in the North. On the Chinese side, Zhou directed peace talks, and Li Kenong and Qiao Guanghua headed the negotiation team. Combat continued; the goal of the UN forces was to recapture all of South Korea and avoid losing territory. The PVA and the KPA attempted similar operations and later effected military and psychological operations to test the UN Command's resolve to continue the war. The sides constantly traded artillery fire along the front, with American-led forces possessing a large firepower advantage over Chinese-led forces. 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: a 5.8:1 ratio. The communist insurgency, reinvigorated by North Korean support and scattered bands of KPA stragglers, resurged in the south. In the autumn of 1951, Van Fleet ordered Major General Paik Sun-yup to break the back of guerrilla activity. The UN's limited offensive (the 31st of August , the 12th of November) to shorten and straighten sections of the lines, acquire better defensive terrain, and deny the enemy key vantage points, saw heavy fighting by UN forces, with I Corps and X Corps making limited tactical advances against PVA and KPA forces. The campaign resulted in approximately 60,000 casualties, including 22,000 Americans. The intense battles at Bloody Ridge, the Punchbowl and Heartbreak Ridge underscored the challenges of penetrating the Chinese "active defense." Despite PVA/KPA losses of 100,000, 150,000 troops, these were not crippling, and the PVA forces remained resolute. By November, the UNC abandoned major offensive operations, and the PVA launched counterattacks with some success. From December 1951 to March 1952, ROK security forces claimed to have killed 11,090 partisans and sympathizers and captured 9,916 more. PVA troops suffered from deficient military equipment, logistical problems, overextended communication and supply lines, and the constant threat of UN bombers. These factors led to a rate of Chinese casualties far greater than the casualties suffered by UN troops. The situation became so serious that in November 1951 Zhou called a conference in Shenyang to discuss the PVA's logistical problems. It was decided to accelerate the construction of railways and airfields, to increase the trucks available to the army, and to improve air defense by any means possible. These commitments did little to address the problems. In the months after the Shenyang conference, Peng went to Beijing several times to brief Mao and Zhou about the heavy casualties and the increasing difficulty of keeping front lines supplied with basic necessities. Peng was convinced the war would be protracted and that neither side would be able to achieve victory in the near future. On the 24th of February 1952, the Military Commission, presided over by Zhou, discussed the PVA's logistical problems with members of government agencies. After government representatives emphasized their inability to meet the war demands, Peng 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 Zhou was forced to adjourn the conference. Zhou called a series of meetings, where it was agreed the PVA would be divided into three groups, to be dispatched to Korea in shifts; to accelerate training of pilots; to provide more anti-aircraft guns to 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. General Mark W. Clark replaced General Ridgway as commander of the United Nations Command on the 12th of May 1952. With peace negotiations ongoing, the Chinese attempted a final offensive in the final weeks of the war to capture territory: on the 10th of June, 30,000 Chinese troops struck South Korean and U.S. divisions on a front, and on the 13th of July, 80,000 Chinese soldiers struck the east-central Kumsong sector, with the brunt of their attack falling on 4 South Korean divisions. The Chinese had success in penetrating South Korean lines but failed to capitalize, particularly when US forces responded with overwhelming firepower. Chinese casualties in their final major offensive (above normal wastage for the front) were about 72,000, including 25,000 killed compared to 14,000 for the UN (most were South Koreans, 1,611 were Americans).
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Common questions
When did the Korean War start and end?
The Korean War began on the 25th of June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. The war concluded with an armistice agreement signed in July 1953 after negotiations that started on the 10th of July 1951.
Who were the main leaders during the Korean War?
Syngman Rhee led the Republic of Korea while Kim Il Sung commanded North Korea. United States President Harry S. Truman oversaw US military operations and General Douglas MacArthur served as the initial UN Command leader before being replaced by General Mark W. Clark on the 12th of May 1952.
What was the significance of the 38th parallel in the Korean War?
The 38th parallel served as the dividing line between Soviet and US occupation zones established on the 10th of August 1945. It became the front line where fighting began on the 25th of June 1950 and later marked the boundary that UN forces crossed into North Korea starting on the 1st of October 1950.
How many troops did China send to fight in the Korean War?
China deployed 200,000 Chinese People's Volunteer Army troops across the Yalu River beginning on the 19th of October 1950. These forces engaged UN troops in major battles including the Battle of Unsan on the 1st of November 1950 and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir on the 27th of November 1950.
When did the United States enter the Korean War?
US forces arrived in early July 1950 after the North Korean invasion on the 25th of June 1950. The first significant US engagement occurred at the Battle of Osan on the 5th of July 1950 involving Task Force Smith from the 24th Infantry Division.