Download Foreign Policy Unit 2012-2013 - Lesson 11

L11: The Korean War: 1950-1953
American Foreign Policy
Agenda
Homework:
1. Consult Unit
Schedule for
Background
Reading.
Objective:
1. To understand the events of
the Korean War.
2. To analyze the significance of
the Korean War for US foreign
1. Work on Civic
policy.
Literacy
Assignment.
Schedule:
Second
1. Lecture
Assignment due
L17 (Tan = Thurs
2. Discussion
5/30; Red = Tues
6/4; Blue = Mon 6/3)
The Korean War: Plan For Today
• Today we will examine the first “proxy war” that the United States
engaged in during the Cold War: The Korean War
•What is proxy war?
•Essential Questions for Today:
• How is the United States using
its military by 1950?
• How would you characterize US
foreign policy by the 1950s?
• How would you characterize the
relationship between US
foreign policy and the American
public in the 1950s?
• What made the Korean War a Cold War Conflict?
• Did the war in Korea represent a triumph or a failure of American foreign
policy?
BACKGROUND
• Korea had been a unified state since the
7th Century
• Beginning in the Late 19th Century,
Japan began to involve itself in the Korean
Peninsula and officially occupied Korea
from 1910 to 1945
• The occupation of Korea in many ways
set the stage for the Korean War. The
Army of South Korea was largely
composed of Koreans who collaborated
with the Japanese during the occupation
•On the other side, many of the leaders of
North Korea had previously fought as
guerillas against the Japanese
BACKGROUND
• With the defeat of Japan in World War Two,
control over Korea was divided between the
Soviets and the United States.
•The Soviet Union occupied Korea north of
the 38th parallel
•The United States occupied Korea south of
the 38th parallel
• The Soviets imposed a communist government
 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(DPRK)
 Led by Kim Il Sung
 Pyongyang as capital
• The United States put in place a capitalist
democracy
 Republic of Korea (ROK)
 Led by Syngman Rhee
 Seoul as capital
BACKGROUND
• Originally, the intention of the U.S. and
Soviet Union was to establish a stable
unified Korea and to withdraw their
military forces, however Cold War
tensions caused events to play out
differently
• The U.S. reduced its troop levels in
South Korea to 500 troops by June 1949
• The Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin,
concluded that the U.S. would not be
willing to fight to defend South Korea
• On January 30, 1950, Stalin via
telegram notified Kim Il Sung that he was
willing to help unify Korea as a
communist state
North Korea Attacks
• On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded
South Korea marking the start of the
Korean War
• By the evening of June 28, 1950, the
South Korean capital of Seoul had fallen
and ROK forces were in disarray
• South Korea appealed to the United
Nations (U.N.) for help
• The U.N. Security Council called for an
immediate end to hostilities and passed
Resolution 82, authorizing force to be used
in Korea
• 21 of the U.N. member states agreed to
contribute arms, money and/or troops to rid
South Korean of its North Korean
aggressor
U.N. Forces
• General Douglas
MacArthur was placed
in command of the U.N.
forces, which included
combat and medical
units from 22 nations
• The United States
provided 50% of the
ground forces, 86% of
the naval forces and
93% of the air power for
the U.N. forces.
PUSAN PERIMETER
• The initial U.N. forces
were unable to slow the
advance of the North
Korean forces
• By the end of July
1950, the North
Koreans had contained
the U.N. forces in a
perimeter around the
Port of Pusan (in the
southeast corner of the
Korean peninsula)
INCHON
• General MacArthur
launched a offensive
amphibious invasion at
the Port of Inchon (near
Seoul) changing the
course of the war
• American forces quickly
gained control of Inchon
and recaptured Seoul
within days, cutting the
North Korean supply line
Push to the Yalu River
•General MacArthur
pushed U.N. forces north
towards the Yalu River
• Ignoring evidence that
Chinese forces had
moved across the Yalu
River into North Korea,
MacArthur assured U.S.
troops that they would
be “home by Christmas”
Chinese offensive
• U.S. forces unexpectedly ran
into approximately 180,000
Chinese troops.
• U.N. troops were evacuated
back to the Pusan perimeter
and Seoul was captured by
the Chinese forces
• On November28, 1951, a
shaken MacArthur informed
the Joint Chiefs of Staff that
the U.N. forces faced an
“entirely new war”
Stalemate
• Beginning January 25, LTG General
Matthew Ridgway (in command of the
U.S. Eighth Army) led the U.N. forces
in a slow advance northward. They
inflicted heavy casualties on the
Chinese and North Korean troops and
recaptured Seoul
• Tensions increased between
President Truman and General
MacArthur during this period and on
April 10, 1951, Truman relieved
MacArthur of command. He was
replaced by General Ridgway
• The fighting largely fell into a
stalemate along the 38th Parallel
Public Support for the Korean War
http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov
/research/online_documents/korean
_war/Public_Opinion_1953_06_02.p
df
Armistice
• An Armistice ending the war was
signed on July 27, 1953
• The Armistice provided for a cease
fire and a fixed demilitarized zone at
the 38th parallel to serve as a buffer
between North and South Korea that
remains today
•Notice: The boundaries of North
and South Korea are set at the
30th parallel. The same
boundary before the war?
• In many ways the Korean War has
never really ended. We are currently
in the 60th year of a cease fire
between North and South Korea
casualties
• Approximately
5 million people killed during
the war (1950-1953)
• More than 34,000 Americans killed in action
• More than 600,000 Chinese killed in action
Discussion Questions
• How is the United States using its military by
1950?
• How would you characterize US foreign
policy by the 1950s?
• How would you characterize the relationship
between US foreign policy and the American
public in the 1950s?
• What made the Korean War a Cold War
Conflict?
• Did the war in Korea represent a triumph or a
failure of American foreign policy?