11.2: Korean War- 1950-53

What Led to the Partition of Korea?

Japan had occupied Korea since 1910. Korea was one of the first countries Japan conquered during its efforts to create an East Asian and Pacific empire that culminated in the Pacific theater of World War II. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the Korean Peninsula had been divided along the 38th parallel at the end of the war. Figure 11.2.2 is a map of the Korean peninsular and shows this demarcation line between North and South Korea. The USSR administered the North while the United States controlled the south. Although the U.S.S.R. had helped end the Pacific War by invading Manchuria in August 1945, the subsequent reconstruction of Japan was strictly a U.S. affair. By the time the military occupation ended in 1955, Japan had returned to rule by a democratically elected parliamentary monarchy under the same emperor, Hirohito. The U.S. guaranteed Japan’s security through a treaty and a military base in Okinawa and provided financial assistance and preferential access to U.S. markets to rebuild the Japanese economy. This was partly an attempt to counter the perceived communist threat in Asia.  

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Map showing the area of South Korea captured by communists in 1950, CPI Tino Grandio, is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.

The Soviets helped establish a communist regime under Kim Il-sung, while the Americans supported an authoritarian “nationalist”, Syngman Rhee. In June 1950, Kim Il-sung ordered the invasion of the south to unite the peninsula. Figure 11.2.1 is a map of the Korean peninsula. The arrows in the map show movement of North Korean troops from the north over the 38th parallel towards the south. The map also shows the areas of South Korea captured by the North Korean communists. The communists crossed the Imjin River and entered Seoul. Kim’s forces did not succeed in overthrowing the Rhee government in Seoul, but quickly took most of the south, and that prompted the United Nations Security Council to order a military response, led by the United States. The US never formally declared war on North Korea. Instead, President Truman referred to US involvement as a “police action” to pushback against the forces of international communism. The North Korean Army's offensive was stopped at Pusan in August-September 1950.

As shown in Figure 11.2.1, by October 1950, US-led U.N. forces had pushed the communist North Korean forces out of the south and had taken the northern capital, Pyongyang. U.N. armies continued to advance northward toward the Chinese border at the Yalu River, which brought China into the war on the North Korean side. U.N. troops were surprised by a Chinese counterattack. General Douglas MacArthur made an audacious move and launched an invasion of North Korea across the 38th parallel without consulting with Washington. Consequently, President Truman relieved General MacArthur of his duties for insubordination.

After three years of bloody fighting, including the invasion of a full-scale Chinese army in support of the northern forces, the Korean War ended in a stalemate. The Korean War armistice signed on July 27, 1953. As seen in Figure 11.2.2, a new border between North and South Korea was drawn at the 38th parallel, which granted South Korea some additional territory and demilitarized the zone between the two nations. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) incorporates land on both sides of the 38th parallel. It is designed to serve as a buffer zone between North and South Korea, but both sides maintain troops and it is a fortified region. The border between North and South Korea is probably the most heavily militarized zone in the world. Technically, however, the war has never officially ended: both sides have simply remained in a tense state of truce since 1953. The war itself tore apart the country, with three million casualties (including 140,000 American casualties), and a stark ideological and economic divide between north and south that only grew stronger in the ensuing decades. As South Korea developed into a modern, technologically advanced, and politically democratic society, North Korea became a totalitarian closed society, largely isolated after the fall of the Soviet Union and China’s embrace of capitalism in the 1980s. The Kim family has remained in power despite famine and mismanagement while defending their regime by developing nuclear weapons. South Korea was ruled by Rhee and the military until a transition to democracy in the 1990s when it became a successful industrial power following the Japanese development model. The US continues to maintain a military presence in South Korea, and currently there are 28,500 troops stationed near the capital of Seoul. 

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Partition of Korea along the 38th Parallel, Library of Congress, in the Public Domain.

The Korean War energized the American obsession with preventing the spread of communism. As French forces suffered defeats in Indochina, the US ramped up its commitment to prevent another Asian nation from becoming a communist state. The American theory of the “domino effect” of the spread of communism from country to country seemed entirely plausible at the time, and across the American political spectrum there was a strong consensus that communism could only be held in check by the application of military force. That obsession led directly to the Vietnam War (known in Vietnam as the American War). The United States entered the 1960s unaccustomed to stark foreign policy failures. By the end of the decade, Unsuccessful conflicts in Cuba and Vietnam led to embarrassment, fear, and tragedy, stunning a nation that expected triumph and altering the way many thought of America’s role in international affairs.

Korea and Vietnam: Similarities and Differences

The USA used South Korea as its model for propping up a viable government in South Vietnam. However, there were some key advantages that were present in South Korea which South Vietnam did not have. For one, its colonial context was very different from Vietnam. The Japanese were every bit as harsh and authoritarian as the French. However, their rule resembled the British in India more than the French in Vietnam. Overall, Japan built a good system of infrastructure and an industrial base in Korea. Most of the cities and ports in Korea were linked by rail. The Japanese also built a vast road system.  However, Vietnam had one rail line that connected Hanoi to Saigon. Overall, Korea had a much better-developed transport and communications infrastructure than any other East Asian country except for Japan.

The Japanese also promoted industrial development in Korea. A small class of Korean modern entrepreneurs, fluent in Japanese and accustomed to working closely with their Japanese counterparts, formed the South Korean industrialist class after independence. Major giants such as Samsung and Lucky-Goldstar got their start during the colonial period. Finally, the South Korean army would be much more effective than ARVN, because the Japanese trained the officer class of the future South Korean army. During World War II, these Koreans got vital experience serving in the army.

These advantages played a major role in establishing a viable South Korean state. At first, the situation in Korea resembled Vietnam. It is divided into a Communist north and a pro-American south. The south had an anti-Communist anti-Democratic dictator just like South Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem named Syngman Rhee. However, Rhee’s nationalist anti-colonial credentials were impeccable, because he fought his entire life for Korean independence. Therefore, he was not seen by Koreans as a part of the elite that collaborated with the colonizers.  The Rhee administration was staffed by qualified people in areas of economics, education, and finance. Additionally, the government utilized South Koreans who studied in the United States.

For the most part, the Korean Communist Party lacked the cohesion and support that the Vietnamese Communists had.  The Communists did not have a strong nationalist leader with the stature of Ho Chi Minh. Korea also lacked dense jungles that would have provided guerrilla strongholds. Additionally, there was little evidence of Soviet or North Korean support for the southern Communist guerrillas. The Soviet Union only provided loans to North Korea at high interest rates. They did not get substantial aid like in North Vietnam.

The policies of the Rhee government were successful when compared to Diem. To build loyalty to the government, a top-notch education system was established. The framers of the 1948 constitution made primary education a right. By 1960, primary schooling was almost universal. Also, Rhee promoted industrialization and Korea had strong human resources and an industrial base to develop light industries for export. Perhaps most importantly, Rhee won over peasant support with land redistribution.  Most peasants owned land and farmers became firm anti-communist supporters of the government. The farmers receiving this redistributed property had to pay 150 percent of the annual value of the land received over a ten-year period.  The elite landlords lost their lands but invested their payments in business and in education institutions.

Like Diem, Rhee was overthrown in the early 1960s, but he was replaced by a stable capable military dictator, General Park Chung Hee. This government put Korea on the path to economic modernization. The South Korean government in 1961 drew up the First Five-Year Economic Development Plan which prompted massive industrialization with an emphasis on exporting light industry.  In addition to directing low-interest loans to businesses fulfilling the plan, the government also created several centers to promote research and the dissemination of technical knowledge to business enterprises. For the most part, South Korea experienced prosperity rather than growing poverty. As a result, the working classes did not become radical socialists. The two major labor unions were moderate Christian-based organizations that had bread and butter demands like higher wages and better working conditions. 

Review Questions

• How does the Korean War demonstrate both the rising importance of the US as a global power, as well as the limits of that power?
• Why did China send troops? What interest did China have in the Korean War?
• How was South Korea different from South Vietnam?