EAST AND SOUTHEAST

ASIABea Joy Lorraine A. Arcenio

III-9 BSE HistoryPhilippine Normal University

POST WORLD WAR II IN

KOREA

KOREA BEFORE 1950•  Korea goes through the

phase of Japanese rule, beginning from August 29, 1910.

• Russo-Japanese War (Manchuria, Korea)

• Treaty of Portsmouth and it was signed in September 5th, 1905

(UNITED STATES, RUSSIA, JAPAN)

KOREA BEFORE 1950

• Japan manages to gain the solitary control over Korea.

• the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty was signed in 1910

• year of 1939, colonized Korea became a part of the Empire of Japan along with Taiwan

• the power of Japanese Empire began to descend

(US, USSR, UK, China held conference in Cairo, November

1943)

KOREA BEFORE 1950

• the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945

• USSR declared war on Japan and led the Red Army to the northern Korea and Manchuria

KOREA BEFORE 1950

• the US responded by directing a demilitarization line - the 38th parallel - on the peninsula with the agreement of USSR

• Korean nationalists who gathered with common hatred of Japan sought their way to establish an independent government of Korea.

• The two most prominent leaders during this era were Kim Il-Sung (North Korea) and Syng-Man Rhee

(South Korea)

KOREA BEFORE 1950

• Due to the continuous hostility between North and South, the United States passed on the issue to the United Nations (UN).

KOREA BEFORE 1950

•  separate free election was held in the Southern Korea, making Syng-Man Rhee a first elected president of the Republic of Korea.

•  Kim Il-Sung was also appointed as the Prime Minister of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) by the north Koreans, and formed a new nation.

“becomes a significant event that foreshadows the indication of a civil war.”

KOREA BEFORE 1950

North Korea should be recaptured by the force of arms to fulfill the UN’s mandate that

the Republic of Korea government is the only

legitimate government, to fulfill the ancient nationality of Korea.

Kim, he had more organized military plans to lead the unification of the peninsula

Mao Zedong came close to unifying all China under the Communist regime and he was frustrated to see Mao’s success yet himself being an “incomplete dictator.

Stalin finally gave him the permission to invade across the 38th parallel, Kim directly initiated the first attack across the border on 4 A.M. of June 25th, 1950, and thus began the Korean War.

THE KOREAN WAR AND THE COLD WAR

• On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. 

• USA and its allies agreed to help defend South Korea with the support of the UN• Afraid that communism

would spread to the south• Did not want communists

to extend their influence into South Korea

had decided on a new set of war aims.

THE KOREAN WAR AND THE COLD WAR

•UN troops used Pusan as their base, a major port at the southern tip of Korea that possessed an airfield• They attacked and defeated the North Koreans• Captured Inchon and Seoul• Instead of ending the war, the American President, with the approval of the UN, ordered an invasion of North Korea

THE KOREAN WAR AND THE COLD WAR

• The Chinese communists had come into power• They warned that they would attack if the

UN troops crossed the 38th Parallel into North Korea• They would not allow their North Korean

ally to be totally defeated• Nor would they allow UN troops to be near

China’s border• The warning was ignored

THE KOREAN WAR AND THE COLD WAR

• End Oct 1950 : UN troops not only reached Pyongyang but also further north to the Yalu River, the border between NK and China

• China felt threatened and moved into NK• Mid-Jan 1951

: Chinese army pushed UN troops back into SK and occupied Seoul

•UN troops counter-attacked and drove the Chinese back to the 38th Parallel

• The invasion of SK quickly became a bigger conflict involving USA and its Western allies on the one hand and China on the other

• Finally in 1953, an agreement was signed to stop the fighting

• A demilitarized zone was created between NK and SK

• Up to today, the Korean Peninsula remains divided

• The Korean was the first time in history when a number of countries grouped together to prevent one country from forcibly taking over another and changing its way of life