Korea had been ruled by Japan until 1945 when it was divided along the 38th parallel after Japan's surrender, with the Soviet Union occupying the north and the US occupying the south. This division led to the establishment of authoritarian regimes in both North and South Korea, led by Kim Il-sung and Syngman Rhee respectively, which sought to reunify Korea under their ideology. Border skirmishes increased and nearly 10,000 troops were killed before the 1950 outbreak of the Korean War, when North Korea launched a surprise attack on the South. The UN authorized a force led by the US to defend South Korea.

1. World History II – Spring 2013

2.  Korea had been ruled by Japan
since 1910
 Japan surrenders to Allies in
September 1945
 Allies decide to divide Korea
along 38th parallel
 Soviet troops will occupy the
north
 U.S. troops will occupy the south
 Koreans are excluded from these
conferences
 Division and occupation were
intended to be temporary

3.  Syngman Rhee
 Korean nationalist who had been
exiled by the Japanese
 Wants to unify Korea
 Does not want to trade Japanese
imperialism for American/Soviet
 1948 becomes first President of
South Korea
 Establishes authoritarian regime
 Supported by U.S. because he is
anti-communist

4.  Kim Il-Sung
 Communist guerilla leader who
had been exiled by the Japanese
 Served in the Soviet Red Army
during WWII
 Stalin placed him in charge of
newly formed North Korea
 Wanted to unify Korea under
communist rule

5.  North and South engage in reunification negotiations
 Talks are off and on for two years
 Neither side will change political ideology
 Border skirmishes are common
 Nearly 10,000 North and South Korean soldiers are killed in
battle before the war even starts

6.  June 25, 1950 North Korean troops launch a surprise
attack on South Korea
 United Nations Security Council votes to support
South Koreans
 Soviets boycott the meeting
 Truman sees this as an opportunity for containment
 15 UN Member Nations send troops
 88% of troops are from U.S.
 Combined forces led by General MacArthur

7.  MacArthur’s troops
push North Koreans
past 38th parallel and
engage in an offensive
to “liberate” North
Korea from the
Communists
 U.N. troops reach the
Yalo River, North
Korea’s border with
China

8.  Mao Zedong warns that crossing into China will mean
full-scale war
 Truman knows this might risk war with Soviets, who
now have a nuclear bomb
 MacArthur wants to engage China and is fired for
insubordination
Chinese forces cross
the Yalo River into
Korea on October 16,
1950

9.  Combined North Korean and Chinese forces push U.N.
troops back into South Korea in January 1951
 For six months, territory is traded back and forth
within 100 miles of the 38th parallel
 In July 1951, armistice negotiations begin but no
agreement is reached until July 1953
 Boundary at 38th parallel is reestablished and a two-
mile-wide Demilitarized Zone is created

10.  First armed conflict of the Cold War
 “Proxy War”- when opposing powers use third parties as
substitutes for fighting each other
 First time US engaged with an enemy in possession of
a nuclear bomb
 First containment of communism outside of Europe
 First racially integrated US troops
 Test of the United Nations as an international peace-
keeping body