Definition of Korean War

After the Second World War, another war began, this time between the two superpowers that were among the winners of the previous one. conflict, The United States and the USSR: the Cold War.

If someone thinks that it is called the Cold War because it did not cause deaths since both contenders did not cross their arms, they are wrong; in the framework of this conflict in which the weapons were apparently silent, some “hot” wars were fought by delegation, that is, in which two different countries or sides faced each other, each with the help of one of the blocks.

One of these conflicts was the Korean War.

The Korean War was an active military conflict fought between June 1950 and July 1953 between Communist Korea (to the north) and Korea capitalist (to the south), counting the first with the help of the communist bloc (mainly, China), and the second with that of the capitalist bloc (mainly USA).

However, when I say “it was a military conflict”I should correct myself to affirm that

it is a military conflict, since it has not been closed, but simply reached, in 1953, an armistice agreement.

The difference may seem subtle, but it is very important, since an armistice means that both contending sides are able to reach an agreement to temporarily suspend the war, stay in the lines in which they are, and not take military action to be able to discuss a future peace definitive.

This is, therefore, a non-closed conflict that can be reopened at any time, as it has already threatened several times over the years.

The origin of the conflict is found in the Second World War and the partition of the Korean peninsula in two.

To the north, the Communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea (known simply as North Korea), with a regime led by Kim Il-sung, while in the south its formed the Republic of Korea (or, simply, South Korea) presided over by Syngman Rhee.

After decades of Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula (Japan had annexed Korea in 1910, although it had been meddling in its affairs for a long time earlier), communist guerrillas had played their role in defeating the Japanese enemy, just as Rhee and other Koreans had approached the United States. United.

The polarization of weather The politician prevented Korea from being born as a unified state and, instead, in 1948 two states of very different mentalities and facing each other, with a rectilinear border fixed in the now famous parallel 38.

After a series of border incidents and provocations on the part of both sides, it was the communist North Korea who, on June 25, 1950, invaded South Korea.

At first, the fortunes of the weapons were favorable to the North Koreans; like a hurricane, they swept South Korean forces into practically the entire peninsula, leaving only the stronghold of Busan (a city located to the south-east) in the hands of the forces South Koreans.

This ease is explained by the enormous support that the North Koreans received from both the USSR and China, and the Korean troops who fought in the civil war of the latter country and that, once ended, they were sent to North Korea, perfectly trained and equipped, prepared for the conflict.

For its part, the calculations of the United States failed to measure the possibilities of the communist side, which under-equipped the South Korean army in key aspects of modern warfare such as, for example, tanks.

One of the factors that facilitated the advance of North Korean troops was the help of the local South Korean population.

If today, the North Korean regime has a deserved reputation for brutal and repressive, at the time it was the other way around; the government of Syngman Rhee was more like the extreme right of the German Nazi parties and fascist Italian among others, that to a true democratic state, although perhaps not in political postulates, yes in the practical aspect.

Thus, the execution of political dissidents (who, although they did not help the North Koreans, were seen as a danger potential) was common in South Korea, which was experiencing a true dictatorship.

Given the prospect, and the lack of information about what was happening in North Korea between the populationIt is not surprising that many South Koreans saw their northern neighbors (countrymen after all) as liberators.

It is at this time, when South Korean forces desperately fight for their survival while maintaining the Pusan ​​perimeter, when the UN calls for military intervention to safeguard the South Koreans.

The motion in the United Nations receives the rejection of the USSR and the rest of the communist countries. The United States launches, with its troops, to the rescue of the South Koreans, an ally whom it considers essential in the area to stop the expansion of the communism.

The US sends General Douglas MacArthur, who had already led the fight in the Pacific against the Japanese during World War II, to lead the North American attack on Korea.

In addition to the North American troops, the main axis of the troops that come to the aid of South Korea, other countries also join the coalition that will fight, for the first time. and only time in history, under the flag of the UN: United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, Thailand, Australia, France, Greece or Colombia are some other countries that integrate.

Even the small European state of Luxembourg will send troops into the conflict.

With the abundant reinforcements, the international coalition managed to reverse the situation, putting the North Korean army to flight and entering the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

This counterattack owes much to the landing operation in Incheon, near Seoul, as it was a coup. in the rear of the North Koreans which made it advisable for them to retreat quickly so that the territory they occupied was not split in two.

It is at this point that the Chinese government worries: it seems that it is no longer about helping the South Koreans to regain their territory, which would have meant that the coalition troops stopped at the 38th parallel, but are one step away from occupying all of South Korea. North.

This would mean having a capitalist country just across the border, something that Beijing does not want.

That is why the Chinese government decides to send massive troops to Korea, initially disguised as North Korean soldiers until the deception was discovered as too obvious.

Again, the situation reversed again, with the combined troops of China and North Korea now pushing the international coalition - now on the defensive - to the south of the country. And, again, Seoul is taken for North Korea.

MacArthur is replaced by another general, Matthew Ridgway, as the former had seriously proposed the use of nuclear weapons, including China in attacks, which could lead to a Third War World.

With the new command, the situation balanced around the 38th parallel. With a virtual tie situation, both sides reached a ceasefire agreement and peace negotiations began.

And this is the situation with which we arrive today; There is no definitive peace signed, but a cease-fire (armistice) reigns in the Korean peninsula, something that has been normalized to the point of allowing South Korea to become an economic and business giant, as if there were no war de facto.

Photos: Fotolia - Luzitanija / Steinar

Issues in Korean War