The Vietnam War: The Korean War
The Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North and South Korea. However it was fought between people who wanted Communist rule in Korea versus people who wanted freedom and democracy. It had no winners. All it had was people who lost their lives.
Korea is a peninsula adjacent to China on the west. On the east, across the East Sea lies Japan. Korea is approximately 5000 square miles. It is about the size of Utah and is very mountainous. (Oberdorfer, 3)
In Korea lies the most militarized zone in the world. Called the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), it lies upon the 38th parallel separating Communist North Korea and Democratic South Korea. (Oberdorfer, 1)
Korea was first taken over by the Japanese during the Russo-Japan War of 1904. After …show more content…
(Hastings, 51)
On June 25, 1950, around 4:00 AM North Korea attacked South Korea with 135,000 men in the middle of the night. They outnumber the South Korean army, which only had 45,000 men with very little weapons and supplies. Within days, South Korean 's army was chopped in half with only half the men accounted for. (Hastings 52-53)
In need of help, South Korean delegates headed to Washington in hopes of getting military support and aid from the U.S. Instead, they were told to ask the U.N. On June 25, a U.N. resolution calling for the withdrawal was passed on a 9-0 vote, which meant military aid for South Korea. (Hastings …show more content…
A major issue that stalled negotiations was whether POWs should be repatriated if they wanted to be repatriated. POWs had been captured on both sides. However the Chinese kept responding that the POWs wished to stay in China. The North Koreans did not have that many POWs because they killed many of them. However, the Korean War was the first major conflict in which the enemy would attempt to convert the prisoner to their beliefs and ideals. The Chinese were successful. 21 Americans and 1 Briton refused to go back at the end of the war. Also, out of the 7,130 prisoners captured by the Communists, 2,730 did not make it back home. Facts show that the Korean War had the highest prisoner death rate out of any war. (Hastings
The Korean War was a war between North and South Korea. However it was fought between people who wanted Communist rule in Korea versus people who wanted freedom and democracy. It had no winners. All it had was people who lost their lives.
Korea is a peninsula adjacent to China on the west. On the east, across the East Sea lies Japan. Korea is approximately 5000 square miles. It is about the size of Utah and is very mountainous. (Oberdorfer, 3)
In Korea lies the most militarized zone in the world. Called the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), it lies upon the 38th parallel separating Communist North Korea and Democratic South Korea. (Oberdorfer, 1)
Korea was first taken over by the Japanese during the Russo-Japan War of 1904. After …show more content…
(Hastings, 51)
On June 25, 1950, around 4:00 AM North Korea attacked South Korea with 135,000 men in the middle of the night. They outnumber the South Korean army, which only had 45,000 men with very little weapons and supplies. Within days, South Korean 's army was chopped in half with only half the men accounted for. (Hastings 52-53)
In need of help, South Korean delegates headed to Washington in hopes of getting military support and aid from the U.S. Instead, they were told to ask the U.N. On June 25, a U.N. resolution calling for the withdrawal was passed on a 9-0 vote, which meant military aid for South Korea. (Hastings …show more content…
A major issue that stalled negotiations was whether POWs should be repatriated if they wanted to be repatriated. POWs had been captured on both sides. However the Chinese kept responding that the POWs wished to stay in China. The North Koreans did not have that many POWs because they killed many of them. However, the Korean War was the first major conflict in which the enemy would attempt to convert the prisoner to their beliefs and ideals. The Chinese were successful. 21 Americans and 1 Briton refused to go back at the end of the war. Also, out of the 7,130 prisoners captured by the Communists, 2,730 did not make it back home. Facts show that the Korean War had the highest prisoner death rate out of any war. (Hastings