Korean War

KOREAN WAR ( June 25, 1950 – July 27, 1953)

Presented By: Shreya Chitrakar (Section ‘C’ )

Contents: • Who were involved? • How it began? • The war • How it ended? • Casualties and Economic Losses • Brief Timeline • References

Who were involved? North Korea

• Soviet Union • Leader: Kim Il Sung • Chinese leader :Mao Zedong

South Korea

• United States of America • Leader: Syngman Rhee • US President: Harry Truman • General Douglas MacArthur • New Us President: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Syngman Rhee (1875-1965)

Kim II-Sung (1912-1994)

How it began? • Before WWII Korea was under Imperial Japanese rule; after divided into two • North- Soviet Union, South- United States of America • Divided by 38th parallel boundary

The War • Outcome of cold war between two power blocks: US(capitalism) AND Soviet Union(communism) • the North Korean army pushed into Seoul on 25 June 1950 • a war to get the communists out of South Korea • 21 countries of the United Nations contributed to the UN force • US providing 88% of the UN's military personnel • North Korean army: well disciplined, well trained and well-equipped • South Korean army: frightened, confused and likely to flee • As a result the US army suffered badly

Continued • New strategy by US commander MacArthur; in September 1950, a UN counter-offensive launched at Incheon • cut off many North Korean troops, South Korean army crossed 38th parallel and reached Yalu river • China threatened, sent troops to North Korea and warned US about a possible full-scale war

How it ended? • In July 1951, US government started peace talks at Panmunjom • Peace talks lasted for 2 years • Two sides could not agree on whether prisoners of war should be forcibly repatriated • In 1952, new US president appointed; agreed with Chinese and North Koreans • Finally the signed the armistice agreement on July 27, 1953 and the war supposedly ended • No peace treaty is signed till date

Casualties and Economic Losses: • Nearly 10,000 North and South Korean soldiers were killed in battle before the war • Nearly 5 million people died( including 33,600 Americans,16,000 UN allied,415,000 South Koreans and 520,000 North Koreans) • Rate of civilian casualties was higher than World War II’s and Vietnam’s War • More than 100,000 Americans wounded and estimated 900,000 Chinese casualties • Loss of $30 billion or 5.2% of GDP • Compensation benefit costs: $2.8 billion a year • Economy contracted by 0.6% in 1954

Dates

Events

1945 1949 June 25,1950 June 27,1950

Division of Peninsula; creation of 38th parallel S.U and U.S withdraw military North Korea invades South Korea US intervention

September 15,1950 November 4,1950

US forces push North Korean troops back north of 38th parallel

July 1951 July 27,1953

Negotiations began Armistice signed, war ended, no peace treaties signed

Chinese intervention

References : • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War • https://www.history.com/topics/korean-war • https://www.slideshare.net/snead22/korean-war-1474440 • https://scholar.google.com/