Why did the Korean War become an international conflict - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Fought as a result of disintegration of Korea into two countries due to World War II, Korean War was a result of conflict between USA and USSR as after the World War, one part was occupied by US and other was by USSR. The overall scenario leading to the Korean War is also based upon the rising tension between US and USSR. After the end of World War II though peace started to take its roots in Europe and other developed countries however, the US-USSR conflict started to worsen and both the super powers of the world reached to a point of cold war. The competing ideologies of Communism versus capitalism and dominance of US or USSR on the world political stage set the most part of the War between US supported South Korea and USSR and China supported North Korea. It was also during this war that UN was used for the first time by US as a tool to actually engage into armed conflict with any country. Why this conflict became global in nature and size, why major players including UN and US actually involved in this conflict will be discussed in this area. Political Turmoil and role of US and USSR Korea’s geographical location made it one of the most important regions in post-World War-II scenario and it was increasingly viewed as region which would ultimately become the point of contention between the Western powers and Communist bloc. The conditions for war were created due to keen interests of the two of the largest communist states in the world and the overall indecisiveness of US to conduct its foreign policy in the Far East region. Korea has always remained of interest for Russia and China and it was also because of this reason that USSR tried to occupy the country after World War II. Considering the increase in power of USSR, US also attempted to capture part of the country and hence Korea was divided between South and North Korea with US controlling South Korea whereas North Korea was controlled by USSR. The failure to actually hold free and fair elections increased the political tension in the region with North and South Korea forming two different sets of governments. South Korea adapted democracy whereas North Korea became a communist country. The political tension further escalated when small skirmishes started to occur on what was called 38 Parallel, the line controlled by US which was also virtually dividing both the countries from each other. The Korean War erupted in what was called the middle of the cold war between US and USSR and their bid to take control of the world. It was also increasingly seen as the war to determine which ideological framework world would adapt i.e. capitalism versus communism. The direct involvement of USSR in the war and supplying the arms to North Korea also prompted US, under the banner of UN to engage into the conflict with USSR. It is suggested that it was also the first time when US actually used UN as a foreign policy tool. The overall plan was to actually give Korea under the trusteeship of United Nations which would eventually lead it to full independence over the period of time. It was however subsequently realized that the imposition of any political will from other than Koreans may not be easy to implement and region may drift into turmoil as a result of political conflict between the super powers. It is also important to understand the overall diversity of opinions as well as groupings within Korea which could not help materialize the development of a workable plan to actually make the transition. The overall diversity of political opinions was also due to the Japanese Colonial rule which kept the country divided based upon different ideological basis. The suppression of Korean nationalist movement by the Japan also resulted into the lack of ...Download file to see next pagesRead More