Three Years of the Korean War - Essay Example

It was the early days of the Cold War and the attentions of the Soviet Union and U.S.A. was more focused on the European theatre than on the Koreas in Far East Asia. Yet, Korea and the Korean War would turn out to be the first theatre to demonstrate the extent to which the grand alliance of Russia with the other Allied powers during the Second World War had fallen apart in the fight by the remnants of the Allied combination against communism inspired by the Soviet Union. At the end of the war there were no territorial gains or prestige for either side, except a rise in the esteem of the newly emerged communist China.

1 The Korean War would not have been extended, causing more casualties and suffering, but for the unnecessary invasion of North Korea by the UN Forces led by America. The Course of the War The North Korean invasion of South Korea began on June 25th 1950 and the unprepared army of South Korea could not offer strong resistance, and North Korean troops quickly reached the Seoul the capital of South Korea. American reaction was swift. President Truman in keeping with the American policy of containment of any expansion of communism feared that the fall of South Korea would create a breach in this containment policy and rushed support to the beleaguered South Koreans.

In addition, support from the United Nations was obtained, so that more nations could come to the aid of South Korea. Though the immediate result of the America intervention did not go well, the famous Inchon operation by the commander of the American force General MacArthur led to the defeat of the North Korean forces in South Korea. They retreated into North Korea. In spite of disapproval of the Truman administration General MacArthur decided to enter North Korea and inflict a total defeat of North Korea, even if it meant risking war with China.

This was the fateful decision that brought China into the Korean War, extending its duration and increasing the number of casualties during the course of the war. 2 There is clear evidence to show that had General MacArthur not send American led UN troops into North Korea, China would have kept away from intervening in support of the defeated troops of the North Korea. The Korean War hardly invoked any interest in China. The leaders in China were more concerned with Formosa and the Nationalist forces present there.

This clearly indicates that the North Korean provocative action was a decision of their own, for their interests. China woke up to reaction only when there was the threat of American led UN forces invading North Korea, bringing an unwelcome presence of these troops on its borders. Even then it issued enough warnings against such an invasion. The lack of Chinese willingness to become an active participant in the Korean War can be seen by their conveyed willingness of remaining inactive, if the invasion was carried out only by South Korean troops, and would respond only if the invasion force included elements of other nations.

Unfortunately, buoyed by the success at Inchon, the wrong belief that China would continue not to respond, and false confidence in the might of the American led allied forces, the invasion of North Korea was led by the elements of the American forces that reached the banks of the Yalu River, forcing China to respond to this threat. But for this decision of misadventure, hindsight clearly shows that China would not have entered the Korean War that led to an extension of the war, its intensity, and