Causes and Consequences of U.S Military Involvement in the Korean War - Essay Example

Causes and Consequences of U.S Military Involvement in the Korean War Introduction The most important war that ever occurred is the Korean War, which was between the communists and the West. The war was more of civil unless the differences of the two parties are undertaken keenly. South Korea was a free republic, while the North Korea was a communist which practiced dictatorship. The South Korea is quite stable in that it was capable of being a host of the Olympic Games of 1988 in Seoul, its capital. On the other hand, the North lagged behind with its poor leadership and thus it starved. A student, 28 years old became very angry because he thought that the United States used Korea in her undertakings just like a puppet. He states that the Washington used Korea for purposes of the cold war that the United States underwent. It used Korea as escape goat and also that the United States is blamed because of the rule of Chun. The main reason as to why the United States joined the Korean War is because of containing communism1. The main aim of the war was to control the spread of communism. There are many other reasons as to why the United States joined the Cold war besides containing joining of the war of the United State. The Korean War has never ended, it is still continuing until today. The DMZ is acting as the boundary between the two states in Korea which are still at War. Containment is the resistance to the expansion of communism through diplomatic and military strategies established in1947 to 1948 marked by paper 8 of the National Security Council and also gave the United States commitment to approach the War in a military dimension2. This shows that the thirst to contain communism was very high and everything could be done in order to stop the spread its spread. Hence Korea got a platform for the War because of the practice of communism, which had taken its roots in the West and in the Democratic world. Besides, Korea was ripe for war since communism was practiced in the North. The North was ruled by a communist known as Kim II Sung, whose main goal was to find social and political changes that were radical. On the other hand, the South was ruled by syngman Rhee, who by himself was conservative and also ruled conservatively. The 38th parallel separated the North from the South. The 38th parallel was based on the decision made by the military. The two countries knew that the 38th parallel was not permanent and thus each country dreamt of coming together and be united once again. The North decided to take up the challenge and attacked the South at last on 25th June of 19503. The position of Korea is another cause for the involvement of the United States in the Korean War. Korea is surrounded by very powerful states as its neighbors. These states include; China, Japan and Russia. Following her neighborhood, Korea has had to constantly fight for her independence and this has made Korea acquire her fame of belligerency4. Therefore, Korea experienced fights from all round. The United States began involving her military to the Korean War, when Korea first blocked and attacked the ships of the merchants of the United States. The merchants were on their way to create diplomatic relations and commercial relations with the Hermit Kingdom, when Korea attacked them when the ships were passing through the Peninsula. The United States posed some attacks in the capital of Korea that led to China to take over Korea and as a result opened the way for many countries inclusive of the United States. Korea was later taken by Tokyo in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and thus it became part of the empire of Japan. The United States also joined the Korean War because they were directly confronted by the Soviet Union in Asia and thus there was a need for the United States to keep both the Soviet Union and the Communist countries free. A trusteeship over Peninsula was shared between the United States and the Soviet Union after Japan was defeated. This led to the division of the parallel between the two states where the Soviet Union took half of the 38th parallel in the North while the United States, led by John R. Hodge, the general of the U.S army, took the South and the boundary created by the 38th parallel became permanent yet initially it was temporary. The south undertook elections and Syngman Rhee became the president of the Republic of Korea while Moscow in the North first refused the idea of elections, but later he elected Kim II Sung as the president of the Democratic Peoples Republic. There are many consequences of the United Nations involvement into the Korean War. One of the consequences is that the Vietnam War was a replicate of the Korean War. Vietnam War composed of the North versus the South and the also among the Democrats and the Communists. The major role that the Korean War played was legitimating the United Nations. In addition, it also sets ways for the peace keeping of the United Nations to some parts of the world including the Middle East. The War in Korea also continued and strengthened the mission of the War, which was to fight and stop communism among other reasons. The staff of the joint chiefs advised President Harry S. Truman against the support of the United States, despite the fact that they received support from them. The joint board of staff claimed that the United States had a very little interest in the maintenance of the military troops and also the bases of the America in Korea. The American military troops consisted of Japanese and Chinese only exclusion of the Koreans and this resulted in the withdrawal of the troops of the United Nations from Korea. Eventually, the Soviet also withdrew its troops. In January of 1950, the state secretary made an official announcement stating that the troop officially covered the soldiers from Japan and Taiwan5. After some attacks of the boarder for some time, the Soviet Union put her back to the North and organized the trip. The Soviet Union, thus posed attacks to the South and eventually conquered a large portion of the South. The Truman on the other hand took an evaluation of his position and later on decided on coming together to make a military coalition so that to set a strong rebellion against the communist community. This is one of the consequences that the United States experienced during her involvement in the Korean War. Another hardship that the United States experienced is that the casualties that affected 196000 Americans. Of the 196000 Americans, 54000 people died in the recent war posed by the Soviet Union of the North Korea6. There were many other effects of the war. For example, The South of Korea remained a republic for about 50 or so years, but underwent a lot of bad leadership and quasi-democracy to maintain its success. The United States and Russia drew further apart because of the War of Korea. The United States feared communism, which would mean to bring themselves into more suffering that would lead to break into a Vietnam, which would be another representation of the North Korea. The United States fears Vietnam currently as much as communism was the main subject of concentration. The world was thus divided into major parts consisting of states under the United States and the colonies of Russia7. The world was thus being ruled by two major powers. The United States also used the Korean War to show off their power which was strong. The Americans could do anything to ensure the eradication of communism. The Korean War also acted as a medium for ruining the relationship between China and the United States. The two countries did not have any differences in the early stages of the War until when they later. After the WWII, the communist and the western zones controlled the world since each zone got its share of colonies. Including Korea, the North and the South spheres where the Soviet Union controlled the North while the United State which represented the West, controlled the South. The intervention of the United Nations in aid of the South helped the division to remain permanent and in fact, the United Nations would have retained Peninsula if there were no errors made. The Chinese were responsible for attacking the United Nations before they could take root and organize themselves to conquer Peninsula8. The Chinese pushed the military of the United Nations back to their boarder and that is the reason the UN troops live on the boarder and occasionally, there are rampant reported incidents of firing. Since then, the relationship between China and the United States was ruined for many more decades to come. The War is still continuing and the only matter that is keeping the countries from breaking into War is the Fire-Agreement, which bars them from any more fights and also the fear that any of the two sides may be having allies who may be possessed nuclear weapons. The Korean War also resulted in the creation of a strong bond between the United States and South Korea. However the strong bond has been ruined because of the idea of uniting all Koreans to brotherhood. The South Korea is very reluctant to join up with the North Korea and as a result, the two states will never come to unity since the United States is not willing to relax, offering support to the South Korea which is also a big threat to the Army of North Korea. Korea served as a risky precedent since it could be perceived as a model for hosting Wars especially the anti-communist War. The United Nations thus worked so hard since they posed their first military actions in Korea so that to prove that they are capable of performing a great action. Fredrick the Great stated that their enemies were stupid and therefore the council of the security dished out the Army and instructed to go give aid to the South Korea in the absence of the Soviet Minister. This meant that the resolution was virtually passed. The Korean War brought both negative and positive effects to the world. It brought destruction to both to social and economic state of the states in the world. It boosted the economy of Japan and the United States. It led to the expansion of military power as well as legitimizing United Nations. It also showed that the United Nations had a feeling of anti-communism which was growing. However, many people were killed, including the civilians. About 4 million people in Korea died, in Japan, about 2.3 million people died and in China, 1 million people died. The Korean War was followed by much blood shed9. Conclusion In summation, the factors that led to the United States getting involved in the Korean War were as follows: the containment of communism, the position of Korea since it has been surrounded by powerful states such as Russia, China and Japan who were rivals of the United States and eventually the United States wanted to show off its strength in power. Direct confrontation of the Soviet Union made the United States to get into the War and finally, the attack that the Koreans posed on the ships of the merchants of the United States who were penetrating the Peninsula. On the other hand the consequences of the War were adverse. There were both positive and negative. Generally the Korean War posed more negative consequences than the positive consequences. Many lives of innocent people were taken away and economy of another country, state apart from Japan and United States, were severely damaged. Relationships of countries have also been permanently destroyed, for example the relationship between China and United States. The Fire-Agreement has really helped to prevent an eruption of another War between the Rival countries. Therefore, the countries should make peace treaties so that so prevent any more occurrence of War and also the destruction of the World. Work Cited Bragg, Christine. Vietnam, Korea and Us Foreign Policy [1945 - 75]. Oxford: Heinemann, 2005. Print. Cotton, James, and Ian Neary. The Korean War in History. Manchester: Univ. Press, 1989. Print. Cumings, Bruce. The Korean War: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2010. Print. Kaufman, Burton I. The Korean Conflict. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood Press, 1999. Print. Leckie, Robert. Conflict: The History of the Korean War, 1950-53. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996. Print. Ross, Stewart. Causes and Consequences of the Second World War. London: Evans, 2003. Print. Schulzinger, Robert D. A Companion to American Foreign Relations. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2006. Internet resource. Stokesbury, James L. A Short History of the Korean War. Pymble, NSW: HarperCollins e-books, 2009. Internet resource. Stueck, William W. The Korean War in World History. S.l.: The University press of Kentucky, 2004. Print. Turner, Michael J. British Power and International Relations During the 1950s: A Tenable Position?Lanham, Md: Lexington Books, 2009. Print. Read More