Post World War II Korean War

1. EAST AND
SOUTHEAST
ASIA
Bea Joy Lorraine A. Arcenio
III-9 BSE History
Philippine Normal University
POST WORLD
WAR II IN
KOREA

5. KOREA BEFORE 1950
• Korea goes through the
phase of Japanese rule,
beginning from August 29,
1910.
• Russo-Japanese War
(Manchuria, Korea)
• Treaty of Portsmouth and it
was signed in September 5th,
1905
(UNITED STATES, RUSSIA,
JAPAN)

6. KOREA BEFORE 1950
• Japan manages to
gain the solitary
control over Korea.
• the Japan-Korea
Annexation Treaty
was signed in 1910

7. • year of 1939, colonized Korea became a
part of the Empire of Japan along with
Taiwan
• the power of Japanese Empire began to
descend
(US, USSR, UK, China held conference in
Cairo, November 1943)
KOREA BEFORE 1950

8. • the United States dropped atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945
• USSR declared war on Japan and led the
Red Army to the northern Korea and
Manchuria
KOREA BEFORE 1950

9. • the US responded
by directing a
demilitarization
line - the 38th
parallel - on the
peninsula with the
agreement of
USSR

10. • Korean nationalists who gathered
with common hatred of Japan
sought their way to establish an
independent government of Korea.
• The two most prominent leaders
during this era were Kim Il-Sung
(North Korea) and Syng-Man Rhee
(South Korea)
KOREA BEFORE 1950

11. • Due to the continuous hostility between
North and South, the United States passed
on the issue to the United Nations (UN).
KOREA BEFORE 1950

12. • separate free election was held in the
Southern Korea, making Syng-Man Rhee a first
elected president of the Republic of Korea.
• Kim Il-Sung was also appointed as the Prime
Minister of the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea (DPRK) by the north Koreans, and formed
a new nation.
“becomes a significant event that
foreshadows the indication of a civil war.”
KOREA BEFORE 1950

13. North Korea should be recaptured by
the force of arms to fulfill the UN’s
mandate that the Republic of Korea
government is the only legitimate
government, to fulfill the ancient
nationality of Korea.

14. Kim, he had more organized military
plans to lead the unification of the
peninsula

15. Mao Zedong came close to unifying
all China under the Communist
regime and he was frustrated to see
Mao’s success yet himself being an
“incomplete dictator.
Stalin finally gave him the permission to
invade across the 38th parallel, Kim
directly initiated the first attack across
the border on 4 A.M. of June 25th,
1950, and thus began the Korean War.

16. THE KOREAN WAR
AND THE COLD WAR
• On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when
some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean
People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel,
the boundary between the Soviet-backed
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the
north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to
the south.

17. • USA and its allies agreed to
help defend South Korea
with the support of the UN
• Afraid that communism
would spread to the south
• Did not want communists to
extend their influence into
South Korea

18. had decided on a new set of war aims.
THE KOREAN WAR
AND THE COLD WAR

19. • UN troops used Pusan as their base, a major
port at the southern tip of Korea that
possessed an airfield
• They attacked and defeated the North
Koreans
• Captured Inchon and Seoul
• Instead of ending the war, the American
President, with the approval of the UN,
ordered an invasion of North Korea
THE KOREAN WAR
AND THE COLD WAR

20. • The Chinese communists had come into power
• They warned that they would attack if the UN
troops crossed the 38th Parallel into North Korea
• They would not allow their North Korean ally to
be totally defeated
• Nor would they allow UN troops to be near
China’s border
• The warning was ignored
THE KOREAN WAR
AND THE COLD WAR

21. • End Oct 1950 : UN
troops not only
reached Pyongyang
but also further north
to the Yalu River,
the border between
NK and China

22. • China felt
threatened and
moved into NK
• Mid-Jan 1951 :
Chinese army
pushed UN
troops back into
SK and occupied
Seoul

23. • UN troops counter-
attacked and
drove the Chinese
back to the 38th
Parallel

24. • The invasion of SK quickly became a bigger
conflict involving USA and its Western allies on
the one hand and China on the other
• Finally in 1953, an agreement was signed to stop
the fighting
• A demilitarized zone was created between NK and
SK
• Up to today, the Korean Peninsula remains
divided
• The Korean was the first time in history when a
number of countries grouped together to prevent
one country from forcibly taking over another and
changing its way of life