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The Korean Peninsula is about the size of Minnesota, and Korea was a unified an independent country for a thousand years up until the 20th Century.
In 1910, Japan annexed Korea and
ruled the country until the fall the of Japanese empire at the end of World War II.
As the war drew to a close, Russian troops occupied the northern half of the country down to the 38th Parallel, an agreement
that had been made earlier with the United States. U.S. troops occupied the southern half. It was supposed to be a temporary arrangement.
The Cold War made the two Koreas a permanent situation, with the north
becoming a Russian-style communist country and the south seeking democracy under Syngman Rhee.
U.S. troops had been withdrawn by 1949, but the north and the south continued to fight along their border. U.S. aid
to the Republic of Korean army was restricted because of Rhee's frequent threats to invade the north and unify the country.
The bloody peace, which had cost 100,000 lives in five years, came to an abrupt end on
June 25, 1951, when North Korean troops stormed over the border and headed for Seoul.
Some 90,000 North Korean troops, bolstered by 100 fighter planes and 150 Russian tanks, pushed back the poorly equipped ROK
soldiers all along the front.
President Truman brought in the United Nations, but also committed U.S. troops to what became known as the Korean "Police Action." Only recently did the U.S. Congress officially
declare what happened over the next three years as the Korean War.
In early July, the U.S. 24th Division was the first to see action, and its main goal was to hold back the North Korean onslaught while more
troops and supplies were brought into the southern port city of Pusan.
The North Koreans pushed on until the U.S. and ROK troops were contained in a 50 by 100 miles area in the southeast corner of Korea around
Pusan. The U.S. had suffered over 6,000 casualties by this time, and the ROK 70,000.
With more troops arriving daily, though, and the North Korean offensive slowing, the tide began to turn. The North Koreans had
also suffered greatly in the battles, with over 60,000 casualties and the loss of two thirds of their tanks.
As summer wore on, a dramatic reversal of fortune overtook the war. The UN troops began to break out of
the Pusan Perimeter, and in mid-September Gen. MacArthur launched the daring invasion at Inchon.
The North Korean army crumbled before the counter attack, and in two weeks Seoul was recaptured and all of South
Korea had been swept clean of North Korean troops. If the war had ended at the end of September, it would have been regarded as one of the great achievements in U.S. military history.
And not without help. While
the U.S. bore the brunt of the fighting in the war, 15 other nations contributed troops.
As the UN troops reached and crossed the 38th Parallel, a political decision had to be made on whether to carry the war
into the north. Whether it was to try and unite Korea under Syngman Rhee or an effort to destroy the North Korean army, the decision was made to push on.
The ROK troops made great advances in the north, but the
drive to the Yalu River by the UN was beset with military blunders and a bitter feud between MacArthur and President Truman.
All seemed to be well as long as the enemy was the shattered North Korean army, but on
Oct. 26 all that changed. An ROK unit was ambushed and destroyed by Chinese troops. On Nov. 1, the Chinese attacked the 8th U.S. Cavalry unit at Unsan and inflicted heavy casualties.
Despite these ominous
warnings, the UN pushed ahead and in late November, a small unit from the Army's 7th Division reached the Yalu River. It was a short-lived triumph.
On Nov. 25, 1950, the Chinese Army began an all-out assault, and
with great success. Infiltrating the UN positions, they overwhelmed the American and UN troops with both stealth and numbers. The 7th Division and the X Corps retreated with heavy casualties all the way back to the
coast.
All along the line, the UN retreated until it was able to establish a Main Line of Resistance not too far from the original 38th Parallel positions.
Gen. Matthew Ridgway took over as U.S. commander and
the UN went back on the offensive for a time. Seoul had been retaken by the communists in January, but in March, with Ridgway leading the way, Seoul and much of the ground lost in the previous two months was
retaken.
By June, the UN forces had taken the Iron Triangle, a strategically important region. This time, however, there was no effort to drive to the Yalu. After this time, the war stalemated for two years while
diplomats sought a way end the fighting.
Many of the bloodiest battles of the war went on during that time including famous actions at Pork Chop Hill, Old Baldy and Heartbreak Ridge.
The war finally was ended
on July 27, 1953, when a truce was signed at Panmunjom.
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