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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U.S. troops had been withdrawn by 1949, but the north and the south continued to fight along their border.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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