CHAPTER TWO
BACKGROUND
The road up to the North Korean attack
Korea's strategic position has for centuries
been a troublesome position between its stronger neighbors. Korea had for a long
time been a nominally subject state to the Chinese Empire. Japan's victory in the
Sino-Japanese War in 1895, ended this traditional relationship. After a short
period of sovereignty, which was complicated by Russo-Japanese rivalries, Korea
came increasingly under the influence of Japan. In 1910 Japan formally annexed
Korea. Japan's tenure of a proud Korean nation went unquestioned by any foreign
nation.
The first real commitment concerning a free and
independent Korea, were stated by China, Great Britain and the United States at
the Cairo Conference in December 1943: "The aforesaid three grate powers, mindful
of the enslavement of the people of Korea, are determined that in due course
Korea shall become free and independent." At the Potsdam Conference from 16 July
to 2 August 1945 the Allies reaffirmed their adherence to the Cairo declaration.
When the Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese 8 August 1945, they as well
announced adherence to the Potsdam declaration.
Japans sooner than anticipated capitulation 14
August 1945, made it necessary to make an emergency partition of Korea in order
to accept the surrender of Japanese troops in Korea. The Joint Chiefs of Staff
therefore proposed that the Soviet Union, who were already entering Korea, should
demobilize Japanese forces north of a dividing line drawn along the 38th
parallel, and the USA south of it. The Soviets more than accepted this; in early
December 1945 they were building field fortifications on their side of the
parallel.
The United States occupation force for Korea
south of the 38 parallel, did not begin arriving in Korea until 8 September 1945.
The XXIV Corps was sent from Okinawa, established its headquarters in Seoul, and
continued to be a part of Far East Command.
The foreign minister meeting in Moscow in
December 1945 decided to establish a Joint American-Soviet Commission whose
primary duty would be to assist the formation of a provisional Korean government.
This joint commission functioned fruitlessly and it was never able to find
solutions both the USA and the Soviet Union could accept. The United Nations'
General Assembly decided in September 1947 over strong Soviet opposition that a
national government for Korea should be established through nation-wide
elections, supervised by a United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea. With the
USSR view that General Assembly's action was illegal, the Commission was not
allowed into North Korea. The Commission arranged elections were due to this only
held south of the 38 parallel 10 May 1948. The new government of the Republic of
Korea (ROK) took over civil responsibilities for South Korea. The regime at
Pyongyang held elections in North Korea on 25 August 1948 for a Supreme People's
Assembly.
20 September 1948, the Soviet foreign minister
announced that all Russian occupation troops would be withdrawn from Korea by 1
January 1949. It invited the United States to do the same from South Korea. The
U.S. welcomed this since they for some time had wanted to withdraw their forces.
25 September 1947 the Joint Chiefs of Staff informed President Truman: "From the
standpoint of military security, the United States has little strategic interest
in maintaining the present troops and bases in Korea." If hostilities broke out,
the American forces in Korea would be a "military liability". American military
manpower was at this time severely strained, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who
viewed Cold War requirements from a global viewpoint or primarily a European
perspective, considered the 45.000 men of the U.S. Army Forces in Korea could
"well be used elsewhere".
President Truman had before the Soviet proposal
of withdrawal, in April 1948 approved a planning paper saying the U.S. would
train and equip a South Korean armed force. This force should be large enough to
maintain internal order and public safety, but not so large as to strain the
country's economy or so powerful as to provide means for aggression against North
Korea. Japanese rifles and ammunition as well as American surplus equipment were
used to equip Republic of Korea military forces. The most important of this had
been 20 liaison airplanes, 90,000 rifles, 3000 machine guns, 700 mortars, 91
105-mm howitzers, 3000 radio sets and almost 5,000 trucks. The South Korean Coast
Guard had received a total of 80 vessels ranging from mine sweepers to landing
craft and picket boats. Republic of Korea's military force of June 1950 had
82.000 men, but no weapons like tanks, fighter aircraft, or medium and heavy
artillery.
American troop withdrawal took some time. Except
for Korean Military Advisory Group personnel, who were assisting in training and
equipping the Republic of Korea Army, the last unit of American troops,
approximately 7.500 men in a regimental combat team, left 29 June 1949. The
advisory group numbered about 500 persons. Since it was responsible to the State
Department, the U.S. ambassador in Seoul supervised its work. Also in this
respect Far East Command lost its direct responsibility for the defense of
Republic of Korea.
In a speech before the National Press Club in
Washington DC on 12 January 1950, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson said the
defensive perimeter of the United States ran from the Aleutians to Japan, then to
the Ryukyus, and then to the Philippines. Acheson's speech was criticized by
those who said it informed that the U.S. did not intend to defend Korea or
Formosa. In the soft-spoken language of diplomacy, however, Acheson had actually
stated that the United States would unilaterally defend areas, which were
strategically important to it, and would participate with the United Nations to
check aggression against other free peoples in the Pacific. But that was not
something everyone understood easily.
Korean Military Advisory Group and other
intelligence reports in spring 1950, made it clear that the transfer of North
Korea soldiers released from the successful Chinese Communist campaign would
increasingly threaten Republic of Korea. A report 10 March 1950 relayed an other
report saying North Korea would invade sometimes in June 1950. Military
intelligence agencies in the Far East correctly assessed the build-up of North
Korea forces, but they were unable to agree as to the likelihood of a Korean
War.
Other intelligence reported of a strong North
Korean People's Army. It had field army of more than 100.000 soldiers. A quarter
of the army had fought with the Chinese communist forces in China. Several
thousand others had received extensive technical training in the Russian Army.
North Korea had educated a comprehensive structure of officers from 1946 onwards.
Their forces were equipped with modern Soviet weapon including more than 150
Soviet T-34 tanks and 600 pieces of artillery. Their airforce had fighter-ground
attack aircraft and light bombers, totaling more than 130 combat planes.
U.S. defenses after World War II
As World War II was over, and with no new enemy
in sight, a lot was done to get U.S. soldiers home as fast as possible. All the
equipment produced to win the war, were the loser when all the skilled
technicians went home and essential service units ceased to exist. A lot of
supplies were scattered over the pacific islands. The intention was to bring it
to bases near service units and close to civilian markets to be sold. While the
soldiers went home, the equipment stayed were it where, and the "roll up" was
still going on as the Korean War broke out.
The period from World War II to the Korean War
was a long fight over military expenditure and budgets. The budget situation was
so tight that newly developed equipment was bought in very limited numbers, and
only a part of the equipment being worn out could be replaced. Money, or rather
the lack of it, to maintain much of the property was one of three reasons
mentioned by Huston, for getting rid of surplus military equipment from 1945 to
1947. The two other reasons were difficulties of estimating future requirements,
and demands and pressure for quick release of items for civilian use.
In 1948, international development, particularly
in Czechoslovakia, Germany and Finland, made U.S. military and political leaders
increase the defense budget, and make the largest peacetime volunteer army in
history with 660.000 soldiers. In addition peacetime draft were introduced. The
Joint Chiefs of Staff prepared plans to meet a possible major emergency within
the near future, and they reported logistical planning kept pace with strategic
planning.
But by 1949 the cutbacks set in again and the
military budget for 1950 dropped from the suggested $17,5 billion in January
1949, first to $16,9 billion, then $14,2 billion. Finally Secretary of Defense
Louis A. Johnson in December 1949 said defense expenditures for fiscal year 1950
would be $13 billion. Such a cutback in the midst of an expansion program made
military planners use most of their time to re plan and to reallocate men and
materials to come within new limits. The total amount of money appropriated for
all the armed forces during the five fiscal years 1946 through 1950 had been
approximately $90 billion. Only 18 percent of this were spent on major
procurement.
By spring 1950, effects of the build-up begun in
1948 had been almost wholly dissipated. Discussions were going on to eliminate
one of the Army's 10 active divisions by reducing the number of divisions in
Japan from four to three. Even active units of the Army could not be equipped to
prescribed allowances with modern types of equipment. Some items, such as machine
guns and towed artillery, were in plentiful supply. Others were plentiful enough
but obsolescent. Some items, including heavy construction equipment,
self-propelled artillery, new model tanks, and antiaircraft guns, were critically
short. Although a large part of the reserve stocks was in good condition, all of
it was World War II equipment. The Air Force and the Navy were not much better
off.
The large stockpiles on hand at the end of World
War II were rapidly being depleted as it was used for training activities, being
deterioration, or transferred to foreign countries under military assistance
programs. At the same time, limitations of the budgets had precluded any
significant new procurement. The result was that stocks of several types of
ammunition were falling far below what had been set as the needs for a
mobilization reserve."
"The attack of North Koreans across the 38th
parallel, on 25 June 1950, did more than bring the U.S. flag back to the Asian
mainland. It also brought our national military thinking back to the facts of
life." These are the words of Lieutenant Colonel J. D. Hittle, U.S. Marine Corps,
and he continues: "For all too long too large a portion of our national military
thinking had abandoned the principles on which our national security is based,
abandoned those immutable axioms of common sense for the siren song of those
advertising that security could be bought in the bargain basement where patent
medicine for victory was available without paying the historic price of adequate
ground troops and sea power."
The Korean War a chronological overview
The Korean War itself started with North Koreas
sudden and all-out attack on South Korea at 04.00 on the overcast, showery
morning of Sunday 25 June 1950, local time. On the initiative of the USA, United
Nation's Security Council approved a resolution the same day as the attack. It
stated that the action of the North Korean forces constituted a breach of the
peace, called on the invaders to withdraw north of the thirty-eight parallel, and
called on the members of the United Nations to give assistance in executing the
resolution. The Soviet Union would normally have stopped a resolution like this,
but they boycotted the Security Council as protest against failure to seat a
Chinese Communist delegate. The Security Council adopted its second resolution 27
June, calling upon every member state of the United Nations to assist Republic of
Korea towards the aggressor.
Republic of Korea's military forces, which were
completely inferior to the North Korean Peoples Army, retreated rapidly
southwards after heavy losses. It was disposed in depth with no concentration of
troops. Of the seven Republic of Korea field divisions, only four were forward in
defense. The three others were well to the south engaged in counter-guerrilla
operations or in the completion of training. Seoul fell 28 June. A large part of
the military equipment that the Republic had received from the USA, was lost in
the first few days of the North Korea attack.
The first U.S. troops, from the occupational
forces in Japan, were overrun by the North Koreans north of Osan 5 July. New U.S.
units from Japan were hastily thrown into the battle, fighting desperate,
delaying action. The 24th Infantry Division was defeated at Pyongtaek towards the
middle of July, with the loss of all division artillery guns. Fierce fighting
took place also at Taejon with severe losses of personnel and equipment. The
United States had its first major victory in the Korean War at Yechon 20 July. By
4 August the Pusan Perimeter in the southeastern Korea had been established. A
fierce battle took place at the Naktong Bulge from 5 to 19 August. The Perimeter
Battle, probably the heaviest fighting of the war, raged from 27 August to 15
September, with the North Korean Naktong Offensive from 1 to 5 September.
The landing at Inchon 15 September 1950 took the
North Korean Peoples Army completely by surprise. They had overstretched their
resources and were not able to hold back. More then half of the North's army in
Republic of Korea ended up as prisoners or lost their lives. The first UN forces
crossed the 38. parallel and into North Korea 7 October. The first Chinese
Communist Forces entered Korea 12 October. The capital of North Korea, Pyongyang,
was taken 19 October and X Corps landed at Wonsan on the east coast of North
Korea 26 October. Towards the end of November, X Corps in the east and Eight Army
in the west were closing the Yalu, the border river to China.
The day after the jump off of MacArthur's "final
offensive" 24 November, more then 300.000 Chinese soldiers struck against Eight
Army, and two days later against X Corps. This "surprising intervention" by the
Chinese Communist Forces, drew the UN forces south in hastily retreat. They
crossed the 38. parallel and Seoul was lost again 4 January 51. The UN forces
were reinforced, reassumed the offensive 25 January 51, and retook Seoul 14
February 51. Four months later, 13 June 51, the UN forces were back on the 38
parallel.
The Soviet delegate to the SC proposed truce
talks on the 23 June 51, which began at Kaesong 10 July 51. UN forces used the
autumn of 1951 to straighten out the lines in bloody battles over Heartbreak
Ridge. In the end of November 1951, a cease-fire line was agreed upon at the line
of contact. 1952 brought riots among prisoners of war, and truce talk deadlock
over their repatriation. Towards the end of the conflict, the Korean War was
primarily an artillery war, with both sides dug in and cannonading each other
rather than employing maneuver. Sick and wounded prisoners were exchanged at
Panmunjom in April 1953. The battle for Pork Chop Hill raged the same month. In
May 1953 there were savage fighting along the stalemated line, while details of
truce ironed out at Panmunjom. The cease-fire agreement was signed 27 July 1953
at Panmunjom, where the screening and repatriation of prisoners of war began in
the beginning of September 1953. The United Nations suffered 142,000 casualties
in the Korean War, and North Korea and Chinese Cumminst Forces a much larger
numer.
There have to this date not been signed any
peace treaty for the Korean War.
|