Fourth Session: October 8 th 9 th, 2016 Campion School Model United Nations Historical Crisis Committee Study Guide: Korean War (1950-1953) Chair: Emma Baker Co-Chair: Iliana Zante
Campion School Model United Nations 11 Introduction Historical Background: Japan and Korea had had relations, for over 1500 years, based on cultural exchange, political influence, war, and trade. The 1905 Korea-Japan Convention, however, unbalanced the relationship between the two countries, by making Korea a protectorate of Japan. The status of these two countries therefore stopped being equal. It was in 1910, nevertheless, that Korea was fully annexed by Japan. Under the Korea-Japan Annexation Treaty, the emperor Sunjong of Korea officially handed sovereign power over his country to the Emperor Meiji of Japan completely and forever 1. This 35-year colonial rule had mixed consequences on Korea; it is argued that, on one hand, it improved the country s infrastructures, education and economic institutions; however on the other hand, the Koreans endured discrimination and sufferings. The defeat of Japan in the Second World War changed its relations with Korea, and the control it had over this country. The 1945 Potsdam Conference established that Korea would be divided into two areas of occupation; a Soviet north, and an American south. The division would be made along the 38 th parallel, a line chosen by U.S. military planners at the 1 "The Annexation of Korea." Editorial. The Japan Times, August 29, 2010. March 28, 2014. Accessed August 28, 2016. 1
2 Campion School Model United Nations Potsdam Conference. Although the terms decided on stated that the occupations of Korea would only be temporary, allowing Korea to later decide on its own political stance, no date had been set for the end of the U.S. and Soviet occupation. The Soviets and the Americans disagreed more and more on the future of Korea, increasing the levels of tension within the country. The two nations had opposing views on the unification of the country, with the US offering to hold national elections, and the Soviets refusing. In addition, there had been more and more conflicts between communist and nationalist forces in South Korea, which were ended by Syngman Rhee in May 1948. He was an opponent of communism who won the first presidential elections of the newly proclaimed Republic of Korea, after being officially appointed by the United States as the head of provisional government. In the North however, the Soviets had been working on setting a Communist regime. North Korea s Communist Party the Korean Workers Party - was inaugurated in 1946, installing a Soviet-backed leadership including Kim 2. After the 1948 proclamation of the Democratic People s Republic of Korea, with Kim II-sung as a leader, the Soviet troops decided to withdraw. The US decided to follow the same path, and withdraw as well in 1949. When North Korea attempted to reunite the nation by force and launching a massive military assault on South Korea in 1950, the US quickly decided to come to aid. 2 "North Korea Profile - Timeline." BBC News. August 24, 2016. Accessed August 28, 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15278612. 2
Campion School Model United Nations 11 Definition of key terms Key Countries and Organizations: North Korean People s Army (NKPA): The official army of North Korea. People s Republic of China (PRC): Communist China. Democratic People s Republic of Korea (PRK): North Korea. Republic of Korea (ROK): South Korea United Nations (UN): International peace-keeping body founded in 1945. Key Areas: Demilitarized Zone: A buffer zone between North and South Korea which should contain no troops or weapons (but in practice is heavily militarized due to fear). Inchon: Port on the West Coast of South Korea. Pusan: Situated on the South-East coast of South Korea and was the only part of the country which was never touched by the NKPA. Pyongyang: North Korean capital. More Key Terms: Armistice: In other words a ceasefire; both sides agree to stop fighting. An armistice usually makes way for a Peace Treaty yet North and South Korea never signed one, which technically means that they are still at a state of war. NSC-81/1: National Security Council document that gave MacArthur the rationale to cross over the 38 th parallel to invade North Korea. 3
4 Campion School Model United Nations Timeline including UN s involvement 4
Campion School Model United Nations 11 25 June 1950 North Korea invades South Korea in attempts to reunite nation, with 135000 men, thus initiating the Korean War 29 June 1950 First U.S ground troops in Korea 33 officers and men of the 507 th Aircraft Artillery Battalion are moved from Japan to protect Suwon Aifield Phase I of U.N. Defensive 27 June 1950 U.S. President Harry Truman deploys the 7 th Fleet to the waters off Taiwan as an act of prevention to avoid spreading of Korean conflict to other Far-Eastern regions 27 June 1950 First air victory of the war; an American All-Weather Squadron shoots down North Korean Yak fighter 1 July 1950 First U.S. infantry unit arrives in Korea 2 July 1950 General Douglas MacArthur requests the immediate dispatch of a Marine Corps Regimental Combat Team with air support, for immediate duty in Korea 5 July 1950 Battle of Osan First U.S. ground action of the war 6 July 1950 Hospital established in Pusan, Korea, for the wounded 7 July 1950 United Nations Security Council passes a resolution recommending a unified leader in Korea, and asking the U.S. to name him 7 July 1950 First Provision Marine Brigade is activated in California, at Camp Pendleton 8 July 1950 Army General Douglas MacArthur is designated as the commander of the United Nations Command by President Truman 14 July 1950 All Republic of Korea forces are placed under the United Nations Command 19-20 July 1950 Battle of Taejon Korean People s Army defeats 24 th Infantry Division and captures the town 25 July 1950 Entire 1 st Marine Division is brought to full war-time strength and is instructed to embark for duty in Korea between August 10-15 3 August 1950 First Marine Corps aviation missions against North Korea are flown 4 August 16 September 1950 1-5 September 1950 About 84500 U.S. troops participate in defense of Pusan Perimeter (Battle of Pusan Perimeter was a battle between North Korean forces and the United Nations) North Korean forces fail to break the United Nations perimeter defense at Pusan Phase II of U.N. Intervention 16-27 September Pusan Perimeter Breakout 8 th U.S. Army break out of the Pusan 1950 Perimeter and four U.S. divisions participate 30 September 1950 Republic of Korea forces cross the 38 th parallel 7 October 1950 U.S. troops cross the 38 th parallel 20 October 1950 First airborne operation considered a failure as no Prisoners of War were rescued, and no high-value North Korean officials were captured as 5
6 Campion School Model United Nations intended Phase III of Interventions: Chinese Communist Forces (CCG) 25 October 1950 CCF launch their first phase offensive 1-2 November First U.S. battle with Chinese Communist Forces 1950 8 November 1950 First all-jet combat in history 27 November 15 Battle of Changijin Reservoir December 1950 23 December 1950 Eighth Army established defensive positions around Seoul 10 November 24 December 1950 31 December 1950 7 January 1951 U.S. Navy evacuates 105,000 American, South Korean and allied troops, 91,000 civilian refugees and 350,000 tons of equipment and supplied from North Korea to South Korea Third battle of Seoul results in the loss of the city to communist forces Phase IV: First U.N. counteroffensive 25 January 1951 Operation THUNDERBOLT convinces American lieutenant general Mathew Ridgway by the end of January to begin a slow counter-offensive using meat grinder tactics 16 February 27 July 1951 March 1951 Siege of Wonsan. Task force 95 (U.N. blockade and Escort Force) blockades Wonsan Harbor. This was the longest effective siege of a port in U.S. Navy history Eighth Army mounts first major raids into North Korea using North Korean partisans 14 March 1951 U.N. forces retake Seoul Phase V: CCF Spring Offensive 22-29 April 1951 CCF First Spring Offensive largest single battle of the Korean War 22-25 April 1951 Battle of Imjin River (Gloster Hill), the 29 th Infantry Brigade (UK) slows Chinese advances until further U.N. forces are able to blunt the Chinese offensive. 30 April 1951 CCF offensive is stopped north of Seoul 15-20 May 1951 CCF Second Spring Offensive, four U.S. divisions participate 20 May 1951 Eighth army counterattacks and pushes the enemy north of the 38 th parallel 1-20 June 1951 Battle for the Punchbowl Phase VI: U.N. Summer-Fall Offensive 31 August 18 September 1951 United States forces assume the offensive 1 st Marine division is ordered to take the rest of the Punchbowl 6
Campion School Model United Nations 11 3-19 October 1951 Operation COMMANDO last action before war became largely static 10 July 27 November 1951 Korean War truce talks begin on July 10 th. It was decided, on November 27, that the 38 th parallel would be the line of demarcation. U.N. forces undertook no major offensive operations for the remainder of the war Second Korean Winter 23-25 March 1952 1 st Marine Division is moved from the Punchbowl area to a line on the western front on the left flank of the U.S. Eighth Army and becomes part of I Corps Phase VIII: Korean Summer-Fall 1 May 1952 General Matthew Ridgway appointed Supreme Allied Commander Europe thus replacing General Dwight Eisenhower who later became the 34 th U.S. President 12 May 1952 General Mark Clark assumes command of U.N. forces in Korea 23-26 June 1952 Air Force, Navy and Marine aircraft conduct a series of attacks which knock out North Korea s power grid for two weeks Phase IX: Third Korean Winter 16-18 April 1953 Battle of Pork Chop Hill. 17 th and 31 st Infantry Regiments hit hard and suffer heavy casualties Phase X: Conclusion 20-26 April 1953 Operation Little Switch exchanges sick and wounded Prisoners of War, including 149 Americans 28-30 May 1953 While negotiators work out truce details, CCF launch regimental-strength attacks against U.S. I Corps sector. 13-27 July 1953 Battle of Kumsong River Salient. Last Communist offensive. CCF launch a six-division attack largely directed at ROK forces because of the Republic of Korea s refusal to participate in peace negotiations 24-26 July 1953 Final U.S. ground combat. Heavy enemy (3000 men) attack is launched 7
Major countries and organizations involved China: In 1949, October 1st, Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People s Republic of China (PRC). This came as a result of a full-scale civil war between the Nationalist Party (otherwise known as the Kuomintang) and the Chinese Communist Party which was in force immediately after the Second World War and had been systematically growing since the 1920 s. The US tried to prevent the rising of the PRC by writing up reports and sending Nationalist troops to areas of Japanese occupation, in order to claim the land. On the other hand, the USSR, which occupied parts of Manchuria, solely withdrew when Communist forces came to claim the land. After years of civil war and international tension, there was Communist victory and Chiang Kaishek, the former leader of the Nationalist Party found retreat in Taiwan. This therefore explains the cooperation between China and Russia for the support of Northern Korea. United States: Following the bleak period of the Second World War, the US became suspicious of the USSR's expansionist aims. The US itself wished to expand its economic influence to other continents and was pressured by the Republican Party to get involved in order to promote liberalism and worldwide trade. The US adopted the policy of containment after watching nations fall systematically one by one to Communism with the support of the USSR. Considering her own and global economic interests, the US decided to take the side of the South, setting up a nationalist puppet government led by Syngman Rhee to fight the Communist North. USSR: In 1917, during the First World War, Lenin led the nation into communism, which lasted up until 1991. The USSR led an isolationist policy at the very beginning, even dropping out of the First World War in order to focus on its new domestic and economic policies. However, after the closure of the Second
Campion School Model United Nations 11 World War, the USSR was interested in acquiring satellite states on its Eastern border as a means of protection since its borders had no mountains or geological barriers to fend off enemies. Additionally, USSR s ideology dating back to Tsarist Russia played a key role since it encouraged rivalry with the West and the building of an empire. Consequently, the USSR was interested in maintaining the Communist government which existed in the north, to expand its sphere of influence. This was done by sending over arms and economic support. Other key players include: Britain, Australia, Canada, Philippines, Turkey, Greece (etc.) and the peace keeping body created in 1945, the UN. 1