This shows the division at the 38th parallel that separated Korea into North Korea and South Korea.
The flag in this Photo represents the North Korean flag.
The flag in this picture shows the South Korean flag.
This is the United States flag. The United States helped aid South Korea in the Korean War.
This is the Soviet Union Flag. The Soviets aided the North Koreans in the Korean War.
After WWII Korea had internal disagreements. They could not come to an agreement on which government system to become or which countries to trust. They decided to split into two sides of Korea. This division was called the 38th parallel. North Korea decided to work with the Soviet Union. North Korea became a more industrial focused country. The Soviet Union provided troops to help rebuild North Korea and also aided them in attacking South Korea. One of these attacks from North Korea happened on July 25th 1950. The United States did not appreciate this. They were aiding South Korea and were not giving up on their side. South Korea became more economically focused on agriculture. The United States felt that it was time to show North Korea who is boss. They begin to push the North Koreans out. By September, the South Koreans had pushed the North Koreans all the way to the perimeter of Pusan. The warfront battle at Pusan seemed strong at first ,but both sides became weak. It ended with North Korea backing out.
The battle at Inchon took place and was a victory for the Soviets. The North Korean’s came in strong. They damaged many of the South Korean defenses. This slowed down the push, but the South Koreans pulled through and had managed to move the North Koreans on further. Then came the Seoul . This is the area that the South Koreans with help from American Marines used door to door combat invasions. This caused many casualties and destroyed the land. Seoul was liberated and the battle had stopped. Throughout the Korean war, the soviets seemed to stay one step ahead but throughout these battles they were pushed around and things were starting to look like the South was ahead. They managed to push the North all the way to the border of China. This led China feeling threatened and they sent out 300,000 troops to protect themselves.
The people decided that this fighting needed to stop. They form an agreement in July of 1953 called the Triangular Diplomacy. This is an agreement to re-establish the 38th parallel and stop the fighting. The two countries are still separated to this day. North Korea calls themselves a socialist republic, but many believe that they are basically a totalitarian stalinist dictatorship. While North Korea has a more reformed government, South Korea is actually a republic government.
This is a map of the direction of the push from both sides.
This is the aftermath of Pusan.
This is the aftermath of Inchon.
This is the aftermath of Seoul.
This is the Korean War Memorial located in Washington. D.C.
Links for Further Learning
- http://www.korean-war.com
- http://www.nps.gov/kowa/index.htm
- http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/kowar/kowar.htm