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THE KOREAN WAR
T
HE
O
UTBREAK
27 June–15 September 1950
Introduction
The Korean War was the first major armed clash between Free
World and Communist forces, as the so-called Cold War turned hot. The
half-century that now separates us from that conflict, however, has
dimmed our collective memory. Many Korean War veterans have consid-
ered themselves forgotten, their place in history sandwiched between the
sheer size of World War II and the fierce controversies of the Vietnam
War. The recently built Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National
Mall and the upcoming fiftieth anniversary commemorative events
should now provide well-deserved recognition. I hope that this series of
brochures on the campaigns of the Korean War will have a similar effect.
The Korean War still has much to teach us: about military prepared-
ness, about global strategy, about combined operations in a military
alliance facing blatant aggression, and about the courage and persever-
ance of the individual soldier. The modern world still lives with the con-
sequences of a divided Korea and with a militarily strong, economically
weak, and unpredictable North Korea. The Korean War was waged on
land, on sea, and in the air over and near the Korean peninsula. It lasted
three years, the first of which was a seesaw struggle for control of the
peninsula, followed by two years of positional warfare as a backdrop to
extended cease-fire negotiations. The following essay is one of five
accessible and readable studies designed to enhance understanding of
the U.S. Army’s role and achievements in the Korean conflict.
During the next several years the Army will be involved in many
fiftieth anniversary activities, from public ceremonies and staff rides to
professional development discussions and formal classroom training.
The commemoration will be supported by the publication of various
materials to help educate Americans about the war. These works will
provide great opportunities to learn about this important period in the
Army’s heritage of service to the nation.
This brochure was prepared in the U.S. Army Center of Military
History by William J. Webb. I hope this absorbing account, with its list
of further readings, will stimulate further study and reflection. A com-
plete listing of the Center of Military History’s available works on the
Korean War is included in the Center’s online catalog:
www.army.mil/cmh-pg/catalog/brochure.htm.
JOHN S. BROWN
Brigadier General, USA
Chief of Military History
The Outbreak
27 June–15 September 1950
Korea, a small country numbering 30 million people in 1950, lies
at the point where three great Asian powers meet—Japan, China, and
the former Soviet Union. Japan ruled Korea from 1910 to 1945.
Following the defeat of Japan in World War II, the United States and
the Soviet Union jointly occupied the country, the United States south
of the 38th Parallel and the Soviet Union north. Preoccupied with
Soviet intentions in western Europe, the United States attached little
strategic importance to Korea in the late 1940s. America did assist the
South Koreans in national elections and in formation of the Republic
of Korea (ROK). The Soviet Union, on the other hand, took an active
role in governing North Korea and in formation of the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The United States Army with-
drew its combat forces from South Korea in 1949 but left a military
advisory group to assist the ROK Army. In early 1950 the Soviets
supplied weapons to and assigned several thousand Russian soldiers
as trainers for the
North Korean People’s Army (NKPA)
. Armed clash-
es between North and South Korea were common along the 38th
Parallel, but in June 1950 American observers did not anticipate an
invasion of the South. Determined to unite Korea by force, the North
Koreans invaded South Korea on 25 June. An initially hesitant United
States decided that it must take a stand against this armed aggression.
American military intervention was ineffective at first, but by
September 1950 the combined efforts of the U.S. and ROK Armies,
complemented by air and naval superiority, held the North Koreans in
check at the Pusan Perimeter.
Strategic Setting
Korea is a mountainous peninsula jutting from the central Asian
mainland with a shape that resembles the state of Florida. Water out-
lines most of this small country, which has more than 5,400 miles of
coastline. The Yalu and Tumen Rivers define much of its northern
boundary, while major bodies of water are located on its other sides:
the Sea of Japan on the east, the Korea Strait on the south, and the
Yellow Sea on the west. China lies above the Yalu and Tumen Rivers
for 500 miles of Korea’s northern boundary as does the former Soviet
Union for some eleven miles along the lower Tumen River. Korea
varies between 90 and 200 miles in width and 525 to 600 miles in
Hyesanjin
R
MANCHURIA
Ch’osan
CHANGJIN
(CHOSIN)
RES
Hagaru-ri
Iwon
Unsan
Sinuiju
Ta
e
Hungnam
Chongju
SEA
Sinanju
OF
Wonsan
JAPAN
P’YONGYANG
Kosong
P’yonggang
Kansong
Kumhwa
Ch’orwon
Yangyang
38
Kaesong
38
°
Munsan-ni
Uijongbu
Ch’unch’on
Hongch’on
SEOUL
Samch’ok
Wonju
Inch'on
Suwon
YELLOW
Chech’on
Osan
Ulchin
Ch’ungju
SEA
Andong
Taejon
P’ohang-dong
Kunsan
Taegu
Miryang
Masan
KOREA
High
G
round
Above 200 Meters
PUSAN
Mokp’o
0
50 MILES
length. High mountains drop down abruptly to deep water on the east
where there are few harbors, but a heavily indented shoreline on the
south and west provides many harbors. Summers are hot and humid,
with a monsoon season that lasts from June to September, but in the
winter cold winds roar down from the Asian interior. A rugged land-
scape, a lack of adequate roads and rail lines, and climatic extremes
make large-scale modern military operations in Korea difficult. In
1950 the country’s population totaled about 30 million: 21 million
south of the 38th Parallel, with 70 percent of the people engaged in
agriculture, and 9 million north.
Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and ruled the country until the end
of World War II. Unlike the Soviet Union, in 1945 the United States
attached little strategic importance to Korea. At the Potsdam
Conference Soviet authorities told American representatives that the
Soviets would attack Korea after declaring war on Japan, but the col-
lapse of Japan in August 1945 made a major assault unnecessary. As a
line to divide Korea into Soviet and American areas for accepting
Japanese surrender, the U.S. War Department selected the 38th
Parallel, roughly splitting the country in half. The Soviets agreed to
operate in the north, and the American forces would operate in the
south. Also in August 1945 the Joint Chiefs of Staff designated
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, as Supreme Commander for
the Allied Powers, to receive the Japanese surrender. MacArthur
selected Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge, XXIV Corps commander, to com-
mand the United States Army Forces in Korea (USAFIK), which
administered South Korea on behalf of the United States. The foreign
ministers of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union met
in Moscow in December 1945 and developed a plan for a four-power
trusteeship of Korea for up to five years. Many South Koreans wanted
their independence immediately and protested violently. The Soviets
had their own special plans, which involved strong support for the
Korean Communist Party that assumed political power in the North
under Kim Il Sung.
In August 1947 the United States, Great Britain, and China agreed
to reconsider establishment of a four-power trusteeship to facilitate
Korean unification, but the Soviet Union refused to cooperate. The
United States then proposed that the United Nations (UN) supervise
elections in both zones of Korea and that it oversee the formation of a
national government. Elections took place in South Korea in May
1948, but the North Koreans neither participated in nor recognized the
results of the elections. The South Koreans chose representatives for
the National Assembly of the new Republic of Korea, which then
5
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