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U.S. and Soviet Union split Korea
In 1950 the Korea Peninsula was divided between a Soviet-backed government in the north and an American-backed government in the south. The division of Korea into two halves had come at the end of World War II. In August of 1945 the Soviet Union invaded Korea, which had been under Japan's control since 1910. -
Collapse of the Japanese Empire
The collapse of the Japanese empire was complete when Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945. In 1942 at Midway, and then in Guadalcanal the Japanese was increasingly stretched to defend the territory that they had. And on September 9, 1945 the empire had collapsed. -
Conventional Invasion of the South
KIm II-sung proposed his case to Joseph Stalin, who was the Soviet leader. Kim II-sung propesed to him a conventional invasion of the south. Stalin refused because he was concerned about the unpreparedness of the North Korean armed forces and was concerned about possible U.S. By about April 1950, Stalin approved the invasion. -
The Chinese First Offensive
The Chinese First Offensive had the limited objective of testing U.S.-ROK figting qualities and slowing their advance. During the first battle, the Chinese ruined seven Korean and U.S. regiments. The Chinese suffered many casualties during this battle, but were convinced they had found a formula for fighting UNC forces. -
North Korea invaded South Korea
The 38th parallel became a political barrier between the two Korean states. The tension between these two states led to escalated open warfare. And on June 25, 1950 North Korean forces invaded South Korea. -
Truman orders air and naval support for South Korea
President Truman ordered naval forces to fight with South Korea's army. This country took action, as a member of the United Nations, to enforce the cease-fire order issued by the Security Council. -
U.S. is provided with supplies like surplus light weapons
During the 1950's the U.S. was the leading source of small arms supply to Central America. These arms have been have been flowed to Central America both illegally and legally. -
U.N. forces cross the 38th parallel
The U.N. forces fight with South Korea until September 15 when the American forces, under the command of General MacArthur successfully landed on Inchon. This landing allowed the U.N. forces to break through the Pusan perimeter, to retake Seoul, and to cross the thirty-eighth parallel by September 30. By the end of the first phrase of the Korean war, 111,000 South Koreans died and 57,000 were missing. -
U.S. troops invade at Inchon
U.S. Marines landed at the western port city of Inchon, near Seoul. They were waiting to move inland to retake the capital and cut out the already tenuous North Korean supply lines. -
Truman authorizes MacArthur
President Truman authorizes MacArthur to order his forces to pursue the retreating North Koreans across the 38th parallel, into North Korean territory. This decision marks a fundamental enlargement in American war arms, now expanded from merely rescuing South Korea to rolling back the Communist regime in North Korea. Truman's orders direct MacArthur to keep pushing northward as long as he does not encounter Soviet or Chinese opposition and he remains confident of victory. -
Chinese divisions enter fighting
Because of the increase in opposition, the UN offensive collapses. The Chinese troops then push the UN forces back across the 38th parallel and capture the Southern capital of Seoul. -
Truman relieves MacArthur of his command
Due to his public statements that contradicted the administration's policies, MacArthur was relieved of his commands by Truman. MacArthur was the commander of United Nations forces fighting in the Korean War. -
New Policy
The U.S. National Security Council adopted a new policy that committed the United States to support a unified, democratic Korea, but not necessarily one unified by military action and the overthrow of Kim II-sung. -
End of the Korean War
The Korean War came to an end on July 27, 1953 when the armistice was signed. It established a committee of representatives from surrounding countries to decide the fate of thousands of prisoners of war. A new border between North and South Korea was drawn as a result of the Korean War. -
Operation Big Switch
Operation Big Switch was repatriation of all remaining prisoners of the Korean War. Cease-fire talks had been going on between Communist and UN forces since 1951, with one of the main stumbling blocks between the Communist insistence that all prisoners be returned home, with the UN insisting that prisoners who wished to remain where they were be allowed to do so. After talks dragged on for two years, the Chinese and North Koreans relented on this point, and the armistice was signed on July 27,
