Liberation, Division, and War

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South Korea was smashed by armed forces from communist North Korea and this set off the Korean War; at that time, the United States acted under the auspices of the United Nations. The act of the United States sprang to the defense of South Korea and this led to a bloody and frustrating war that lasted three years. Korea was a former Japanese possession and the country was divided into regions that followed the occupation of the Second World War. The United States forces accepted the surrender of the Japanese forces that were in southern Korea; on the other hand, the Soviet forces also accepted the surrender of the Japanese forces in northern Korea. Similarly to Germany, however, the division that was perceived to be temporary soon became permanent. The Soviets facilitated the establishment of communist regime in North Korea, while the United States participated in the division by sourcing for finance and military support for South Korea.
The Korean War became the first hot water after the Cold War, over 55,000 members of the American troops died during the conflict. Korean War became the first limited war in which the United States’ aim was not to have a complete and total defeat of its enemy. The limited goal of the United States was to protect South Korea; the only rational approach for the United States was to try and protect South Korea in order to avoid the occurrence of the Third World War. The United States also wanted to avoid stretching its finite resources too thinly around the globe; this however, proved to be a frustrating experience for people of the United States since they were used to victory that was achieved during the Second World War. The model of limited war was a difficult word to comprehend among the America...

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...riation, and hence they chose to live in the Communist China while others went to North Korea.
The armistice acted as a ceasefire and not a peace treaty to end the war; the final peace treaty revolved around an agenda at the Geneva Conference of 1954. By the time the conference began, nothing was discussed except for the French colonial war in Indochina. There was a joint defense accord signed between the United States and the ROK, making the United States’ troops become part of the demilitarized zone patrols semi-permanently. There were long-lasting consequences of the Korean War and though it did not unify the country, the larger goals of the United States were achieved, which include the preservation and promotion of NATO interests as well as the defending of Japan. The war also divided Korea, making it complicated to accommodate both the United States and China.

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