The Korean War and other Information.

  

The UN Forces captured Pyongyang in North Korea on October 18, 1950. This was done mostly by American and South Korean troops. This marked a massive advance of the U.N. forces in the Korean War. Later, North Korean forces retreated towards the Chinese border. Previously, On August 12, 1950, the USAF dropped 625 tons of bombs on North Korea and 2 week later, the daily tonnage increase to some 800 tons. U.s. warplanes dropped more naplam and bombs on North Korea than they did during the whole Pacific campaign during World War II.  There was a debate in America on what to do. President Harry Truman wanted U.N. forces to stop at the North Korean and Chinese border. General MacArthur wanted to continue to go into China to further fight the Korean War, but Harry Truman feared that action would provoke a Chinese response and possibly WWIII. By October 25, 1950, UN troops were approaching the Yalu River. On that day, Chinese People's Volunteers Force (CPVF) troops under veteran commander General Pen Dehaui cross into North Korea. The Chinese inflicted seirous losses on the lead units of the U.N. advance. The sudden force of Chinese troops sent the main body of U.N. forces reelign back to the south bank of the Ch'ongch'on River.

On November 25, 1950, China, issuing warnings against the U.N. that it should cease aggressions against North Korea, sets a trap to crush MacArthur's army. Chinese forces, numbering 130,000 to 300,000, invade North Korea and push U.N. troops southward in a disorganized, hasty retreat. From November 7 to December 9, 1950, with their backs to the Sea of Japan and fighting in a brutally cold winter, U.S. Marines encircled at the Chosin Reservoir retreat to the ports Hungnam and Wonsan, where some 20,000 troops and refugees are evacuated. Known as the battle of "Frozen Chosin," the Chinese route 15,000 U.N. troops, causing 12,000 casualties; of those, 3,000 are killed. 

On November 30, 1950, President Harry S. Truman went too far by threatening to use the atomic bomb against  the communist Chinese forces. By April 5 of the next year, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered atomic retaliation against Soviet and Chinese bases if more communist troops entered the war. 

By December 6, 1950, The U.S. Marines at the Chosin Reservoir started their attack in a different direction as they are in a fighting retrat to the port of Hungnam. Two whole Chinese armies were taksed with the destruction of the 1st Marine Division. They succeed in driving the American force form North Korean territory, but the Chinese forces have a heavy price (of 80,000 Chinese troops being killed or wounded). The CPVF Ninth Army Group is was combat ineffective for months. By January 4, 1961, Chinese and North Korean forces recapture Seoul. The Chinese-North Korean army is stopped by U.N. troops 30 miles south of Seoul and begin a counteroffensive by the end of January. By March 14, 1951, Soeul changes hands for the fourth time when U.N. forces once again liberate the South Korean capital of Seoul. The city was devasted by fighting. The population had a radical decline of population because of the fighting.  MacArthur's army advances slightly north of the 38th Parallel.

 

On April 11, 1951, American President Harry S. Truman relieved General MacArthur of command for insubordination and his refusal to prosecute a limited war. General MacArthur became so extreme that he requested the discretion to drop atomic bombs as he saw fit. He desired to drop between 30 and 50 atomic bombs across the area of Manchuria while landing Chinese Nationalist troops in the Chinese mainland. This act will cause a global war. Stalin had already tested an atomic weapon by August 1959. Stalin gave aid and weaponry to North Korea and China. 

General Douglas MacArthur was succeeded as UN commander by Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway. MacArthur was praised as a hero in America, even considering running for President. Yet, he lived a more reserved life and ironically advised Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to not pursue a ground military invasion of Vietnam. General MacArthur did good in fighting the Axis Powers in WWII and helped to rebuild Japan. He made many errors, like his excessive response in the Bonus March protest and his other reactionary views. He is buried in the 757 at Norfolk, Virginia (in the city's downtown area). By April 25, 1951, a vastly outnumbered U.N forces checked the Chinese advance on Seoul at the Battles of Kapyoung and the Imjin River. Two Commonwealth battalions—the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment—rebuff an entire Chinese division at Kapyong, and 4,000 men of the British 29th Brigade stage a successful delaying action against nearly 30,000 troops of the Chinese 63rd Army at the Imjin River. Some 650 men of the 1st Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment (the “Glorious Glosters”), engage in a Thermopylae-like stand against more than 10,000 Chinese infantry at Imjin. Although the overwhelming majority of the Glosters are killed or captured, their sacrifice allowed UN forces to consolidate their lines around the South Korean capital. On July 10, 1951, there was a truce between the UN and the communists that begin at Kaesŏng. Truce talks begin at Kaesong near the 38th Parallel. The talks, led by U.S. Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy for the U.N. side and Lt. Gen. Nam Il of North Korea, dragged on with no real agreements on an armistice and exchange of prisoners. The truce site is moved to the village of Panmunjom. The negotiations do not end the war, however, the fighting continues for two more years. In October, the peace talks relocate to the village of P'anmunjŏm. 

 

The war entered a stalemate. According to U.S. Major General William F. Dean, there are reports that most of North Korean cities and villages he saw were either rubble or snow-covered wastelands. General Curtis LeMay, who coordinated the bombing raids against North Korea in a sick away, admitted that, "Over a period of three years or so we killed off what twenty percent of the population...We burned down every town in North Korea and South Korea too." Many of the war crimes done by the U.S. forces in South Korea have been documented by the Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission. According to ROK sources, almost one million civilians were killed in South Korea in the course of the Korean War. By November 1951, the war along the 38th Parallel had become a stalemate reminiscent of trench warfare fought in World War I. The pattern of bloody fighting with no real capturing of territory continues for the next two years as peace talks repeatedly fail. On November 12, 1951, the Eighth Army assumes the “active defense” as the UN’s objectives in the armistice negotiations, and the growing unpopularity of the war in the United States, rule out major offensives with high casualties. In the active defense, UN forces hold a main line of resistance, protected by fortified outposts, from which units patrol and conduct raids against enemy positions.

From May 7 to June 10, 1952, events happen in the Korean War. On May 7, NKPA prisoners-of-war at the UN POW camp on Koje Island capture the camp commander. He was released unharmed after an American officer signs a statement admitting to the mistreatment of POWs. A great propaganda victory for the communists, this incident is the most notable example of the communist strategy to turn POW camps into another battlefield of the war. During June, the UN POW camp system is reorganized to improve security, although communist POWs will continue to provoke violent incidents until the end of the war.

From July 17 to August 4, 1952, there was the Battle for Outpost Old Baldy. The 2nd Infantry Division loses the outpost to a Chinese attack that demonstrates the Chinese communists’ greatly expanded artillery force, mounts several unsuccessful counterattacks, and then finally retakes the outpost. While patrolling is now the most common form of combat, the Chinese, for the next year will attempt to pressure the UN at the armistice negotiations by inflicting heavy casualties on UN units with attacks on outposts. From October 6-15, 1952, there was the Battle for White Horse Mountain. This was the successful defense of this position by the ROK 9th Division, with the assistance of U.S. artillery and air strikes, against heavy Chinese attacks, which signals the great improvements the ROK has made, with the aid of American advisers, in its tactical and technical competence since the first year of the war.

On October 8, 1952, the talks at Panmunjom deadlock and were recessed. U.S. planes bombed the North Korean capital, Pyongyang for two straight months.  Talks are resumed the following March. Armistice negotiations recessed because of a deadlock on the issue of repatriation of POWs. While the Geneva Convention of 1949 mandates immediate repatriation of POWs after hostilities end, the United States decides to press for allowing POWs to choose whether they will be repatriated. The U.S. takes this position because screening of enemy POWs has revealed that tens of thousands of them are either South Koreans conscripted into the NKPA or Nationalist veterans of the Chinese Civil War drafted into the PLA after the communist victory in that war. These POWs do not want to go to North Korea or to Communist China after hostilities end.

 

On April 26, 1953, the armistice negotiations continued. While both South and North Koreans still desire to defeat each other and unify the peninsula, the UN and the PRC wish to end what has become a bloody and expensive war, whose objective, the status quo ante bellum, is for them not worth the cost of continuing. On May 28-29, 1953, the 25th Infantry Division battled for the Nevada outpost complex. The Chinese repeatedly attacked to take these outposts, suffering very heavy casualties, until the Eighth Army decided to abandon the outposts. With an armistice agreement in sight, senior UN commanders conclude that holding an outpost, after the Chinese have demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice whatever number of soldiers required to take it, is not worth the cost in UN soldiers’ lives. The Chinese take several other outposts with this tactic, which is designed to distract from their concessions at the armistice negotiations and to keep pressuring the UN during the final stage of the negotiations.

On June 8, 1953, an agreement was reached at armistice negotiations on the repatriation of POWs. All POWs will choose whether they will be repatriated, and both sides will be allowed an attempt to persuade its POWs to choose to be repatriated. From July 13-19, 1953, there was the Chinese offensive against ROK units in the Kumsong Salient. A major attack breaks through ROK lines and inflicts heavy losses, but the Chinese do not attempt to exploit the breach even though they also have suffered heavy casualties. The purpose of the attack is to punish the South Koreans for unilaterally releasing 27,000 POWs who had refused repatriation and to distract world attention from the concessions made at the armistice negotiations.

On July 27, 1953, Mark W. Clark for the UN Command, Peng Dehuai for the Chinese, and Kim Il-Sung for North Korea concluded an armistice ending hostilities. A demilitarized zone is created that roughly follows the prewar border along the 38th parallel. South Korean Pres. Syngman Rhee announces his acceptance of the agreement, but no representative of South Korea ever signed the document. The agreement calls for a 2.5-mile-wide buffer zone across the middle of the Korean Peninsula that closely follows the 38th Parallel. From August 1953 to February 1954, there was an exchange of POWs. A total of 82,493 Koreans and Chinese POWs are repatriated, as are 13,444 UN POWs (3,746 of which are Americans). 21,839 communist POWs refuse repatriation, as do 347 UN POWs, including 21 Americans.

The conflict caused more than one million military deaths and an estimated two to three million civilian deaths. War crimes existed on both sides of the war. These war crimes include the mass killing of suspected communists by Seoul and the mass killing of alleged reactionaries by Pyongyang. North Korea became one of the most heavily bombed countries in history, and virtually all of Korea's major cities were destroyed (during the Korean War). No peace treaty has been signed, making the war a frozen conflict.

 

This time, we are witnessing the 75th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. The Korean War has been forgotten by many people, and numerous human beings don't know anything about the war. Yet, we realize the war in greater detail as time goes on. The war had its roots in World War II. After World War II, there were debates on how to deal with the Korean peninsula among President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. Many independent progressive forces wanted Korea to have workers' rights, economic justice, and true equality. Many U.S. occupation forces crushed the resistance of the Korean working class. Also, Stalinists promoted token leadership in North Korea too. South Korea was dominated by a far-right regime under Rhee, and North Korea was dominated by pro-Stalin forces too. Much of the right-wing regime in South Korea was filled with former Japanese collaborators and other extremists who suppressed dissent. The myth is that the Korean War solely started with North Korea attacking South Korea in 1950. The truth is that North and South Korea had cross-border incursions long before 1950. The war was a civil war about the political nature of the Korean peninsula's future. Some wanted Korea to be capitalist, some wanted to be communist, and others wanted an independent progressive nation. China and Russia supported North Korea. The war had the U.N. take the lead and was filled with mostly American and South Korean soldiers (without a Congressional declaration of war). Truman justified the U.N. intervention by promoting the containment doctrine (which advocated using military force if necessary to stop the spread of Communism around the globe). Also, Truman went over the line by threatening the use of atomic weapons in the conflict. General MacArthur's initial military strategies worked to repel the North Korean attacks. Yet, MacArthur wanted dozens of atomic weapons dropped if necessary, and the Chinese military forces attacked the U.N. forces near the Yalu River (close to the Chinese border). The U.N. forces were pushed back, and the U.N. forces came back to form a stalemate. There were many battles and POW exchanges from 1951 to 1953. The war ended by 1953, with tensions still running high. North Korea today is an authoritarian state that promotes communism, and South Korea is more capitalistic filled with a much different reality than North Korea. South Korea has more liberties than North Korea, but U.S. imperialistic corporate interests still influence many parts of South Korea too. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President when the war ended after Truman was defeated (as opposition to the Korean War increased in America as a backlash against Truman's foreign policy agenda). Many well-known Korean War veterans are James Garner, Neil Armstrong, Sir Michael Caine, Ted Williams, Casey Kasem, Charles Rangle, Ed McMahon, Edwin Aldrin, Johnny Cash, and John Glenn. The Korean War was very brutal, destroying a high percentage of Korean infrastructure. War crimes were committed against the Korean people during the war too. The world needs to know these facts.

 

There are tons of heroes of Australia who stood up for freedom in a legitimate fashion. Many civil rights heroes in Australia fought for the Aboriginal and Torress Strait Islander rights, for disability rights, and for women's rights. Charles Perkins, Faith Bandler, and Neville worked hard to champion Aboriginal rights. People like Carly Findlay, and Dylan Alcott have made many contributions to disability rights. Jessie Street, Edna Ryan, and Elizabeth Reid have been instrumental in advancing women's rights and equality in Australia. The Australian Aboriginal Civil Rights Movement has been known to me for years, but many people are unaware of this history. This movement fought for equal rights and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It has grown since the early 20th century and continues to this day. Many people used protests, legal challenges, and political lobbying to fight for self-determination, an end to discrimination, and the recognition of their titles. Back in 1901, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were banned from the census and denied basic human rights like voting and enlistment in the Armed services when the Australian Federation was formed in 1901. So, people fought back against these injustices. This movement gained more power after WWII with the creation of organizations like the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA). Aboriginal activists were inspired by us, black Americans, in our Civil Rights Movement. So, the Aboriginal activists and non-Aboriginal allies formed Freedom Rides (during the 1960s) to expose discrimination in Australia and raise awareness. This movement has victories like the 1967 referendum that removed discriminatory clauses from the Australian Constitution and recognized Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as citizens. The Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) was formed in 1972 to give legal services and advocacy for Indigenous Australians facing injustice. There was a 1972 protest of Aboriginal people outside Parliament House in Canberra by1972 to demand land rights and self-determination. Aboriginals still fight for native title, reconciliation, and eliminating other problems faced by Indigenous communities. 

 

The continent of Australia is known by many people the world over. There can be no discussion about Australia without the respect shown to its first human inhabitants, who are the Aboriginal people. They represent a large part of the culture of Australia in terms of respect for the environment, resiliency, cultural heritage, language, art, and other aspects of human culture. Australia has been a place of both conflict and growth. It has been a place filled with some evil people and some righteous people who fought injustice with eagerness and zeal. Australia is a diverse location too. There are Aboriginal people, white people, Asian people, black people, Latino people, and people of diverse ethnicities and creeds that live in Australia. From its rural locations, urban centers, suburbs, and grasslands, Australia has a massive different amount of communities and ecosystems. Australia is a place that has hosted concerts, a historic Olympic Summer Games (that existed in the year of 2000), various sporting events, and other types of celebrations. Today, Australia is dominated by a conservative government, but we all have hope for the future as the principle of equality of all people is paramount. 

By Timothy