koreaNorth-black
 usf2
chinaC
sovietunion_gm
francef2
unitedN C
 

The root cause of the war
http://www.korean-war.com/

In 1945, the Koreans mistakenly believed that Japan's surrender meant independence at last. Little they knew that US was planning to impose a 40+ year trusteeship for Korea. US officials in charge of the Korean policy had no knowledge of the Korean histo ry or any interest in the Korean people. It is ironic that Dean Rusk, one of the policy makers, would go on to formulate the disastrous US policy for Vietnam.

In Vietnam, there was a cohesive united front led by Ho Chi Min and a sizable military force. In contrast, Korean resistance was hopelessly fractured and scattered in small bands in China, USSR and USA. There was no Uncle Ho or a credible fighting force in Korea.

Some people say that Syngman Rhee had sold out the Republic to US, but in reality, the fate of Korea was in the hands of foreigners and no Korean leader had any say on the matter. Dr. Rhee, pretending to cooperate with US, outfoxed the Americans and ended the US occupation (after 2 years instead of 40-50 years!). The same goes to Gen. Kim Il Sung. Neither man had the stature to influence Stalin or US. By working with the foreign powers, they were able to salvage some semblance of nationhood in Koreas.

Gen. Kim's preoccupation with self reliance (Ju Che) had its origin in the humiliating treatments he had received from Soviet commanders in Korea and Stalin's underlings. Stalin treated Gen. Kim as a Soviet Army major - not as a peer leader of a nation. To US, Gen. Kim was a Russian army captain pretending to be the legendary Korean patriot Kim Il Sung. US treatments of Dr. Rhee were no better. Indeed. US has tried to eliminate him on a number of occasions for not following American orders!.

Both men had done their best for Korea. It is not likely that Korea would have fared any better under other leaders. At any rate both men were true Korean patriots. It is time to move on toward reconciliation and reunification.
 
 

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By Jacob Middleton  Chrissy Parker Dominic Dunston