Division 1

Running Head: DIVISION

The Division of a Country:

Invasions, Interventions, and Escalations

Kriselda Bonifacio

Humanities 11

Jesse Bethel High School

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Abstract

In our world there are splits in our daily lives. A split can be

defined as a break in something to commonly force it into halves.

There are splits in roads, countries, cities, the government, and

splits within people. A split in between to different things can

stay there for one minute or one-hundred years before the two be-

come unison. Korea for instance has been divided and split

between its people since the end of World War II in the 1940s.

The country of Korea has gone through countless struggles over

government domination throughout the Cold War Era and beyond.

Once Unified and Now Conquered

Korea was once a unified country from the sixth century

(WikiStaff, 2003. Para. 4) until the fall of the Japanese Empire

in 1945 (WikiStaff, 2009, para. 1). The Koreans lived a difficult

life under the Japanese. Many who were educated fled the country

because they felt as though they were in danger. During their

stay in Korea, the Japanese became increasingly aggressive and

active within the country by banning the Korean language within

the school systems and its literature. Millions of Koreans were

drafted for forced labor as well along with the stripping of rice

stocks, livestock, and metal (anonymous, 2009, para. 6). With

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these intense reforms, the Korean way of life became bleak and

incredibly strenuous for the people.

The Division of One Becomes Two

On September 8, 1945, Korea was divided by the United States of

America and the Soviet Union (presently acknowledged as the coun-

try of Russia). The United States supported the Southern half of

Korea while as the Soviet Union supported the Northern half. The

country was divided through its peninsula. The idea of division

was considered at the Potsdam Conference and the wishes of the

Koreans to remain free of foreign interference were generally ig-

nored. (WikiStaff, 2009, par.) The United States and The Soviet

Union believed that the division was necessary at least until

trusted leaderships could be put into place. On a map, the divi-

sion mark was acknowledged as the thirty-eighth parallel, it be-

ing a line on latitude on the northern hemisphere. Approximately

two months later in December, the US and The United States of

America Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) decided that after

five year of international supervision Korea would be able to

govern itself again. At the time, Korean-led governments were ap-

proved to govern and lead their halves of the country. Not to

long afterwards, civil conflict began to break out within the

people. With their opposing beliefs, the people were like two
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beta fishes clashing in one tank. The USAMGIK tried to control

the violence by banning revolutionary governments and people’s

committees. On September 23, 1946, the Koreans experienced a

massive strike held by 8,000 railroad workers who spread to the

other cities on the southern side of Korea. It was not too long

before another uprising occurred. On October 1, there were three

fatalities all of which were student demonstrators, and this be-

came formally known as the Dengu Uprising. (WikiStaff, 2009,

para. 13) Many people began to create conflict not only because

of opposing beliefs but also because of the United States being

another foreign country trying to rule over them. The people were

scarred because of the Japanese Empire and their reforms. The

Koreans did not want a repeat of their time spent under the Ja-

panese.

Leader of the North and South Come Forth

Not long after the uprisings has stated a new leader came forth.

A man named Kim Il-sung lead a new government called that was ap-

proved by the Soviet Union. This approval helped the rise of a

Communist government rise within the North. In his time before

politics, Il-sung was an anti-Japanese fighter. Il-sung also had

very strong connections with the Soviet Union. With Il-sung at

the reigns of this new government, those who supported communism

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in the South went into hiding where the planned their guerilla

war against the American-supported government (WikiStaff, 2009,

para. 15). While the North had Il-sung as their head the South

had Mr. Syngman Rhee leading their operations. Rhee was a United

States educated anti-Communist. A little know fact about Rhee is

that as a young man Rhee was captured and imprisoned by the Ja-

panese, but he eventually fled and left for the United States.

Both politically strong men held intentions of reuniting Northern

and Southern Korea under their own governments.

Invasions and Interventions

After the two governments came into being, the beginning of the

Korean War was marked by the death of Douglas Mackiernan. Macki-

ernan was a CIA agent stationed in China at the time to gather

intelligence on the hunch of a predicted war. When Mckiernan were

forced to flee from their stations because of the threat of being

hunted down he was killed before he was able to deliver the in-

formation to the US officials in the Tibetan City of Lhasa, but

his men did make it instead. Mckiernan’s death was not in vain

and because of his reconnaissance work the United States was now

informed of what was going on. On June 25, 1950, the North

Korean Army crossed the thirty-eighth parallel under the claims

of coming to arrest and execute Syngman Rhee. This strike was

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categorized as an attempt to unify Korea under the government of

the North. On June 27, President Truman made a statement saying

for all American troops to support the regime of the South. The

North’s attacks were quite successful. So successful in fact that

the Southern forces began to fall back as a result of the North’s

tremendous force. On June 30, 1950, the biggest battle in the

Korean Civil War occurred. (WikiStaff, 2009. Para. 22) The North

obliterated a humongous compilation of the South’s artillery. the

destruction of their artillery took so much hope away from the

people that many South Koreans deserted their cause after the de-

structive battle. It was not before long until many foreign coun-

tries such as the United States intervened under the approval of

the United Nations. The aggression of the North was growing with

each passing day and President Truman knew this as he stated:

Communism was acting in Korea, just as Hitler, Mussolini

and the Japanese had ten, fifteen, and twenty years

earlier. I felt a certain that if South Korea was allowed

to fall communist leaders would be emboldened to override

nations closer to our own shores. If the Communists were

permitted to force their way into the Republic of Korea

without opposition from the free world, no small nation

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would have the courage to resist threat and aggression by

stronger communist neighbors.

President Truman was as right as rain and as clear as day when he

made his statement. If the foreign countries had not intervened

when they did the smaller nations would loose all hope in keeping

their peace. President Truman ordered for the evacuation of US

Citizens and the transfer of ammunition and equipment to the Re-

public of Korea’s (ROK) Army. (WikiStaff, 2009. par. 25) The first

significant intervention was made by the US Army’s 24th Infantry

Division though they we easily defeated by the North Koreans. By

September of that year, approximately ten-percent of the Penin-

sula was under the coalition between the South and the foreign

countries. (WikiStaff, 2009. par. 28) In July of 1951, the South

and its allies decided to try and move northbound. General MacAr-

thur proposed an amphibious attack where the armed forces would

land on a beach and begin to defend that area of the beach. From

that point on, the troops would push forward. Amphibious attacks

are by far the most complex of battle strategies because it takes

an incredible amount of skill at naval, air, and land warfare.

the amphibious attack of the city of Incheon was successful be-

cause the troops met little to no resistance. Few Northerners

were stationed there at the time and much of the city was des-
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troyed. With Seoul recaptured as well, the Northern Troops

quickly retreated back.