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How Korean War Shaped Korea Essay

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How Korean War Shaped Korea The Korean War was the historical event that most shaped Korea’s identity. It affected many areas of Korea, such as the economy, government, and the involvement of the United States. There was an economic crisis causing many people to suffer, a government was established, and because of the involvement of the US, Korea got lots of western influence. The essay below will explain how the Korean War affected Korea’s economy, the government, and the involvement of the US.
1. Historical Background
Korea was once a colony of Japan but the many years of Koreans suffering through the colonial rule ended after the defeat of Japan by Russia and the US. They each took a part of Korea, the Soviet Union occupied the …show more content…

Across the Yellow Sea in China, there was a civil war between the communists where Mao Zedong was in charge and the nationalists by Chiang Kai-shek. In the end, the communists won, this meant that Mao would support Kim Ill Sung because of their similar philosophy on how to run their country. Soon, the US started to withdraw troops in 1948 after the secretary of state, Dean Acheson stated that South Korea was out of the “defense perimeter” (“United”). After Sung heard this, China and Russia helped North Korea to plan the attack for South Korea while they weren’t being protected by the US. At the same time, citizens who were against Rhee increased letting Sung think that he will become a hero if he was successful in reuniting the two Koreas. In 1949, Sung asked for permission from Stalin about attacking South Korea. Stalin declined the idea because their army was too weak compared to South Korea. Although they had China’s aid, they couldn’t help North Korea much because of their instability of their own country since their recent civil war that ended not so long ago. Sung and Stalin wanted South Korea to invade first and only have North Korea to counterattack the South. By August 1949, Sung talked again to Russia, this time with the news that South Korea was planning to attack the north and that the US was going to remove all their troops in Korea, giving North Korea a chance for “military action” (Schaff). The war broke out on June 25, 1950 and ended up

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