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How Did The Cold War Affect The Korean War

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On June 25th, 1950, the Korean war began. About 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean army crossed the 38th parallel, the border separating North and South Korea. Undivided, Korea was a Japanese colony, until the end of World War II in 1945. But after WWII, Korea was poured into the hesitant hands of the United States, and the exhilarated hands of the Soviet Union. It was then divided into North, occupied by the Soviets, and South, occupied by the United States. The Soviet Union was running North Korea as a communist dictatorship, dictated by Kim Il Sung, and the United States was running South Korea as an anti-communist dictatorship, dictated by Syngman Rhee. Kim Il Sung wanted unification of the Korea’s, however he wanted a communist government, which the nationalist government of South Korea did not see eye to eye with. So Kim Il Sung had attempted to force communism by invading South Korea across the 38th parallel. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. This event affected the world in many ways, and still is today. …show more content…

America entered the Korean War because they feared that this was not just a border dispute, but rather the first step to communism overthrowing the world. President Harry Truman believed that that if the North, supplied by the Soviets, had consumed South Korea, they wouldn’t stop there. They would do everything in their power to spread communism as far as they could. Finally, President Truman and General Douglas MacArthur decided to liberate Northern Korea from the communists. Because of this, China began to feel threatened. They felt as if it was “armed aggression against Chinese territory.” So they decided to to send some of their troops to North Korea to warn the United States to stay away from the Yalu boundary, the border between China and North Korea. Because the Soviet Union and China were on the same side, the Soviet Union began to supply them for

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