On paper and in history, the Korean War was seen as neither a victory nor a defeat. Instead, a ceasefire and peace treaty was written between them. The battles continued for 3 long years. On July 27, 1953, the two sides signed an armistice and a new border was established within a few miles of the original 1950 border. In my opinion, the Korean conflict/war was successful in ways other than the original goals established by the United States.
The war ended in a draw. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire and signed an armistice. The Korean War did not end in total victory for the United States or anyone else. Instead, both sides settled for an uneasy peace that still exists to this day as of this writing 12-24-15.
Did the United States experience its first defeat? The answer to that question may be more on the minds of people who study what really happened and what is happening today. The way I see it, the end result has been a victory when you compare what is happening in South Korea today with what was happening before the attack, before one of the bloodiest wars our world has ever seen, and compared with North Korea today.
Why did the United States enter this war? Many people felt and still could feel today that the United States did not belong there. I myself have heard this even in this year of 2015. People complain saying, “we didn’t belong in Korea”.
I totally disagree. My own father fought in Korea from 1950 to 1953. He was just a 16-year-old boy entering the Army at Fort Knox, a Kentucky Army base for a military career. He was sent straight into a violent and horrific bloody conflict during one of the harshest climates anyone could imagine. He spent much of his time there in tank battles. Short recreation breaks were spent in Japan.
One of his fondest memories, of course, was the time he was wounded trying to save another fellow soldier and saved him. He repeated over and over again as euphoric: “they left me for dead, but I was still alive.”
This was a technique performed by his fellow soldiers moving the tank over his wounded body to hide him from the enemy while they loaded him into the tank to wait for the MASH units.
He was taken to a hospital in Japan where a steel plate was attached to his chest that he had no idea existed until he discovered he had lung cancer at age 56. He died of lung cancer.
The specialists said “we want to know more about this steel plate that we found in an x-ray on his chest.” Dad didn’t even know he had a steel plate. He had to have been placed there during the Korean War in the hospital in Japan. He received a chest wound. Just think about it, and I do so often now, just 16 years old, lying under an army tank, not knowing if he’ll survive or not.
I still totally disagree. Dad made it out alive, was injured once, received a purple heart for bravery, and was one of those who returned to the United States, got a job, and tried to “forget” that he was ever there, but never forgot. He watched every war movie he could find and never missed an episode of “The Big Picture.”
I was born in 1956 and I remember a lot of his early life after that war. She would wake up in the middle of the night “reciting orders” over and over again, sometimes screaming and crying. She ached from the memories of that war, but she never said that he was sorry he was gone. He said the worst part of it all for him was seeing the little children suffer. Many of the fatalities in that war were innocent civilians.
Why was the United States in Korea from 1950 to 1953?
The United States responded to the defense of South Korea after the North Korean invasion. The original goals were to restore the international border along the 38th parallel and to drive North Korean forces out of South Korean territories. Everyone thought the conflict was over until the Chinese came on the scene.
US leaders also wanted to show North Korea that this type of aggression would not be tolerated. To this day, 2015, North Korea continues to show hostility towards South Korea. There has not been a conflict like the one in the 1950s. For this reason, among other reasons, I believe that the decision to enter the conflict ended in victory rather than defeat. It seems obvious to me that everyone who entered that conflict in opposition to communism put a stop to the horrible aggression towards innocent people.
Additional reasons why I see this as a win for the United States:
When you compare the North Korean economy with the South Korean economy today, we find that the war allowed for a renaissance of South Korea. Since the end of the conflict/war of the 1950s and the cessation of extreme hostilities, South Korea has grown into a vibrant and powerful republic.
People all over the world now benefit from South Korea’s economic success. The capital of South Korea, Seoul, has become an international center of commerce and industry. Today, South Koreans enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world.
None of the above would have happened if the communists had succeeded in their invasion of the South.
By contrast, North Korea is one of the best examples of the failure of communism. The United Nations reports that North Korea’s economy ranks much lower than South Korea in the world. North Koreans suffer far more from hunger and malnutrition.
Meanwhile, the South Koreans drive. Companies like Daewoo, Hyundai, LG, Samsung, Kia Automotives are some of the largest business conglomerates in the world and have become household names in family rooms, garages and offices across the US.
Every day I see more and more Kia cars on the roads. I have considered buying a Kia Soul car now for years and will probably buy one eventually if I need another vehicle. My old chevy still runs! But when I need a new car, I always look to the Kia to buy one. At first, I had no idea, Kia was actually based in South Korea.
Without the United States and these other nations that came together to fight communist aggression in the 1950s, none of the things for South Korea would exist today. Today we would not be enjoying economic growth in South Korea. It’s a good thing the president stopped the atomic bombing efforts as well, as it would have taken over 100 years for any kind of civilization to be in that area again.
As recorded in our history, mistakes were made as there are in any kind of war, many innocent people died, but the positive results of this war still tell me that it was definitely a victory, not a defeat, for the United States in terms of of “long-term events”.