History UsefulNotes / TheKoreanWar

* AcePilot: The first jet aces for the United States, the Soviet Union, China and probably North Korea were made in this war. Although South Korea's air force didn't receive jet fighters until after the war and none of their pilots had the chance to achieve "ace" status in the technical sense (five air-to-air victories), their fleet of propeller-driven combat aircraft played a very active role in providing air support for UN ground troops, alongside combat flyers from Britain, Australia, South Africa and Canada.

* AcePilot: The first jet aces for the United States, the Soviet Union, China and possibly North Korea were made in this war. Although South Korea's air force didn't receive jet fighters until after the war and none of their pilots had the chance to achieve "ace" status in the technical sense (five air-to-air victories), their fleet of propeller driven WWII-vintage aircraft played a very active role in providing air support for UN ground troops, alongside combat flyers from Britain, Australia, South Africa and Canada.

* AcePilot: The first jet aces for North Korea, South Korea, the United States, the Soviet Union and China were made in this war.

* AcePilot: The first jet aces for North Korea, South Korea, the United States, and possibly the Soviet Union were made in this war.

* SouthKoreansWithMarines: their debut conflict, like those of the North. Due to being underarmed and organinzed to oppress Syngman Rhee's political enemies, they did not acquit themselves well on land at first. However, they also [[ForWantOfANeedle stopped and destroyed the North's amphibious attempt to seize Pusan during the initial battle.]]

* StiffUpperLip: A British force on the brink of being overrun failed to receive reinforcemets from the Americans because the American commander failed to take account of this - the British commander described it as "A bit of a sticky situation".

* ''Order No. 27'', a 1986 North Korean film. To say that it's wildly inaccurate is an understatement. For one thing, it's a low-rent MartialArtsMovie, complete with ConservationOfNinjutsu in full effect and a great deal of SpecialEffectFailure. Even though the main characters have their guns throughout the whole movie, they hardly ever actually use them. And, of course, there's the {{Anvilicious}} message about how it's such a huge honor to die for the Great Leader.

* ''Order No. 27'', a 1986 North Korean film. To say that it's wildly inaccurate is an understatement. For one thing, it's a low-rent MartialArtsMovie, complete with ConservationOfNinjutsu in full effect and a great deal of SpecialEffectFailure. Even though the main characters have their guns throughout the whole movie, they hardly ever actually use them. (And, of course, there's the {{Anvilicious}} message about how it's such a huge honor to die for the Great Leader and the Party.)

* ''Order No. 27'', a 1986 North Korean film. To say that it's wildly inaccurate is an understatement. For one thing, it's a low-rent MartialArtsMovie, complete with ConservationOfNinjutsu in full effect. Even though the main characters have their guns throughout the whole movie, they hardly ever actually use them.

* ''[=MacArthur=]'', a 1977 film, made in much the same vein as Patton, (shows us the titular General's story from the man's own perspective) shows the glorious career of General Douglas [=MacArthur=] during World War II up until the Korean War. The film showcases [=MacArthur=]'s brilliant successes in Korea and his unexpected failures, but the story maintains that [=MacArthur=]'s tactics are working and that he is quite capable of winning if President Truman will only allow him to utilize the full military might of the United States. The President refuses and [=MacArthur=] becomes disgusted at the politics game that Truman is playing, namely not wanting to go on an all-out war with Communist China and their ally Russia and to avoid possible nuclear war, and states very blatantly that there is no substitute for victory in a war and either you fight with everything you have or you don't fight at all. [=MacArthur=] is relieved of his command over the war and fades into obscurity until his eventual retirement from the Army and in his last moments as a General and as a soldier he addresses many young and aspiring soldiers/cadets at West Point about what his career in the Military has meant to him.

** The Chinese word for a surprise shot is 冷槍 (leng4 qiang1), literally "cold shot".

* George Jefferson on 'TheJeffersons'' served in Korea as a cook aboard an aircraft carrier in the Navy.

* SouthKoreansWithMarines: their debut conflict, like those of the North. Due to being underarmed and organized to oppress Syngman Rhee's political enemies, [[ButtMonkey they acquitted themselves very poorly, to say the least]].
* StiffUpperLip: A British force on the brink of being overrun failed to receive reinforcements from the Americans because the American commander failed to take account of this - the British commander described it as "A bit of a sticky situation".

** Chinese accounts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait often omitted any mention of totalitarian indoctrination and presented the Korean War as a triumphant victory against the Imperialists.

* The top tiers of ''WorldOfTanks'' and ''WorldOfWarplanes'' involve vehicles from this era.

Known in America mainly as the war (or "police action", as it was officially known) featured in ''[[Main/{{MASH}} M* A* S* H]]'', the war in the Korean peninsula, 1950-present. The two Koreas still have not signed a peace treaty, however after a long unofficial armistice, these two states have not resumed fighting. Despite the state of war, their relations have been more or less amicable at times, especially after 1998. It's often called "6.25 War" or just "6.25" in South Korea and the "Fatherland Liberation War" in North Korea.

* ''[[Main/{{MASH}} MASH]]'', a novel (1968), film (1970), and TV series (1972-83)

* HeroicSacrifice: A well-known one among the Chinese, at least. It is October 19, 1952. Five days prior, UN forces initiated an attack that have gradually ground down the Chinese defenses on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shangganling Triangle Hill]], dominated by Height 598, and have captured the heights. Chinese units are ordered to counterattack after sundown. Among the men participating in the attack is one Trooper Huang Jiguang, whose unit is pinned down by a crossfire of MG positions. Huang Jiguang proceeds to go [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Matrosov Alexander Matrosov]], blocking an MG with his own body; in the slight lull of fire that follows, his fellows assault and capture the hill--however briefly.

** The North Koreans began the war with a battle-hardened army trained in maneuver warfare by action in the Chinese Civil War, equipped with Soviet materiel, and accompanied by Chinese advisors. They routed the South Korean army in days and badly mauled the American 24th Infantry before the UN secured the Pusan Perimeter. However, they mauled themselves doing so even against inadequately equipped and generally newly-raised units, and when the Western Allies finally managed to bring fully-equipped forces into the fray the KPA all but suffered CriticalExistanceFailure and was effectively destroyed by 1951, leaving the war to be fought primarily by the Chinese.

** The Chinese word for a surprise shot is 冷槍 (leng4 qiang1), literally "cold shot"; this term usually refers more to UnfriendlyFire rather than snipers, however.

* The opening scene of ''The Manchurian Candidate'' (1962) takes place in Korea, and most of the film deals with the aftereffects of one infantry unit's capture and subsequent brainwashing by Communists there.

* ''Inchon'', a 1981 American film. Famously considered one of the worst movies of all time, it "won" four {{Razzie}}s. As a box office failure, it's often mentioned in the same breath as ''Film/HeavensGate''. [=MacArthur=] was played by Creator/LaurenceOlivier, who [[TropeNamer provided the name for]] MoneyDearBoy when describing why he took the part.

* ''Inchon'', a 1981 American film. Famously considered one of the worst movies of all time, it "won" four {{Razzie}}s. As a box office failure, it's often mentioned in the same breath as ''Film/HeavensGate''.
* MacArthur, a 1977 film, made in much the same vein as Patton, (shows us the titular General's story from the man's own perspective) shows the glorious career of General Douglas [=MacArthur=] during World War II up until the Korean War. The film showcases [=MacArthur=]'s brilliant successes in Korea and his unexpected failures, but the story maintains that [=MacArthur=]'s tactics are working and that he is quite capable of winning if President Truman will only allow him to utilize the full military might of the United States. The President refuses and [=MacArthur=] becomes disgusted at the politics game that Truman is playing, namely not wanting to go on an all-out war with Communist China and their ally Russia and to avoid possible nuclear war, and states very blatantly that there is no substitute for victory in a war and either you fight with everything you have or you don't fight at all. [=MacArthur=] is relieved of his command over the war and fades into obscurity until his eventual retirement from the Army and in his last moments as a General and as a soldier he addresses many young and aspiring soldiers/cadets at West Point about what his career in the Military has meant to him.

----

** Of all of these, the combined UN Command started out the worst but came to dominate the war. Initially suffering from lack of equipment and inexperienced soldiers and always operating under a limited capacity to prevent the outbreak of WorldWarThree, the Western Allies were still very much the same force that had won WorldWarTwo and WorldWarOne. On top of this, they were also joined by the [[FightingForAHomeland South Koreans]] and [[EagleSquadron UN Contingents from across the globe]]. Within the first year of war the UN all but destroyed the North Korean military even while struggling with said inexperienced troops, poor equipment, and debilitating arguments between and within the GHQs and domestic governments. This was stopped by the Chinese taking advantage of their reckless over-extension to wrongfoot and smash them back, but the following year they reorganized again under [[FourStarBadass Ridgeway]] and from then on held all the cards in the war.

At this point, the Chinese, concerned as much by the American army on their doorstep as the fate of their fellow communists, initiated a massive ZergRush which once again sent the UN forces reeling. At this point [=MacArthur=] started to become an even worse GeneralRipper (a decade before [[DrStrangelove the movie version]]) and Truman had no choice but to fire him.

And in a sane world, that's where the war would've ended, after only a single bloody year. But negotiations dragged on for two more years, and men continued to die by the hundreds with no territorial gains for either side (much like WorldWarOne a generation earlier). The Soviet Union snuck in some pilots. The UN forces knew they were there, but weren't keen on starting a war with the [[Main/{{RedsWithRockets}} Reds With Rockets]]. Finally, in 1953 both sides agreed to a cease-fire that set up a demilitarized zone between the two countries, and remains in effect today.[[hottip:* :Technically, though, as there never was an actual peace treaty between the two sides, the two nations are still at war with one another. There's even been a few incidents along the DMZ, as well as attacks on vessels in waters both nations claim as theirs.]]

Although the US and her allies technically won the war -- their main goal, maintaining South Korean independence, was achieved -- the long bloody stalemate has ensured that the war is remembered as a draw. Another, much more paradoxical, but, ironically, ''official'' point of view was that the war didn't technically happen ''at all''. Y'see, both halves of Korea consider themselves the only legitimate government, with their jurisdiction covering the entire peninsula[[hottip:*:North officially considered Seoul its capital till 1972, and South still appoints governors for the northern provinces]], and the other contender as rebels and bandits. Thus, in their books, the whole war only counted as a police operation to bring the rebel provinces back, and Southern representatives weren't even present at the signing of the armistice.

The war saw the real start of jet-based air combat (jets had been used in [[Main/{{WorldWarTwo}} World War Two]], but only in the very late stages of the war and in no case did jet fight jet). On the plus side, this war took advantage of major advances in medicine and helicopter transportation to create very effective care for the wounded. For instance, if you were a UN soldier wounded in combat and arrived at a MASH unit alive in that war, your chances of survival there jumped to 97%.

*** Truman was not re-elected for President as a consequence of [=MacArthur's=] dismissal[[hottip:*:this is only technically true; Truman didn't really run, but he did let his name appear on a primary ballot, mostly because he hated the guy running for the Democratic nomination and hadn't yet been able to persuade anyone he did like to run as an alternative. Kefauver trounced Truman by a 3:2 popular vote margin in that primary, though]]. Apparently, that decision did not sit well with the American public[[hottip:*:Or at least the New Hampshire public, for reasons already mentioned]].