History UsefulNotes / TheKoreanWar

-->--'''UsefulNotes/JosephStalin''', addressing Kim Il-Sung in April 1950 [[note]] printed in Kim Chullbaum's ''The Truth about the Korean War'' p.106 [[/note]]

The closest the USA ever came to using several hundred nuclear weapons upon the People's Republic of China, the Korean War is variously known as "the 6.25 War" (the war began on the 25th of June) or just "6.25" in UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, "the Fatherland Liberation War" in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, and "the ''Franchise/{{MASH}}'' war" in the English-speaking world. While the actual fighting spanned from 1950 to 1953, the two Koreas are still ''de jure'' at war, as they only ever agreed to a ceasefire without signing a formal treaty. That said, because no serious fighting has ensued in the decades since, the Koreas are considered in a ''de facto'' state of peace at best and a miniature version of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar at worst. On April 27, 2018, the two Koreas agreed in principle to officially end the war, but despite this declaration an official peace treaty has not yet been signed, leaving the war – or ''conflict'', as it is often known – to continue in the form of a political and geographic divide.

The closest the USA ever came to using several hundred nuclear weapons upon the People's Republic of China, the Korean War is variously known as "the 6.25 War" (the war began on the 25th of June) or just "6.25" in UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, "the Fatherland Liberation War" in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, and "the ''Franchise/{{MASH}}'' war" in the English-speaking world. While the actual fighting spanned from 1950 to 1953, the two Koreas are still ''de jure'' at war, as they only ever agreed to a ceasefire without ever signing a formal treaty. That said, as no serious fighting has ensued in the decades since, the Koreas are considered in a ''de facto'' state of peace at best and a miniature version of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar at worst. On April 27, 2018, the two Koreas agreed to officially end the war, but despite this declaration, no official peace treaty has yet been signed, leaving the war -- or ''conflict'', as it is often known -- to continue in the form of a political and geographic divide.

Korea had been divided between the UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates and the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]], the latter having declared war on Japan in the final few days of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The Soviets occupied everything north of the 38th parallel and the Americans occupied everything south of it. Kim Il-sung was appointed to lead the DPRK, while elections were held in the south. Those elections proved controversial, with boycotts and protests, but in the end the right-wing Syngman Rhee was elected. Token attempts at reunification were attempted, but it was clear, especially after the 1948 election in the South, that it was not going to happen.

At least 100,000 Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, 'North' Korea) served in at least the final three years (1948-50) of the Chinese Civil War on the side of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After most of the Chinese-majority provinces of the Mainland had been conquered, on the 1st of October 1949 Chairman Mao of the CCP declared the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Roughly 1.5 million troops whose warlords were allied with or who answered directly to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMG) continued to hold out along the Chinese-Burman border, Chinese Central Asia, and on Hainan Island (and Taiwan) but the war was effectively over by then. The PRC's People's Liberation Army (PLA) was simply unable to deploy most of its troops in these remote and inaccessible areas, so it demobilised most of its forces and allowed most DPRK units to return to North Korea with their equipment and weapons - and experience in battle. The final 30,000 were repatriated within three months of the outbreak of the Korean War.

Within Korea itself, tensions had grown as the Republic of Korea (ROK, 'South' Korea) began to descend into internicine strife and let groups within its society instigate border incidents with the North which were soon reciprocated. In a curious inversion of present-day affairs, where the South is the orderly and prosperous of the two and the North is the semi-anarchic basketcase, in the period 1945-50 the North achieved a high degree of popular contentment due to state investment in education, basic healthcare, workers' rights, etc where as the South had begun a backslide into kleptocratic mayhem. The US occupation authorities had somewhat unwisely decided to innoculate South Korean society against socialism by defunding the school system and encouraging the clique of oligarchs led by President Park to deny unemployment subsidies, safe working conditions, limited working hours etc. to South Korean workers.

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 thousands with no territorial gains for either side (much like UsefulNotes/WorldWarI a generation earlier, only this time with jets). The Soviet Union snuck in some pilots, partly as a show of solidarity with the PRC but also to gain experience in modern air-to-air combat. The UN forces knew they were there, but weren't keen on starting a war with the RedsWithRockets.[[note]]American and British fighter pilots had standing orders to kill any enemy fighter pilot suspected of being a Russian. Not shoot him down, ''kill him''. This was to send a message to the Soviets, who insisted that [[BlatantLies every MiG-15 was being flown by a "brave Chinese volunteer."]] Such an order would be against [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar The Geneva Conventions]] if said pilot was killed after ejecting. [[/note]]

* ''The Bridges at Toko-Ri'', a James Michener novel subsequently made into a film.

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory'' has the war restart halfway through the game as a result of the bad guys using weaponized computer algorithms to autonomously launch a North Korean missile at a US carrier, sinking it and pinning the blame on them. One level has [[TheHero Sam]] sneaking his way through the missile battery that launched the missile, and the next takes him through a war-torn Seoul (which caused it to be [[BannedInChina banned in South Korea]] for a while).

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: Chaos Theory'' has the war restart halfway through the game as a result of the bad guys using weaponized computer algorithms to autonomously launch a North Korean missile at a US carrier, sinking it and pinning the blame on them. One level has [[TheHero Sam]] sneaking his way through the missile battery that launched the missile, and the next takes him through a war-torn Seoul (which caused it to be [[BannedInChina banned in South Korea]] for a while).

* ''VideoGame/GhostRecon 2'' is an interesting case, as the "First Contact" version for [=PS2=] and [=GameCube=] [[CrossOver depicts the same conflict]] as in ''Chaos Theory'', showing more of the actual battles of it (whereas ''Chaos Theory'' focuses more on the truth behind the war)... and then the "Final Assault" version for Xbox concerns the war restarting '''again''' a couple years later.

It's somewhat of a forgotten war in the United States despite seeing just over half as many American deaths as UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar (36,516 vs. 58,209 respectively, and over a far shorter period of time in much higher-intensity combat), 1,109 British deaths and a total body count that must be heading towards 3 million. In North Korea, however, the war has been used ever since as an excuse to villainize the United States and its "puppet government" in South Korea. Most of the population [[UnknownRival is led from birth to believe]] that the US is just waiting for the right moment to come in and "finish the job". Technically, the war is still ongoing as both sides have only ever agreed to a ceasefire, not any peace treaty. This is in large part because a peace treaty would require the two Koreas to officially recognize each other as existing,[[note]]Only the legitimate governments of sovereign nations can be signatories of treaties. Each of the Koreas considers the other to be its own territory and the government thereof to be an illegal rebellion.[[/note]] which they refuse to do. "Restarting" the war is a fairly common plot.[[note]] This is probably less likely to occur now than at any other time since the actual war. Know that big Chinese brother whose assistance to North Korea is all over this page? Word is that they've totally turned their back on North Korea and are at the point that they would welcome Korean unification...''under Seoul's auspices''. At any rate, [[EagleLand the other giant that was involved in the war?]] Is now their no. 1 economic partner, and they ''definitely'' won't risk that for the Kims. Seoul being its largest import partner doesn't help, either. The entire reason China still provides economic and sometimes political support to North Korea at all is to avoid having to deal with the inevitable flood of North Korean refugees should the Kim regime collapse suddenly. Another reason is that China cannot want the US Army to stand directly at its border. They might want some sort of "demilitarized Korea" deal, but Russia tried to get that after the Cold War and now former Soviet Republic are in NATO. That said, North Korea's raison d'etre is to continue the war, and they may eventually feel the pressure to try again, plus the First Family of Pyongyang aren't known for being especially stable, so the scenario isn't impossible.[[/note]]

* ''[=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 start a Total War with Communist China and the Soviets (which would be mind-bogglingly expensive and could kill [tens of] millions) and to avoid possible nuclear war, and claims that there is no substitute for victory in a war and one should either fight with everything one has or not 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.
* Sheriff Will Teasle of the first ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' film is a Korean War veteran. It is implied on the movie (and explicit on the novel) that his IrrationalHatred for Rambo is because Korea (and his own sacrifices by proxy) has been all but swept under the rug by the American people while Rambo (a UsefulNotes/VietnamWar vet) is a walking symbol of the "new generation".

Finally, in 1953, both sides agreed to a cease-fire, establishing a demilitarized zone between the two countries, and remains in effect today.[[note]]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.[[/note]]

With the North's invasion of the South as well as the UN's invasion of the North having both been repelled during the war, both sides declared victory. However, 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[[note]]North officially considered Seoul its capital till 1972, and South still appoints governors for the northern provinces[[/note]], 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.[[note]]President Rhee's interference with the peace negotiations and his demand that the UN forces fight on, until the whole country was unified (under his leadership, natch) became so annoying that Eisenhower called Rhee's bluff (a demand that, if they didn't fight on, UN forces should leave the country) and threatened to leave him to get stomped by the Chinese if he didn't stop being such a jerk[[/note]] Even stranger, in this perspective, is that no official "country" participated in this war. The US and its allies participated as the UN force, not as armed forces of the respective countries. The Chinese were all technically and legally "volunteers." The Soviet pilots [[IWasNeverHere were officially never in Korea]]. And both Koreas denied that the other was a legitimate "country" at all (and still do to this day).

-->--'''UsefulNotes/JosephStalin''', speaking Kim Il-Sung in April 1950 [[note]] printed in Kim Chullbaum's ''The Truth about the Korean War'' p.106 [[/note]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/korean_war-1_5036.jpg]]

-->--'''UsefulNotes/JosephStalin''', in conversation to Kim Il-Sung, April 1950 [[note]] printed in Kim Chullbaum's ''The Truth about the Korean War'' p.106 [[/note]]

The closest the USA ever came to using several hundred nuclear weapons upon the People's Republic of China, the Korean War is variously known as "the 6.25 War" (the war began on the 25th of June) or just "6.25" in UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, the "Fatherland Liberation War" in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, and 'the ''Franchise/{{MASH}}'' war' in the English-speaking world. While the actual fighting spanned from 1950-1953, the two Koreas are still ''de jure'' at war, as they only ever agreed to a ceasefire without ever signing a formal treaty. That said, as no serious fighting has ensued in the decades since, the Koreas are considered in a ''de facto'' state of peace at best and a miniature version of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar at worst. On April 27, 2018, the two Koreas agreed to officially end the war, but despite this declaration, no official peace treaty has yet been signed, leaving the war -- or ''conflict'', as it is often known -- to continue in the form of a political and geographic divide.

->''"There is not a single unit in the United Democratic Forces now driving the Kuomintang from Manchuria that does not have my troops in it [...] at the end of the Manchurian campaign these roops will be seasoned, trained veterans. When the Americans and the Russians withdraw, we will be able to liberate [southern] Korea immediately."''

Geographically at least, the war played out much like a football game in which both teams make it to the final 10-yard line only to fumble. In June 1950 the American forces occupying South Korea were in the process of closing up shop, and the remaining soldiers had grown complacent and were unprepared for a war. Thanks to a probably-justified lack of trust in South Korean president Syngman Rhee, who was [[NotSoDifferent at least as aggressive and belligerent as Kim Il-Sung]], the United States had chosen not to supply the [=ROK’s=] army with any heavy artillery, armor, aircraft, anti-tank weapons, or any vehicle more militarized than a truck, for fear that he would cause unwanted trouble with his neighbors. When the North Korean army crossed the 38th parallel with a massive array of Soviet-made tanks and other firepower, it met ineffective resistance and quickly pushed the American and South Korean forces to the southern part of the peninsula. Even US reinforcements flown in from Japan (the hastily-assembled and ill-fated [[http://www.historynet.com/rush-disaster-task-force-smith.htm Task Force Smith]], who were also sent in without any armor or anti-tank weapons) did little to stop the North Korean advance, but the US & SK forces finally established a solid defensive line around the port-city of UsefulNotes/{{Busan}} (which became the temporary capital of the South after UsefulNotes/{{Seoul}} was taken).

The closest the USA ever came to using several hundred nuclear weapons upon the People's Republic of China, the Korean War is variously known as "the 6.25 War" (the war began on the 25th of June) or just "6.25" in UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, the "Fatherland Liberation War" in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, and 'the ''Series/{{MASH}}'' war' in the English-speaking world. While the actual fighting spanned from 1950-1953, the two Koreas are still ''de jure'' at war, as they only ever agreed to a ceasefire without ever signing a formal treaty. That said, as no serious fighting has ensued in the decades since, the Koreas are considered in a ''de facto'' state of peace at best and a miniature version of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar at worst. On April 27, 2018, the two Koreas agreed to officially end the war, but despite this declaration, no official peace treaty has yet been signed, leaving the war -- or ''conflict'', as it is often known -- to continue in the form of a political and geographic divide.

The closest the USA ever came to using several hundred nuclear weapons upon the People's Republic of China, the Korean War is known as "the 6.25 War" (the war began on the 25th of June) or just "6.25" in UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, the "Fatherland Liberation War" in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, and 'the ''Series/{{MASH}}'' war' in the English-speaking world. While the actual fighting spanned from 1950-1953, the two Koreas are still ''de jure'' at war, as they only ever agreed to a ceasefire without ever signing a formal treaty. That said, as no serious fighting has ensued in the decades since, the Koreas are considered in a ''de facto'' state of peace at best and a miniature version of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar at worst. On April 27, 2018, the two Koreas agreed to officially end the war, but despite this declaration, no official peace treaty has yet been signed, leaving the war to continue in the form of a political and geographic divide.

The closest the USA ever came to using several hundred nuclear weapons upon the People's Republic of China, the Korean War is known as "the 6.25 War" (the war began on the 25th of June) or just "6.25" in UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, the "Fatherland Liberation War" in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, and 'the ''Series/{{MASH}}'' war' in the English-speaking world. While the actual fighting spanned from 1950-1953, the two Koreas are still ''de jure'' at war, as they only ever agreed to a ceasefire without ever signing a formal treaty. That said, as no serious fighting has ensued in the decades since, the Koreas are considered in a ''de facto'' state of peace at best and a miniature version of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar at worst. On April 27, 2018, the two Koreas agreed to officially end the war, but despite this declaration, no official peace has yet been signed, leaving the war to continue in the form of political, geographic divide.

[[AC:Manga and Anime]]

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.[[note]]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.[[/note]]

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[[note]]North officially considered Seoul its capital till 1972, and South still appoints governors for the northern provinces[[/note]], 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.[[note]]President Rhee's interference with the peace negotiations and his demand that the UN forces fight on, until the whole country was unified (under his leadership, natch) became so annoying that Eisenhower called Rhee's bluff (a demand that, if they didn't fight on, UN forces should leave the country) and threatened to leave him to get stomped by the Chinese if he didn't stop being such a jerk[[/note]] Even stranger, in this perspective, is that no official "country" participated in this war. The US and its allies participated as the UN force, not as armed forces of the respective countries. The Chinese were all technically and legally "volunteers." The Soviet pilots [[IWasNeverHere were officially never in Korea]]. And both Koreas denied that the other was a legitimate "country" at all (and still do to this day).

* Creator/TomClancy collaborator Creator/LarryBond published ''Red Phoenix'' in 1990 telling the story of a North Korean invasion of South Korea and the efforts of the USA and South Korea to defeat them.

In 2018, a summit was held between the leaders of North and South (between Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in respectively), focusing on phasing out nuclear weapons. US President UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump met with Kim for 2 summits in 2018 and 2019, although both summits failed to officially end the Korean War. Despite the failure of the summits, many South Koreans remained optimistic for the future of more summit talks and following the 2018 summit, Kim Jong-un scored an 80% approval rating in South Korea. In July 2019, Trump became the first sitting US President to set foot on North Korean sovereign territory when he approached Kim to resume talks. However, to this day South Korea reports that North Korea continues to test their missile capabilities, and outside of the peninsula the hope for an end to the conflict remains slim.

* James Salter's ''The Hunters'' is a novel set in the Korean air war which features an OfficerAndAGentleman and a particularly nasty GloryHound.
* ''The Bridges at Toko-Ri'', a James Michener novel subsequently made into a film

* Briefly featured in ''Manga/AshitaNoJoe'' when Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Kim Yongbi reveals his backstory and [[WarIsHell his terrifying experiences as a kid during that time]].

Within Korea itself, tensions had grown as the Republic of Korea (ROK, 'South' Korea) began to descend into internicine strife and let groups within its society instigate border incidents with the North which were soon reciprocated. In a curious inversion of present-day affairs, where the south is the (relatively) orderly and prosperous of the two and the north is the semi-anarchic basketcase, in the period 1945-50 the north achieved a high degree of popular contentment due to state investment in education, basic healthcare, workers' rights, etc where as the south had begun a backslide into kleptocratic mayhem. The US occupation authorities had somewhat unwisely decided to innoculate south Korean society against Socialism by defunding the school system and encouraging the clique of oligarchs led by President Park to deny unemployment subsidies, safe working conditions, limited working hours etc. to South Korean workers.

The closest the USA ever came to using several hundred nuclear weapons upon the People's Republic of China, the Korean War of 1950-53 is known as "the 6.25 War" (the war began on the 25th of June) or just "6.25" in UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, the "Fatherland Liberation War" in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, and 'the ''Series/{{MASH}}'' war' in the English-speaking world. The two Koreas are still ''de jure'' at war, as they only ever agreed to a ceasefire, but ''de facto'' at peace, as no serious fighting has ensued in the decades since the ceasefire was concluded. On April 27, 2018, the two Koreas agreed to officially end the war, but despite this declaration, no official peace has yet been signed and so the war continued in the form of political, geographic divide.

In 2018, a summit was held between the leaders of North and South (between Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in respectively), focusing on phasing out nuclear weapons. US President Donald Trump met with Kim for 2 summits in 2018 and 2019, although both summits failed to officially end the Korean War. Despite the failure of the summits, many South Koreans remained optimistic for the future of more summit talks and following the 2018 summit, Kim Jong-un scored an 80% approval rating in South Korea. In July 2019, Trump became the first sitting US President to set foot on North Korean sovereign territory when he approached Kim to resume talks. However, to this day South Korea reports that North Korea continues to test their missile capabilities.

* ''Film/BattleCircus'', (1953), which stars Creator/HumphreyBogart and is set at a MASH hospital in Korea

* ''[[Film/{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'' (1970), of course
* ''Film/WelcomeToDongmakgol'' (2005), a South Korean film

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'', which ran three times longer than the 'hot' part of the war.

* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': Basil Fawlty appearently served in the Catering Corps. He also claims to have a shrapnel wound on his leg when he needs an excuse.