56 Years Since the Start of the Korean War

The Korean War started 56 years ago and is being commemorated by US Forces Korea.  Also the South Korea has finally come out and debunked Bruce Cummings theory that South Korea actually started the war by invading North Korea.

The study published ahead of the 56th anniversary of the Korean War by Prof. Jung Byung-joon of Mokpo National University is titled, “The Korean War: Confrontations at the 38 parallel and the formation of the War.” It concludes that the Korean War started indeed as a sudden surprise invasion of the North in accordance with a directive from Stalin. The academic says the Haeju attack had been drawn up as part of regular defensive planning in March 1950 by the Korean Army in accordance with Operation Command 38. The directive ordered a decisive offensive to the north of Haeju to disperse North Korean forces if they attacked in the direction of Seoul but was not an order for a preemptive attack on North Korea.

Basically Cummings believes that this contigency plan that the South Korean military had drawn up was executed on the morning of June 25th, 1950 thus provoking a North Korean counter attack.  Militaries draw up contingency plans all the time to deal with possible scenarios that may occur.  Documents from the former Soviet Union have clearly showed that Stalin ordered the attack plus military records from North Korea clearly show that the North Koreans in fact started the war with a highly organized invasion plan.  The South Korean government did try to execute the Haeju plan after the North Korean attack but it failed because the units in that area of the DMZ had already been crushed by the North Koreans.

Refugees Flee Across the Han River After the Start of the Korean War

Lost in all of this which no one should forget is the extreme loss of life from the Korean War:

In the three years, one month and two days until the armistice was signed, some 149,000 South Korea troops, 294,000 North Korea troops and 36,000 allied troops from countries including the U.S., the U.K. and Turkey died in the Korean War. The war also claimed some 244,000 South Korean and 406,000 North Korean civilians. More than 1,000,000 civilians are still missing.

If you haven’t been to Korean War Memorial in Yongsan before, now is a good time as any to see this outstanding musuem and learn more about the Forgotten War.