Who Caused the Korean Conflict
Following the end of World War II, Korea was divided into North and South Korea with the border at the 38th parallel. Not only were the two sectors split geographically, but the governments' regimes were diametrically different as well. It was a conflict between the communist regime in the North and the nationalist leadership in the South that would ultimately lead to the Korean War. In Paul Lashmar's article published in New Statesman and Society, he wrote, "Japanese occupation of Korea ended with its defeat in the Second World War. The victorious Russians and Americans divided Korea at the 38th parallel. In 1948, both super powers withdrew. In the South, the Americans had installed Syngman Rhee, a long-standing, aggressive national leader. For the North, Stalin chose Kim II Sung, a former captain in the Soviet Red Army, to lead the communist regime" (Lashmar, p. 24). It must be kept in mind, however, that it was not just internal conflict which led to the war. It was, in fact, the culmination of several different foreign leaders' actions. In this paper I will discuss the causes of the Korean War, including a discussion of some of the background regarding the foreign influences and the main players in the conflict.
On the other hand, as is always the case in American history, there are those that hold the opposing point of view. These scholars believe that the war was started from inside Korea by the respective leaders. Furthermore these people cite evidence that suggests that Russia had no involvement in instigating the war. Lashmar enumerates this fact in the following excerpt of his article: "...it started as a civil war... At the time, and for the next 40 years, Moscow had denied any involvement, and the Soviet Union's true role was kept secret even from the Russian public" (Lashmar, pg. 24). Lashmar quoted historian and Korean POW General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley as saying the following, "...the new material has exposed beyond question the extent to which Stalin and the Soviet Union were involved in the war. Hitherto we've had direct evidence that they were there, on the periphery. And we've had good reason to suspect they had political influence. Now we know beyond question" (Lashmar, p. 24). There are 4 main documents which were released from Moscow which are now beginning to help historians piece together what cause the Korean War. Most of the documents refer to conversations between the various foreign leaders involved, namely Kim, Stalin and Mao. The first was a conversation between Kim and Stalin which was recorded in April 1950. The second was a Beijing-based Russian ambassador's report on talks between Kim and Mao which occurred on May 13, 1950. The third document was Stalin's message to Mao on May 14, 1950. Finally, Kim's letter to Stalin on September 29th, 1950 was the last document released (Key-young, pg. PG). Steven Brull, staff writer for Business Week, reported on one such individual, Bruce
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Approximate Word count = 1168
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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