Module 3: Invasion!

Invasion!

The North Korean invasion of South Korea, which began on June 25, 1950, was the flashpoint of the Korean War, a brutal conflict that became a significant Cold War confrontation between the communist and capitalist blocs. Tensions had been brewing since the end of World War II when Korea was divided along the 38th parallel into two occupation zones, with the Soviet Union controlling the North and the United States overseeing the South. This division was meant to be temporary, but ideological differences between the two superpowers hardened into a permanent split, setting the stage for the rise of two competing Korean states. Kim Il Sung, backed by the Soviet Union, sought to unify the peninsula under communist rule, while Syngman Rhee, supported by the United States, governed South Korea as a staunch anti-communist, capitalist state. 

Rhee was an unpopular, brutal dictator.  He widely hated and facing civil uprisings at home.  In the South, political instability had been exacerbated by events like the Jeju Massacre, where thousands of South Korean civilians were killed by government forces in 1948, as tensions over national elections and the division of the country escalated.  Rhee was worried that, if national elections (North and South Korea alike) were held, he would almost certainly lose to the North Korean Communist Party.  However, Rhee's government was eager to reunite Korea under his rule and spent much of the period between 1947-1950 launching cross-border raids into North Korea.  Rhee believed that, with American support, he could force a war which would end with his control over both countries.  

After years of this provocation, Kim Il Sung, the communist leader of North Korea, ordered an invasion of South Korea, hoping to end the Rhee regime and reunite Korea under his government.  When North Korean forces launched their attack on June 25, 1950, the poorly trained and ill-prepared South Korean Army was quickly overwhelmed.

Syngman Rhee fled Seoul, the capital of South Korea, just ahead of advancing North Korean troops, ordering the blowing-up of the main bridge into the city.  Some 4,000 refugees were on the bridge when it was destroyed, killing most.  Despite this, North Korean forces took the city later that day.  Rhee then ordered the Bodo League Massacre, a violent purge to kill his political enemies across South Korea, while he fled southward.  This massacre led to the deaths of somewhere between 60,000-200,000 people.

Seoul fell to the North on June 28, just three days after the invasion began, as the South Korean military struggled to mount an effective defense. Many South Korean soldiers retreated or surrendered in the face of the rapidly advancing North Korean troops. The collapse of the South Korean military in those first days was a shocking setback, and it underscored the deep divisions and political instability that had plagued the country even before the war began.