Remembering The Start Of The Korean War 61 Years Ago

After 61 Years, Korean War Offers Modern Lessons -- Pajamas Media

As we remember our military personnel who gave their lives during the conflict, we might also think about the reasons it happened and about how to diminish the likelihood of another, in Korea and elsewhere.

Sixty-one years ago, on June 25, 1950, North Korea “unexpectedly” invaded South Korea. As we remember our many military personnel who gave their lives during the conflict, we might also think about the reasons it happened and perhaps as well about how to diminish the likelihood of another, in Korea and elsewhere.

The events leading up to the invasion are now ancient history and so are little considered in evaluating current events. That is unfortunate. Stalin, Mao, and Kim il-Sung are dead but their spirits survive and continue to haunt us; we also have others with whom to contend, principally in the Arab lands.

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My Comment: An interesting analysis on what brought about the Korean War 61 years ago, and what we should be aware of in today's geo-political environment on the Korean peninsula.

Remembering The Start Of The Korean War 60 Years Ago

Korean War veterans attend a ceremony at the Pentagon marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, Arlington, Va., June 24, 2010. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson

S Korea Marks 60th Anniversary Of Korean War -- BBC

Commemorations are being held in South Korea to mark the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.

North Korean tanks and troops swept south on 25 June 1950, starting a three-year conflict that claimed an estimated four million lives.

The US led the United Nations in support of the South while China and Russia backed the North.

The war ended with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, leading to almost constant political tension ever since.

North Korea still disputes the widely held view that it attacked first.

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Remembering the Start Of The Korean War 60 Years Ago

Pentagon Marks 60th Anniversary of the Korean War -- U.S. Department of Defense
Korean War anniversary draws special visitors to DMZ -- Stars And Stripes
Divided Koreas remember start of Korean War -- AP
Divided Koreas Remember Start of Korean War -- New York Times
Tensions high in Korean peninsula on 60th anniversary of war -- CNN
North Korea ratchets up tension as South marks 60th anniversary of war -- The Guardian
Koreas mark 60th anniversary of war -- Sydney Morning Herald
S. Korea marks 60th anniversary of Korean War amid tensions -- Yonhap News Agency
Sixty years on, US veterans recall Korean War service -- AFP
Veterans' memories on anniversary of Korean War -- BBC
US photographer Max Desfor relives Korean War -- BBC
British veterans remember 'forgotten conflict' in Korea -- The Telegraph
Korea, war without end, casts a long shadow -- AP
China rewrites history of Korean War -- The Telegraph

The Real Heroes of the Korean War -- Wall Street Journal opinion
The Forgotten War, Remembered -- New York Times opinion
Korean war 60 years on: Haven in South for young defectors from North -- The Guardian
The 60-year war in Korea -- Bill Latham, Washington Times
Our ongoing war in Korea -- Washington Times editorial

Remembering The Korean War, 60 Years Ago (48 Photos)

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Supply warehouses and dock facilities at this important east coast port feel the destructive weight of bombs dropped from Fifth Air Force's B-26 Invader light bombers, Wonsan, North Korea in 1951. (U.S. Department of Defense/USIA)

From The Big Picture/Boston.com:

This Friday, June 25th, it will have been sixty years since the beginning of the Korean War in 1950. After decades of Japanese occupation, Korea was divided in two by Allied Forces at the end of World War II, with the south administered by the U.S. and the north by Soviet Russia. Deep divisions built over several years, leading to skirmishes and finally an invasion by North Korean troops on June 25th, 1950. The United Nations sent troops and support from 21 countries to support South Korea, primarily from the United States and Britain. The war lasted for three years, with large advances and retreats on both sides, and many casualties. Hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers were killed. The two Koreas are technically still at war since hostilities ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty in 1953. Though it is often referred to as "The Forgotten War", I hope this collection of photographs helps us to remember the events of 1950-53, those involved, and the legacy that still remains, sixty years later. (48 photos total)

WNU Editor: To see the pictures .... go here. (Warning. Many of them are graphic).

Remembering The Korean War

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Sixty Years After War Broke Out, Korean Peninsula Still In Limbo -- McClatchy News

NEAR THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE, South Korea — The tourists were bunched together on an observation deck, their faces pressed against binoculars to get a glimpse of North Korea.

A few days earlier, the regime of Kim Jong-il had said it would unleash "a merciless strike" that could turn Seoul into a "sea of flames" if South Korea turned on propaganda speakers not far from where the sightseers were pointing and giggling.

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My Comment: The McClatchy reporter notices the same thing that I have always noticed when visiting Korea. The young are in denial with the security threat that comes from the North .... preferring to focus instead on their own lives and how they can benefit from the opportunities that they have unlike their cousins in the north.

I can only hope that such a mindset will not be tested in the future, because if it is it will be a huge shock for many of these youngsters.

South Korea Admits Civilian Killings During The Korean War

Aftermath of a Korean War massacre. Photo from Rewind the Fifties

From The New York Times:

SEOUL, South Korea — In the opening months of the Korean War, the South Korean military and the police executed at least 4,900 civilians who had earlier signed up — often under force — for re-education classes meant to turn them against Communism, the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission announced Thursday.

The government killed the civilians out of fear that they would help the Communists who were invading from the north and forcing South Korean and American forces into retreat during the first desperate weeks of the war, the commission said.

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My Comment: My Godfather served in the United Nations during this conflict. His job was to enter people's homes/businesses and search for valuables when UN/South Korean forces were abandoning towns and cities. He was usually a half hour ahead of the approaching North Korean/Chinese military.

From his experience, it was very rare that civilians were killed by retreating UN/South Korean forces. In fact, he knows of no situations in which civilians were executed on the spot .... but 5,000 civilians .... he has doubts on the evidence that the Truth Commissions reports are based on.

As to what is my take .... 2 million people died in this conflict, and as the above picture attests .... massacres and murder probably happened in many instances. So is my Godfather wrong .... probably not because he was simple not exposed to this side of the conflict, and besides .... he only got involved in the latter half of the war. But this is still an area of investigation that the South Korean Government should continue .... and with time .... with a change of Government .... there will be a day when the North Koreans will also have their own "Truth Commission".