Korean War: Victory or Defeat?

On paper and in history, the Korean War was considered neither a victory nor a defeat. Instead, a peace treaty and ceasefire were drawn up between them. The battles went on for 3 long years. On July 27, 1953, the two sides signed an armistice and a new border was established within a few miles of the original 1950 border. In my opinion, the Korean conflict / war was a success in ways other than the original goals. established by the United States.

The war ended in a draw. Both parties agreed to a ceasefire and signed an armistice. The Korean War did not end in total victory for the United States or anyone else. Instead, both sides settled for an uneasy peace that still exists to this day at the time of writing this article 12-24-15.

Did the United States experience its first defeat? The answer to that question may be more on the minds of people studying what really happened and what is happening today. In my view, the end result has been a victory when you compare what is happening in South Korea today with what was happening before the attack, before one of the bloodiest wars our world has ever seen, and in comparison with North Korea today.

Why did the United States enter this war? Many people felt and might even feel today that the United States was not there. I’ve heard this myself even in this year 2015. People complain saying, “We didn’t belong to Korea.”

I totally disagree. My own father was one of those who fought in Korea from 1950 to 1953. He was just a 16-year-old who entered the military at Fort Knox, a Kentucky Army base for a military career. He was sent straight into a violent and horrible bloody conflict during one of the harshest climates anyone could imagine. He spent much of his time there in tank battles. Short recreation breaks were spent in Japan.

One of his fondest memories, of course, was the moment he was wounded trying to save another fellow soldier and saved him. He would say over and over again as if he were elated: “They gave me for dead, but I was still alive.”

This was a technique performed by his fellow soldiers moving the tank over his wounded body to hide him from the enemy while they detained him in the tank to wait for the MASH units.

He was taken to a hospital in Japan where a steel plate was placed on his chest that he had no idea existed until he discovered he had lung cancer later in life at age 56. He died of lung cancer.

The specialists said that “we want to know more about this steel plate that we found in an X-ray on his chest.” Dad didn’t even know he had a steel plate. It had to have been placed there during the Korean War in the hospital in Japan. He received a chest wound. Just think about it, and I do it very often now, I’m only 16 under an army tank, not knowing if I would survive or not.

I still totally disagree. Dad got out of there alive, was hurt once, received a purple heart for his bravery, and was one of those who returned to the United States, got a job, and tried to “forget” that he was ever there, but never forgot. He watched every war movie he could find and never missed an episode of “The Big Picture.”

I was born in 1956 and I remember much of his early years after that war. He would wake up in the middle of the night “reciting orders” over and over again, sometimes screaming and crying. He suffered from the memories of that war, but not once did he say he was sorry he had gone. He said the worst of all for him was seeing young children suffering. Many of the fatalities in that war were innocent civilians.

Why was the United States in Korea from 1950 to 1953?

The United States responded to the defense of South Korea after the North Korean invasion. The original goals were to restore the international border along the 38th parallel and drive North Korean forces out of South Korean territories. Everyone really thought the conflict was over until the Chinese entered the scene.

The leaders of the United States also wanted to show North Korea that this type of aggression would not be tolerated. To this day, 2015, North Korea still shows hostility towards South Korea. There have been no more conflicts equal to those of the 1950s. For this reason, among other reasons, I believe that the decision to enter the conflict ended in more victory than defeat. It seems clear to me that all those who entered that conflict in opposition to communism put an end to the horrible aggression against innocent people.

Additional reasons why I see this as a victory for the United States:

When we compare the North Korean economy to the South Korean economy today, we find that the war allowed for a South Korean revival. Since the end of the conflict / war in the 1950s and the cessation of extreme hostilities, South Korea has become a vibrant and powerful republic.

People around the world are now benefiting from South Korea’s economic success. The capital of South Korea, Seoul, has become an international center for trade and industry. Today, South Koreans enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world.

None of the above would have happened if the Communists had succeeded in their invasion of the South.

On the contrary, North Korea is one of the best examples of the failure of communism. The United Nations reports that North Korea’s economy is ranked much lower than South Korea in the world. North Koreans suffer much more from hunger and malnutrition.

Meanwhile, the South Koreans are prospering. Companies like Daewoo, Hyundai, LG, Samsung, Kia Automotives are some of the largest business conglomerates in the world and have become household names in family rooms, garages, and offices across the US.

Every day I see more and more Kia cars on the roads. I have considered buying a Kia Soul car for years and will probably eventually buy one if I need another vehicle. My old Chevy still works! But when I need a new car, I always look to the Kia to buy one. At first, I had no idea, Kia was actually based in South Korea.

Without the United States and these other nations coming together to fight communist aggression in the 1950s, none of the things for South Korea would exist today. Today we would not be enjoying the economic growth of South Korea. It is also good that the president stopped the atomic bombing efforts, as it would have taken more than 100 years for any kind of civilization to be in that area again.

As is recorded in our history, mistakes were made as in any kind of war, many innocent people died, but the positive results of this war still tell me that it was definitely a victory, not a defeat, for the United States in terms of ” long-term events. “