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Korean War

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Submitted By Aaron87
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Korean War
•The departure of American and Soviet troops from Korea in 1949. In response to the proclamation of the Republic of Korea in the south, a Democratic People’s Republic was established in the south. In 1948 Soviet troops left North Korea and in 1949 American troops left the South. •North Korea attacks: June 24, 1950. On Sunday, June 24, 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea with little warning. At the time, the U.S. Army had fewer than 600,000 soldiers and half of those were based in the states. •Truman’s response to the Korean invasion: June 25-30, 1950. On June 27, 1950, President Harry S. Truman announces that he is ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in repulsing an invasion by communist North Korea. The United States was undertaking the major military operation, he explained, to enforce a United Nations resolution calling for an end to hostilities, and to stem the spread of communism in Asia. •China joining the Korean War. Because General MacArthur, against the orders of President Truman, pushed the North Korean forces to the Yalu River, which separates China and North Korea. Communist China felt threatened by the act and sent the PLA across the Yalu and routed the UN forces, forcing them to retreat far south. •Truman’s refusal to allow direct conflict with China. Bombing China would likely have resulted in a full-scale war and Russia might have intervened on China's side. In short, it might have started a third World War over something that was of no clear and present danger to life in America. •Negotiation over POWs and stalemate. Negotiations were initially hampered by silly haggling over matters of protocol and the selection of a truly neutral negotiating site. [ Even so, on 26 July 1951 the two sides finally reached an agreement on an agenda containing four major points: selection of a

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