Chapter 2 2. The outbreak of the Korean Civil War

Just as the Chinese people were preparing to concentrate on restoring the national economy in accordance with the deployment of the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Second Session of the First National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a new situation emerged. On June 25, 1950, the Korean Civil War broke out. North Korea is a country with an ancient civilization. Geographically, it is a long and narrow peninsula protruding from the northeastern continent of Asia, surrounded by the sea on three sides, and bordered by China and the Soviet Union on the north.The Korean Peninsula is more than 800 kilometers long from north to south, and 170 to 340 kilometers wide from east to west. The total area is more than 220,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to Hunan Province in China.There are many mountains and mountains all over the territory, and there are many rivers and rivers flowing in them.The climate in the south is hotter and the water is abundant. It is the main agricultural area of ​​North Korea, and the main crop is rice; the winter in the north is cold, and the lowest temperature in the northeast can reach minus 40°C. , tungsten, copper, graphite, coal, wood and other industrial resources.

The geographical location of the Korean Peninsula plays an important strategic role.It is a springboard for the imperialists to invade the Asian continent and a barrier for the Asian continent to resist imperialist aggression. Here lives an industrious nation with a long culture and history. As early as the 1st century AD, it was a unified dynasty. In the 14th century, it was named Korea.However, this nation has suffered many disasters in history. Since the 16th century, it has been invaded by foreign countries many times. After the Russo-Japanese War in the early 20th century, it became a Japanese colony and was annexed by Japanese colonialists in 1910. It has long been ravaged and trampled by Japanese militarism.It was not until the end of World War II when Japanese imperialism was defeated and surrendered that the Korean people were liberated from the slavery of Japanese imperialism.

However, while the Korean people celebrated their liberation, they fell into new worries. The unified nation was artificially divided into two parts, the North and the South. At the end of World War II in 1943, the Korean people who were enslaved by Japanese militarism attracted the attention of the Anti-Fascist Allies. On December 1, the "Cairo Declaration" issued by China (China under the rule of Chiang Kai-shek), the United States, and the United Kingdom stated: "Our three major allies cherish the slave treatment of the Korean people and decide to free North Korea within an appropriate period of time. independent."

On the eve of the defeat of German fascism in February 1945, Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, the leaders of the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom, held a meeting in Yalta on the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula of the Soviet Union. Discussed the occupation of Germany and Berlin by division, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and the arrangements for the post-war world, and signed the "Yalta Agreement".The agreement stipulated the conditions for the Soviet Union to fight against Japan, and trampled on China's sovereignty behind the back of the Chinese government (the Kuomintang government at the time), including the Soviet Union's superior rights and interests in using China's Dalian Port and the Soviet Union's railway leading to Dalian, and leasing Lushun as a naval base.

In fact, this meeting was a meeting for the three countries to divide their spheres of influence after the war.The formation of the post-war world political pattern and the emergence of many international problems are directly related to this conference.North Korea is no exception.During the meeting, Roosevelt talked privately with Stalin about the North Korean issue.This was the first time that the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union had talks on how to arrange North Korea after Japan surrendered.Roosevelt believed that North Korea was not capable of self-government and needed to be jointly managed by the Soviet Union, China, and the United States for 20 to 30 years.Stalin proposed: the shorter the hosting period, the better, and Britain should participate.The two reached a private understanding on the issue. In mid-April, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt died suddenly, and then Vice President Harry Truman took over as president. In late May, Truman sent a special envoy to Moscow to discuss related issues.When the special envoy talked about the North Korean issue, Stalin told him that Russia promised to implement the policy of the four countries to manage North Korea.

After the defeat and surrender of German fascism, from July 17 to August 2, 1945, Stalin, chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers, U.S. President Truman, British Prime Minister Churchill (later Attlee) and the foreign ministers of the three countries held another meeting in Potsdam, southwest of Berlin. Meeting.The meeting was the last that the Allies met in World War II.The meeting issued the "Potsdam Agreement" and "Potsdam Proclamation Prompting Japan to Surrender".In the announcement, the content of the "Cairo Declaration" was reiterated on the North Korean issue.During the meeting, the Soviet Union notified that it was preparing to declare war on Japan on August 8, and inquired whether the United States had any intention of jointly landing in North Korea with the Soviet Union.And the desire of the United States, it is best to monopolize North Korea.Truman once said that "the State Department strongly advocates that the Japanese troops in the whole of Korea should be surrendered by the United States, but if we transport the troops to northern Korea at the necessary speed, there is no guarantee that we will land first in Japan."

In addition, the United States estimated that it would pay a heavy price to capture North Korea, so it wanted to leave the battle of capturing North Korea and the "possible heavy casualties" to the Soviet Union to bear, while it reaped the benefits for itself.Therefore, although the United States knew that the Soviet Union would declare war on Japan on August 8, it did not plan to conduct a landing operation in North Korea in the near future.Therefore, the United States and the Soviet Union only drew the demarcation line for air and sea operations against Japan, but did not delineate the demarcation line for ground force operations.

The United States never expected that after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan on August 8, it immediately launched an attack on the Japanese Kwantung Army on August 9, and it developed rapidly. On the 10th, the Japanese cabinet decided to surrender and notified the United States and other relevant countries.At this time, the Americans were a little anxious.The closest U.S. ground force to North Korea is Okinawa, which is 600 kilometers away. In any case, it will not rush to North Korea soon. If Japan announces its surrender, won’t the whole of North Korea be occupied by the Soviet army?The United States is not reconciled to this result.Therefore, I couldn't wait to draw a demarcation line with the Soviet Union in North Korea to accept the surrender of the Japanese army.

On the map, the 38° north latitude line (hereinafter referred to as the "38th parallel") is exactly located in the north-south center of the Korean Peninsula.Therefore, the U.S. Army Department proposed to use the 38th parallel as the boundary. The north of this line was the Soviet Army’s surrender area against Japan, and the south of this line was the U.S. Army’s surrender area against Japan.The proposal was immediately agreed to by the U.S. military and the State Department, and on August 14 it was approved by the President.However, this is not a matter of unilateral wishful thinking by the United States, and the consent of the Soviet Union must be obtained.According to the military situation at that time, it is entirely possible for the Soviet army to occupy North Korea entirely.However, on August 16, Stalin received this proposal and made a compromise with the United States without expressing any objection.Stalin's attitude surprised even the Americans.So the issue of the 38th parallel was settled in this way.

The 38th Parallel was originally a temporary boundary between the United States and the Soviet Union to accept the surrender of the Japanese army. However, since then, North Korea has used this line as a boundary, forming a state of division and confrontation between the North and the South. At this time, North Korea had a total population of 30 million, of which 9 million were north of the 38th parallel, accounting for 30%, and the land area accounted for 57%. The population south of the 38th parallel was 21 million, accounting for 70%, and the land area was 43%.The unified peninsula has been artificially divided into two parts separated by sky.

On August 15, Japan announced its surrender.The Soviet army had liberated Xiongji in North Korea on August 10, Rajin and Chongjin on the 12th and 13th, occupied Wonsan on the 16th, and entered Pyongyang on the 19th. With the cooperation of the predecessor of the People's Army), all the territory north of the 38th parallel in North Korea was quickly liberated. On the 23rd, one part moved to the south of the 38th parallel.According to the tacit agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union to accept the Japanese surrender on the 38th parallel, all Soviet troops withdrew to the north of the 38th parallel. The United States did not make any contribution to the liberation of North Korea. On September 2, Japan signed the instrument of surrender. On September 8 and 9, the U.S. military landed from the ports of Incheon and Busan in North Korea, and began to occupy North Korea beyond the 38th parallel. South area. Due to the compromise between the United States and the Soviet Union on the Korean issue, the surrender and occupation of the divisions along the 38th parallel made the Korean people fall into a state of division between the North and the South just after they broke free from Japanese enslavement.Since then, the root of the outbreak of the Korean War has been planted. The United States and the Soviet Union were originally two countries with completely different social systems and ideologies. During the Second World War, they temporarily formed an alliance for the common interests of anti-fascism.After the victory of the Anti-Fascist War, the common interests disappeared, and the two countries immediately turned into sharp confrontation and struggle.And in the international arena formed the democratic camp represented by the Soviet Union and the imperialist camp represented by the United States.The confrontation and struggle between the two camps influence the development and changes of the world political situation.North Korea is the main battleground for the confrontation between the two camps in the East.It goes without saying that they must pursue their respective policies and manage the occupied South or North Korea according to their own ideology. In June 1946, after visiting North Korea, Edwin Pauley, the special envoy of the US President, said in a report to Truman on the 22nd, "Although North Korea is a small country, from the perspective of our entire military strength, we are here The responsibility to bear is not great, but this place is a battleground for the ideological struggle on which our entire victory in Asia depends. It is here that the test will be made whether the system of democratic competition is suitable for It would be stronger to replace feudalism, which failed, or some other system - communism." This passage reflects the nature of the struggle on the Korean issue after the troops of the Soviet Union and the United States occupied Korea. After the U.S. military entered South Korea, it immediately disbanded the established people's regime there - the people's committees at all levels, and reactivated the Japanese colonial governing institutions to maintain the new U.S. colonial rule.The Japanese police, who are hated by the Korean people, actually wore the armbands of the "military government" of the United States to swagger through the streets and run amok.These aroused the anger of the South Korean people.Commander of the U.S. Occupation Forces John?Hodge, in a report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff three months after the occupation of South Korea, said: "In South Korea, people blame the United States for the situation of division, and the people in this area hate all Americans more and more." Truman in The memoir also admitted: "Most Koreans do not want American soldiers or Russian soldiers to stay on their own land. In the autumn of 1946, in the areas we occupied, there were several riots and demonstrations. In the On a few occasions, our military has had to refrain from firing at demonstrators." On the contrary, after the Soviet army entered North Korea, it immediately announced that "North Korea has become a free country" and helped the Korean people to establish their own people's government organs, which won the support of the Korean people. With regard to the gradual establishment of the Korean unified government under the trusteeship of the four countries, at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom held in Moscow from December 16 to 26, 1945, an agreement was reached on the "trusteeship" of North Korea. Later, the Chinese Kuomintang The government also participated in this agreement.The main content of this agreement is to create conditions for the reconstruction of North Korea as an independent country, and to establish a provisional North Korean government; to assist in the establishment of this provisional government, the U.S. Army Command in South Korea and the Soviet Army Commander in North Korea Representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs form a joint committee. After consulting the democratic parties and social organizations in North Korea, as well as the governments of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and China, the committee makes various recommendations, and then the two governments of the committee make the final decision. ; The trusteeship of the four countries in North Korea is limited to five years.This agreement was reached on the basis of the proposal proposed by the Soviet Union.At this meeting, the US Secretary of State kept silent about the establishment of a North Korean government, and proposed that the trusteeship could be extended for another five years.So after reaching this agreement, Truman was very dissatisfied with the "compromise" made by the US Secretary of State at this meeting. Due to the sharp political confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, it was impossible to reach a consensus on what kind of Korean unified government to be established. Therefore, the "trusteeship" agreement could only be a dead letter.Although this issue was submitted to the established United Nations, the United Nations itself was formed on the basis of the anti-fascist alliance. The confrontation and struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union and the two camps headed by the two countries were also reflected in the activities of the United Nations.Therefore, it is impossible for the United Nations to solve the North Korean problem. The purpose of the United States in North Korea is not to trust the four countries, but to establish a Chiang Kai-shek-type puppet regime controlled by it.To achieve this goal, in February 1948, the United States used the banner of the United Nations to forcefully decide to hold separate elections in South Korea.After careful planning and directing by the United States, South Korea held separate elections under the coercion of U.S. bayonets, electing the 70-year-old Lee Seung-hee who even Truman considered "tyrannical", "willful" and "unpopular". Late for the president, the formation of the "Government of the Republic of Korea." Rhee Seungman (1875-1965) was born in a dilapidated family in Pingshan County, Hwanghae-do, North Korea, who claimed to be a descendant of the last dynasty that ruled Korea. Christian, became a teacher.After studying in the United States George?University of Washington, Harvard University and Princeton University, Ph.D. In 1919, the "March 1" anti-Japanese movement broke out in North Korea. Syngman Rhee ran from the United States to Shanghai, China, gathered some North Koreans, and established a provisional government, which seemed to be the "president".When the "March 1st" movement failed, Rhee Syngman proposed "handing over North Korea to the United States for mandated rule", which aroused public outrage among the North Korean people, and he fled back to the United States, calling himself the representative of the "South Korean Provisional Government" in the United States.After Japan surrendered, he was sent back to Seoul by the United States in October 1945 and became the number one agent of the United States in North Korea.The American authorities did not appreciate him very much, but in the eyes of the United States, there was no more suitable person than him to replace him. Therefore, Truman said in his memoirs, "We have no choice but to support Syngman Rhee." On August 15, the "Government of the Republic of Korea" made its debut in Seoul. After the establishment of the South Korean government, the Syngman Rhee Group and the United States successively signed the "Korea-US Interim Military Agreement", "Korea-US Handover of Finance and Property Agreement" and "Korea-US Economic Assistance Agreement" with the United States from late August to early December 1948 ".These agreements stipulated that: American advisers were allowed to completely control the South Korean army, police and buildings in all important areas; Foreign trade encourages American private investment in South Korea and controls the economic lifeline of South Korea.As a result, all the military, political, and economic aspects of South Korea were brought under the control of the United States, which accelerated the colonization and militarization of South Korea. Under the situation that the South had already held separate elections, North Korea also held elections on August 25, and invited representatives of voters from the South to participate, and 212 members of parliament were elected. On September 2, the first meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea opened in Pyongyang. On the 8th, the Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was passed, and the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly was elected. On the 9th, the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was formed with Kim Il as prime minister. Kim Il-sung (1912-1994), born in a peasant family in Mangyongdae, Pyongyang, North Korea, went to Jilin, China with his father in 1925, studied at Yuwen Middle School in Jilin City, organized the Korean Communist Youth League, and joined North Korea in 1931 The Communist Party established the anti-Japanese guerrilla group in 1932 (later developed into the Korean People's Revolutionary Army), and persisted in the anti-Japanese armed struggle in Northeast China and northern Korea. In 1936, the Korean Motherland Restoration Association was established.In the same year, he led a team to join the Anti-Japanese Allied Army in Northeast China as the division commander.After the failure of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, he transferred to the Soviet Union and served as the leader of the Korean Detachment of the Soviet Army. In August 1945, he led the team back to North Korea to cooperate with the Soviet Army in liberating the northern part of North Korea. In 1946, he served as the chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the chairman of the Korean Provisional People's Committee. After the establishment of the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, it immediately demanded that the occupying forces of the Soviet Union and the United States withdraw from Korea.All Soviet occupation forces withdrew from North Korea by the end of 1948.The U.S. occupation forces did not completely withdraw from North Korea until the end of June 1949. Since then, the confrontation and struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union on the Korean issue has manifested itself in the sharp confrontation and struggle between the two governments and systems in North Korea on how to realize the reunification of the North and the South and on whom.This struggle was the root cause of the outbreak of the Korean War. The North Korean government, headed by Kim Il-sung, advocated peaceful reunification, made unremitting efforts, and made necessary military preparations. In the South, the Syngman Rhee Group strongly advocated unification by force, clamoring that "to end the division between the North and the South, it must be resolved by war."While shouting loudly and stepping up preparations for war, Syngman Rhee continued to intensify armed provocations in the 38th Parallel area. From January 1 to April 15, 1949, troops ranging from companies to battalions were mobilized to fight along the 38th Parallel. 37 raids to the north. In May, several battalions were mobilized to attack the area south of Jinchuan City, north of the 38th parallel.According to North Korean statistics, from January to December 1949, South Korea conducted a total of 1,836 military provocations on the 38th Parallel. At the beginning of 1950, a large-scale massing of armed forces began in the 38th parallel area.The smell of gunpowder is getting stronger and stronger, and a civil war is inevitable. In April 1950, North Korean leaders such as Kim Il Sung and Pak Hyun-yong visited the Soviet Union and discussed the situation on the Korean peninsula and the way of Korean reunification with Soviet leader Stalin and others. In mid-May, Kim Il-sung and Park Hyun-yong went to Beijing to inform Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other Chinese leaders of the talks with Stalin. The United States actively supported Syngman Rhee's activities and instigated them. On January 26, 1950, the U.S. and South Korea signed an agreement on U.S. military aid to South Korea. On March 15, the U.S. decided to give South Korea $10.97 million in military aid.One week before the outbreak of the Korean Civil War, John Foster Dulles, an adviser to the US State Department, went to South Korea for activities, inspected the 38th parallel, and encouraged him to say: "No enemy, no matter how big it is, can stop you." Powerful. But I hope that you will make further efforts, because the time for you to show your great strength is not far." "If you compromise with communism, it is tantamount to choosing a path that will lead to disaster." "The United States is ready to give is doing so South Korea, which is fighting communism bravely, will provide all necessary spiritual and material assistance." Even senior officials of the U.S. State Department admitted that Dulles' trip to South Korea and his activities on the 38th parallel affirmed Make North Korea feel extremely disturbed.Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Omar?Bradley was also active in Japan and discussed the North Korean issue with MacArthur. He did not leave Japan until June 24, the day before the outbreak of the Korean Civil War, and returned to the United States.The long-term small-scale armed conflicts and frictions on the 38th Parallel finally changed qualitatively on June 25, 1950. There were fierce gunfires that were different from the past, and a large-scale civil war broke out in North Korea. At this time, South Korea had 8 infantry divisions with 98,000 soldiers, more than 6,000 coast guards, 45,000 police forces, more than 840 guns of various types, more than 1,900 2.36-inch rocket launchers, more than 2,100 military trucks, and 71 combat ships. ship. In June 1949, when the U.S. occupying forces withdrew from South Korea, a general of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff testified before Congress: "We feel that the (South Korean) troops are better equipped than the North Korean troops." U.S. Embassy in South Korea William, the head of the military advisory group?Roberts called the South Korean Army the "Hero of Asia". Until the Korean Civil War broke out in June 1950, when Roberts' term of office expired, he bid farewell to a reporter of the American "Time" magazine in the Far East. The reporter wrote in the article: " Most observers now believe that the South Korean Army, with 100,000 troops, is the largest in Asia." On this point, even Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Omar?Bradley is convinced too. North Korea has 10 infantry divisions (3 of which are composed of Koreans who participated in the Chinese People's Liberation Army, returned to North Korea in July 1949 and April 1950, about 40,000 people), 1 tank brigade, A total of 135,000 people, including several coast guard brigades and air forces, are equipped with Soviet-style T-34 medium tanks, Yak fighter jets, 122mm howitzers and other weapons. After the war broke out, both the North and the South blamed the other for launching the attack first.The Korean People's Army developed very smoothly, and it liberated Kaesong, which is located south of the 38th parallel, that day. On the 26th, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea issued an order: it decided to appoint Kim Il-sung, Park Hyun-yong, Hong Myeong-hee, Kim Chaek, Cui Yong-gun, Park Il-woo, and Jung Joon-tae to form a military committee, with Kim Il-sung as the chairman Therefore, all power in the country is concentrated in the military committee, and the party, government, military and civilian organs at all levels and all the people must absolutely obey the orders and instructions of the military committee.