Who Won the Korean War?

Understanding who won the Korean War requires that that individuals understand a bit about political struggles that the United States was engaged in throughout its history. The Korean War is directly related to other conflicts in which the United States was previously engaged. The Korean War occurred because of tensions between South Korea and North Korea and the tensions between the northern and southern portions of Korea were actually carried over from World War II.  Because of the complicated history, the winner of the Korean War depends on who you consider to have been involved in the war.

The Korean War was in some ways caused by remaining tensions and issues from World War II. During World War II, the United States and Japan were fierce adversaries. Japan had sole control over Korea before and during World War II.

With the defeat of the Japanese during World War II, The Americans decided to divide Korea along the 38th parallel. The southern portion of Korea would become the part occupied by the United States and the northern part of Korea would be occupied by the Soviet Union.

When the United States initially decided to divide Korea there was a government in tact called the People’s Republic of Korea which that was established after the Japanese surrendered to the Allies in World War II. However, the United States forces that were in the southern part of Korea did not want the People’s Republic of Korea to remain because of fears of communism.

The United States and the Soviet Union met to agree upon establishing an independent government in Korea without consulting with the Koreans. Even while these meetings were occurring, it is important to remember that Korea was still divided.

The Koreans ultimately revolted against foreign rule because they did not want to be governed by another country, as they had been by the Japanese for more than thirty five years.

The Koreans in the southern portion established their own government called the Republic of South Korea, with the anti-communist leader Syngman Rhee. In response, the Soviet Union set up the communist North Korea which was ruled by Kim Il-sung.

Eventually both the United States and the Soviet Union would withdraw from both North and South Korea, leaving the two separate countries to spar over which regime would rule over all of Korea. The issue of political and economic policy of democratic and communist status contributed to tensions leading up to the Korean War.

Invasion of South Korea and United Nations Intervention

In many ways, North Korea would cause trouble and disrupt peace by invading South Korea on a number of occasions. The United Nations saw these actions by North Korea as a blatant act of aggression and eventually the United States would send military assistance to aid the South Koreans in protecting themselves against the attacks by North Korea.

The Soviet Union objected to the gathering of resentment and opposition against North Korea and the Soviet Union felt that the United Nations was allowing the United States to rage war on behalf of South Korea.

It has been stated that President Truman acknowledged that invading North Korea on behalf of South Korea was a strategic method in order to contain the spread of communism. This acknowledgement that the United States was trying to control the spread of communism plays a very important part in understanding who won the Korean War.

Who Won the Korean War?

Ultimately, it is somewhat difficult to say who won the Korean War. This war was officially ended when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. This armistice was an agreement between was actually between the United Nations Command Commander-in-Chief and the Korean People's Army commander and the commander of the Chinese People’s army which became involved in the war.

Some would say that there was not an official “winner” of the Korean War as there was simply an agreement to end the war. There is still communist North Korea and a democratic South Korea so no one country “won” the chance to make Korea a fully unified communist or democratic country. Overall, there was an agreement to stop fighting and no one really officially won the war.