9781422285961

The Korean War

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Harry S. Truman never asked Congress for a war declaration. Truman even resisted using the word war in connection with Korea. He referred to the hostilities as a “police action.” For years, the official government designation was “Korean conflict.” That rankled many Americans who served in Korea. It seemed to suggest that the fighting there wasn’t serious enough to qualify as a full- fledged war. Nothing could be further from the truth. As one Korea veteran noted, “This was an all-out war.” A Painful History The Korean Peninsula is located along the eastern coast of Asia. China forms most of the peninsula’s northern boundary. Russia (formerly the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR) abuts a small section of the

This Japanese print shows the Russians surrendering Chemulpo (later called Inchon) to Japanese forces in 1904. In the background on the right is the city’s 40-foot-high seawall, a formidable obstacle for attacking armies.