Who Was Responsible For The Korean War Essay

World War II divided Korea into a Communist, northern half and an American-occupied southern half, divided at the 38th parallel. In the summer of 1950 communist forces of North Korea invaded the capitalist South across the 38th Parallel starting the Korean War (1950-1953). Whilst it could be argued that the actions of the north or south alone started the Korean war it is more likely that the war is the fault of either the communist north or capitalist south. This is because neither side could perform a great deal without the permission of their superiors. However, their superiors both have huge parts to play in the outbreak of the Korean war. It could be argued that the actions of the North played a large part in the breakout of war. According to Khrushchev’s Memoirs in 1971, Kim Il Sung was responsible for the war, although Stalin gave his blessing. North Korea was strong on self-reliance and held distrust of foreigners including the Russians. This was proven when the North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, went to Russia asking the Russians whether or not he could invade the South. Stalin refused this approval and further shows why he can be debated if Russia was really responsible for the outbreak of the Korean War. However perhaps The North Korean leader Kim Il Sung ordered the

The tension was created hugely by Russia, by 1945 resources in the south ran so low that riots began to break out (the Soviets viewed physical resources like coal, food and water as their own). Stalin had also supplied the North Koreans with tanks and other equipment and Kim Il Sung could not have acted without Stalin’s agreement. As much as it could be argued that the Korean War is Stalin’s fault the lack of Communist documents brings confusion to the topic and makes “it difficult to establish what took place in the summer of 1950”, as explained by Allen