Why the USA and the UN stepped in

G3 Elective History - syllabus K336, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can judge how far the superpowers got involved in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and what difference it made.

    Syllabus K336, The Cold War, Learning Outcomes. Evaluate the extent and impact of superpowers involvement in civil wars with reference to the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Make a guess

When North Korea invaded in June 1950, the USSR could have vetoed UN action. Why do you think it did not?

  1. The veto power did not yet exist in 1950, so it had no way to block it.
  2. It agreed that North Korea had broken the peace and should be stopped.
  3. It was boycotting the Council, so it was not there.
Show the answer

It was boycotting the Council, so it was not there.

The USSR stayed away because Taiwan's Nationalists held China's seat. Absence meant no veto, not agreement.

The USA saw the invasion as a test of containment and the UN as a threat to peace, so they defended the South, then pushed north.

North Korean forces invaded on 25 June 1950 and quickly pushed the South's army back. US President Harry Truman feared that if the invasion succeeded, communists would attempt more advances, and other countries would doubt American promises. This was containment: resisting the spread of communist power. He sent air and naval support, then ground troops. Defending Rhee's government did not mean it was fully democratic, or that the USA approved of everything it did.

The United Nations (UN), an organisation of states that aims to keep the peace, condemned the invasion through its Security Council. It recommended that members help South Korea. This was collective security: countries acting together against a threat to peace.

Sort these

Mark it like an examiner. An American cartoon of July 1950 shows a North Korean soldier on strings held by "MOSCOW" stepping towards the 38th parallel. A large man labelled "UNITED NATIONS" blocks him, saying "Aggression stops here." Behind him is a small house labelled "SOUTH KOREA". A caption asks: "Remember Manchuria, 1931 and Abyssinia, 1935?" The question: what is the message? Sort each answer into its level.

Groups: Level 1: describes the cartoon, Level 2: a sub-message, Level 3: main message with support, Level 4: main message, support and context.

  • The message is that the North Korean army was a puppet of Moscow.
  • The message is that the UN will stop Soviet-backed aggression in Korea: its figure blocks the puppet soldier and says aggression stops here.
  • Drawn in the USA just after the UN asked members to help South Korea, it urges readers to back UN action: unlike in 1931 and 1935, aggression will be stopped this time.
  • The message is that South Korea was small and could not defend itself.
  • The message is that the UN will not repeat the League's failures: the caption recalls Manchuria and Abyssinia as it stands firm.
  • The cartoon shows a soldier on strings and a big man labelled United Nations.
Show the answer

Level 1: describes the cartoon

  • The cartoon shows a soldier on strings and a big man labelled United Nations. Listing what is drawn is description. It never says what the cartoonist wants readers to believe.

Level 2: a sub-message

  • The message is that the North Korean army was a puppet of Moscow. This is a true point from one detail, the strings, but it misses the main point about the UN stopping aggression.
  • The message is that South Korea was small and could not defend itself. This reads one detail, the small house, as the whole point, so it stays a sub-message.

Level 3: main message with support

  • The message is that the UN will stop Soviet-backed aggression in Korea: its figure blocks the puppet soldier and says aggression stops here. It states the main message and supports it with details from the picture and its words.
  • The message is that the UN will not repeat the League's failures: the caption recalls Manchuria and Abyssinia as it stands firm. It states the main message and backs it with the caption, but does not use the date to explain the cartoonist's view.

Level 4: main message, support and context

  • Drawn in the USA just after the UN asked members to help South Korea, it urges readers to back UN action: unlike in 1931 and 1935, aggression will be stopped this time. It gives the main message, supports it, and uses the date and context to explain why the cartoonist wanted to persuade readers then.

Normally, the USSR could block such a decision with its veto. But it was boycotting the Council, refusing to attend, because China's seat was still held by the Nationalist government in Taiwan, not Mao's communist government. So Soviet absence meant no veto, not Soviet agreement. Troops from several countries fought under a US-led UN command.

South Korean and UN forces held on around Pusan, a port in the south-east. In September 1950, UN forces landed at Inchon, near Seoul, behind the North's army. This threatened the North's supply routes and turned the war around.

Next, UN forces crossed the 38th parallel into North Korea. This went beyond saving the South: it aimed to reunite Korea under a non-communist government. That threatened China's communist neighbour and brought hostile troops close to China.

Containment
Stopping communism from spreading.
Soviet boycott
USSR absent, so it could not veto UN action.
Inchon, September 1950
UN landing that turned the war.

Worked example: Why Truman thought Korea mattered

In his statement of 27 June 1950, Truman called the invasion armed communist expansion and linked the US response to international rules.

  1. Detail: Truman calls it more than a Korean quarrel.
  2. Link: if it succeeded, he feared more attacks and loss of allies' trust.
  3. Inference: defending the South was about containment worldwide.

Watch out for this

Because the Security Council approved action, the USSR must have supported it.

The USSR was boycotting the Council. Its absence meant no veto, not agreement.

Check your understanding

Why could the UN Security Council act against North Korea?

  1. China's communist government used its veto to support the South.
  2. The USSR voted in favour of helping South Korea to avoid a wider war.
  3. The USSR was boycotting the Council, so it cast no veto.
Show the answer

The USSR was boycotting the Council, so it cast no veto.

Yes. Soviet absence allowed the resolutions to pass.

Check your understanding

Why could the USA fight in Korea under the United Nations flag in 1950?

  1. The USSR was boycotting the Security Council, so it could not veto the resolutions.
  2. Mao's China asked the UN to defend South Korea from the North.
  3. The Soviet Union voted to support intervention because it wanted a quick ceasefire.
Show the answer

The USSR was boycotting the Security Council, so it could not veto the resolutions.

The USSR was protesting that Communist China did not hold China's seat.

Sources and context

Background reading for this chapter.

  • Truman Library: statement of 27 June 1950

    Paraphrase of President Truman's public statement of 27 June 1950, held by the Truman Library.

  • FRUS: Zhou statement, December 1950

    Paraphrase of Chinese foreign minister Zhou Enlai's statement of 22 December 1950, transmitted to the UN on 23 December and reproduced in a US diplomatic telegram of 24 December.

  • National Archives: Korean Armistice Agreement

    Paraphrase of the Korean Armistice Agreement, 27 July 1953, preamble and Article I, held by the US National Archives.

  • Truman Library: statement of 27 June 1950

    An original cartoon drawn for these notes in the style of an American newspaper cartoon published in July 1950, soon after the UN Security Council asked member states to help South Korea. It is not a copy of a real cartoon.

  • Truman announces American action, 27 June 1950

    Extract from President Truman's public statement on the situation in Korea, 27 June 1950, two days after North Korea invaded. A US government document in the public domain; text from the American Presidency Project.

  • the UN Security Council resolution, 27 June 1950

    Extract from United Nations Security Council Resolution 83 (1950), adopted on 27 June 1950 by 7 votes to 1 (Yugoslavia), while the Soviet representative was boycotting the Council. A UN record.

  • China's warning, October 1950

    Extract from a circular telegram from the US Acting Secretary of State to US diplomatic posts, 5 October 1950, two days before American forces crossed the 38th parallel. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, volume VII, document 614. A US government document in the public domain. (Abbreviations as in the original.)

  • MacArthur advises Truman, 15 October 1950

    Extract from the record of the meeting between President Truman and General MacArthur at Wake Island, 15 October 1950, compiled by General Omar Bradley from notes kept by the officials from Washington. Top Secret. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, volume VII, document 680. A US government document in the public domain.

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