Lessons from the Korean War

By Kwon Yule-jung

The most tragic incident in Korean history must be the Korean war which broke out in 1950. The war is still going on even after the fighting ended a long time ago. Some injured veterans still apply for registration for honoree status and benefits. No one knows when these compatriots’ war came to an end. The conflict resulted in unimaginable pain to all Koreans forever.

There are very meaningful lessons from the Korean conflict.

The war started at approximately four a.m. on Sunday, June 25th as North Korea invaded the South. It is an incontrovertible fact.

Contrary to this clear and transparent history, some side with the North Korean story claiming that South Korea invaded the North. If that was true, that the South intruded into the North, South Korea's armed forces could occupy the North's territories far beyond the 38th Parallel. Such an assumption is absolutely false. Once the war was finished, North Korean forces kept invading the South without resistance at all for nearly one month. "Who initiated the War" is a very significant question. In that sense, the North should be brought to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity in a unified Korea.

The second lesson is in regards to the President's escape from the capital of Seoul. The 75 year old commander-in-chief left Seoul at four a.m. on June 27, 48 hours after the war began. He was accused of leaving many Seoul residents behind. One day later, the main bridge linking the south and north of Seoul across the River Han was demolished leaving many civilians exposed to merciless killings. If the President had stayed at the presidential mansion, he and the first lady would have been captured the next day and been taken advantage of by the invading North. This means we would have been deprived of a free democracy and become ruled over by the ruthless dictator Kim. If this had taken place, the tyrant Kim Jong-un's dictatorship would prevail over the entire peninsula at the present. It would be the very worst case scenario. The President's decision to keep away from the North Korean armed forces reflected his guardian role in defending free democracy.

The last lesson ― the poorly organized South Korean armed forces which finally defeated the hostile enemy forces should be taken very seriously.

Many army commanders were about 30 years old in contrast to the average age of the soldiers at around 20. Only a 10 year age gap was also quite different from that of the age gap of the United States' commanders and service members. The supreme commander, Douglas MacArthur was 70 years old; the late 8th Army commander Walton Walker, 61; and others around 55. All of them were trained and educated at the United States Military Academy known as West Point or at ROTC programs at various universities and then commissioned and promoted in a systematic procedure. Unlike United States commanders, very young Korean commanders were poorly trained, educated and equipped just after basic military education during colonial times, and then only for short periods of time. The final and eventual defeat of the communist North was due to the U.S.-led allied forces. All Koreans should be grateful to the combat troops who dedicated themselves to a free democracy.

The writer is chief director of the Daejeon National Cemetery. Write to england6227@hanmail.net.