Chinese intervention in Korean War

The People’s Republic of China was only a year old when Mao Zedong made the decision to enter the Korean War. Mao was the only person with the power to choose every aspect of China’s involvement and overcome any obstacle falling in his way. Policy decisions and their implementation were strictly controlled and supervised by Mao himself.

By Kim Yun-sik

The People’s Republic of China was only a year old when Mao Zedong made the decision to enter the Korean War. Mao was the only person with the power to choose every aspect of China’s involvement and overcome any obstacle falling in his way. Policy decisions and their implementation were strictly controlled and supervised by Mao himself.

Politicians in Beijing felt that deploying Chinese troops to Korea may have serious consequences, including provoking the United States into an open conflict with China. Mao would not entertain objections to his plan and used his wisdom, leadership skills and authority to overcome objections. He emphasized the impact that the decision to enter the Korean War would have on maintaining and even enhancing the momentum of the Chinese communist revolution.

The Sino-Soviet Alliance Treaty was signed in February of 1950 during Mao’s visit to the Soviet Union. The signing symbolized a significant level of cooperation and a major commitment on the part of the Soviet Union to supply military equipment to China. It was agreed that in return for Chinese intervention in the Korean War, Stalin would provide both air support and ground equipment. The Kremlin then gave Mao the green light to go through North Korea and invade South Korea.

Korean communists entered the Chinese Civil War in 1946 and exited in 1949. The Koreans gave Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) in Manchuria substantial support which allowed them to maintain a favorable position during a confrontation with the Chinese Nationalist forces in the summer of 1949. Because of this historical solidarity, the Chinese Communist Party agreed to send between 50,000 and 70,000 Korean CCF soldiers and their weapons to Korea to fight for communism.

Chinese hostility toward the United States was amplified when the U.S. 7th Fleet was deployed to the Taiwan Strait immediately after the Korean War broke out. Mao was aware of the possibility of U.S.-China confrontations on three fronts. The first was Vietnam, the second Taiwan and the third Korea. Korea was a candidate because of its geographic proximity to Russia where China and the Soviets could fight side by side.

There were people who opposed this idea because they were concerned that the U.S. would be able to enter the mouth of the Yalu River. A second concern was that the U.S. might bomb Manchuria or Shanghai. In early July 1950, Chinese leaders decided to protect the northeast region of the Sino-Korea boundary and 10 divisions were ordered to assemble on the border.

At the same time, Mao issued an order to mobilize the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army and the 3rd and 4th Field Armies to enter Korea. Gen. Peng Dehuai was appointed commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army. Peng opted to dispatch 600,000 troops to Korea.

The 3rd Field Army was commanded by Gen. Chen Yi who oversaw the move into Korea with small battles in October with a major offensive occurring in November. The 4th Field Army was commanded by Gen. Lim Piao. The 4th Field Army had crossed the Yalu in Oct. 19, 1950, and went into hiding in the mountains.

The First Phase Chinese Offensive was launched on Oct. 25, 1950. The 1st ROK Division at Unsan encountered the CCF 39th Field Army, and on Oct. 27, the Sixth ROK Division had been badly beaten by the CCF near the Yalu. A week later, the CCF attacked the 8th U.S. Army at Unsan and forced it to withdraw across the Chongchon River.

The Second Phase Offensive began on the evening of Nov. 25 on the 8th Army front. Gen. Lim Piao’s CCF 13th Army Group consisting of 18 divisions first struck at the weakest elements of the ROK II Corps, breaking up the division within hours.

On Dec. 11, the 1st Marine and 7th Divisions withdrew to the perimeters of the Hungnam bridgehead. On Dec. 15, the 8th Army and ROK Army withdrew to below the 38th Parallel and on Christmas Eve the X Corps evacuated from the Hungnam beachhead entirely.

On Dec. 31 1950, U.N. forces evacuated Seoul and withdrew to the Pyeongtaek-Wonju-Samchoek line and regrouped. In early January 1951, CCF troops saw fierce fighting for two months and occupied Seoul.

In late January, an instruction was sent to Peng in which Mao bore all military burden on the Korean crisis and he argued that Chinese forces should hold their present position to deal with U.S. forces. Mao even argued that Chinese troops should push the combat line even further south, advancing to the 37th or 36th parallel. This was completely wrong and misjudged.

From Feb. 11 to 17 CCF’s fourth offensive was launched into the U.S. 2nd Division sector and the 23rd Regiment heavily engaged and fought off attacks from five CCF divisions at Chipyongni. On Feb. 21, Gen. Matthew Ridgway ordered the IX and X Corps to begin Operation Killer, a general advance north across the east Han to trap and kill all enemy units. On Feb. 28, enemy resistance south of the Han collapsed. On March 7, Operation Ripper began advancing and crossing the Han with two full strength U.S. corps in the central and eastern zones against the enemy occupying Seoul. On March 14, Seoul was retaken by the 8th Army, which again reached the 38th parallel on April 6.

In the Korean War, the People’s Republic of China paid a high price for today’s China and its communist revolution. It lost 183,000 soldiers, including Mao’s son, Mao Anying who was a lieutenant in the Soviet Army and was very much admired by Stalin, killed on a battlefield in Korea on Nov. 25, 1950. Peng did not tell Mao of his son’s death for weeks for fear of Mao’s reaction. After the war Peng became defense minister but he was purged for standing up to Mao. He died a gruesome death in 1974.

Let’s review the Cold War phenomena in East Asia. China had a great impact on the Cold War. When did the Cold War end? Did it end with President Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 or with the U.S. defeat in Vietnam in 1975? Did the Cold War end with the death of Mao and the downfall of the Gang of Four in 1976? Did it end with the rise of Deng Xiaoping in 1978 and the promulgation of his new economic policies? Suffice it to say that Deng’s economic reform, reversing Mao’s policies which began the transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy, adopted elements of capitalism after Mao’s death.

The writer is a professor at the Asian Division, the University of Maryland, Yongsan, Seoul. He can be reached at rokmankim@hotmail.com.