Korean War

It was June 25, 1950. It was a usual Sunday morning, but the atmosphere in Seoul was different. At 1:10 PM in the afternoon, Seoul's radio broke the news. The North Korean army started large-scale attacks across the 38th parallel which then was the border between the North and South. The report further said the North Korean units are headed by the tanks along the Dongduchun route directly north of Seoul.
• Korean War: On June 25, 2000, the Washington Post published this cartoon, telling how the Korean War started. I saw the first unit of American soldiers on July 5 in Taejon (south of Seoul).

• War Stories. There are many Korean War stories which are well known and which are not. There are some stories I am the only person who can tell.

• Let us look at photos collected by Alan Taylor.

• on February 8, 1948, the North Korean Army was inaugurated with Kim Il-Sung as the supreme commander. However, the true architect of the N.K. People's Army was Gen. Terentiy Stikov who came to Korea as the commander of the Red Army in North Korea, and later became the Soviet ambassador to N. Korea.

• John Foster Dulles was sent to Korea two weeks before the War started. He visited the 38th parallel (dividing the South and the North) to see what was going on. South Korea's defense ministry released this photo to warn Joseph Stalin and Kim Il-Sung that the United States was committed to defend the South. However, North Korea used this photo to assert that Dulles ordered the South Korean army to attack the North. Because of this photo, there are still many people who think the Ko War was started by the South supported by the United States. Courtesy of the North Korean propaganda literature.

• Seoul, in the afternoon of June 28, 1950. Associated Press photo.

• Un-invited Guests in Seoul: On June 29, before the dawn, Soviet-built T34 tanks driven by North Korean troops moved into Seoul, four days after crossing the 38th parallel. The motor cycles in this photo were taken by Soviet troops from the Germans during World War II and then were given to the N.Korean Army. Photo from Hankook-Ilbo.

  On June 4 (1950), three weeks before June 25 (1950), I was at the spot (south side) on the 38th parallel where the those T-34 tanks crossed the border. At that time, there were no unusual troop activities in the North. But they were building a road toward the border. I was there with the chief intelligence team of the South Korean army, but the team did not take this information seriously. This road was for those tanks which destroyed the entire South Korean army guarding Seoul during the first four days of the War, and destroyed the 24th Division of the U.S. Army four weeks later in Daejon.

• Let us look at some tank photos.

• Korean War YouTube