The Background of the Communist China’s Intervention in the Korea War

The Background of the Communist China’s Intervention in the Korea War

Communist  China intervened in the Korean War By Committing the Chinese Communist Forces in secrecy  to Korean under the slogan of Resist America and Assist Korea’ in mid-October, some four months after the out-break of the Korean War, which was a result of North Korea’s unprovoked invasion of south Korea. The war situation at this time was that the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, with the support of the United Nations forces, had launched a counter-attack and advanced up to the P’yongyang and Hamhung line, and Kim Il Sung’s regime was on the brink of collapse.

At the outset of the war, the North Korean Communist regime, which, with the purpose of communizing South Korea, had systematically prepared for the war with Chinese and Soviet support, secured relatively superior combat power and achieved a complete surprise attack. The North Korean People’s Army which captured Seoul three days after the invasion and reached the Naktong River in just over a month, appeared to have almost achieved its objective. On the other hand, South Korea, which was surprise – attacked by the North Korean People’s Army, relocated its government  to Pusan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army, which was slowly recovering from the shock of the surprise-attack, conducted delaying actions under the support of the United Nations forces, halted the enemy advance, and secured the Pusan perimeter, following an all-out battle along the Naktong River line, with the spirit of defending the fatherland and a free democracy, With the landing at Inch’on on September 15,  the friendly forces moved into counterattack, and not only pushed back invasion but reached the 38^th Parallel around the end of September, thus restoring the pre-war status. The friendly forces, forces. Which seized the operational initiative  over the enemy, advanced northward; the ROK Army crossed the 38^th Parallel on October l, followed by the United Nations forces to retaliate against  the enemy invasion  and achieve the sacred task of the unification of the country. The friendly forces made a swift and unopposed advance northward, seized P’yongyang, the North Korea(NK) capital, on October 19 and continued their advance toward the Korea-Manchuria border.

 The NK Army, which collapsed following the friendly forces’ Inch’on landing and the strategic envelopment and was unable to defend the 38^th Parallel line, continued its retreat, abandoned P’y ongyang,

and was fleeing toward the mountain nous country of P’yongan puk-do and Hamkyong puk-do. The Kim Il Sung regime virtually lost the capability to carry out the war and was evacuated to Shinuiju and Kanggye, moving from one place to another. The North Korea, however, taking advantage of the ‘Sanctuary of Manchuri’,  tried to reorganize its troops and urged them to fight it out to the end. In spite of its efforts, North Korea all alone wad unable to resist the friendly forces, and it was only a matter of the time until the regime would collapse.

Around this time, the friendly forces which had already reached the line of the Ch’ongch’on River and Tanch’on, launched a general offensive on October 24 to secure the Korea-Manchuria border, their final objective. Prior to this offensive, the United Nations Command (UNC) had been apprehensive over the possibility of China’s intervention; however, being unable to detect any indications of Chinese intervention, the UNC surmised that the opportune time for China’s entry into the war had already passed. However, this wad a miscalculation. The United Nations forces, which had launched its offensive based on this enormous miscalculation, encountered unexpectly  huge enemy forces the very next day, and consequently not only has the friendly forces of - fensive  halted, but they were also thrown into chaos when counterattacked by the enemy. The huge number of troops were the Chinese Communist Forces. With the purpose of assisting Kim Il Sung regime which was on the brink of collapse, the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) secretly crossed the Yalu River just ad the friendly forces captured P’yongyang, The CCF then advanced to the area north of the Ch’ongch’on River, took defensive positions, and struck the friendly forces by surprise.

The CCF intervention in the Korean War took place and was confirmed as stated above. The CCF’s entry into the war turned the tide of the war into a new phase: the war situation was transferred from offensive to defensive. The friendly forces were forced to withdraw when they were close to the Yalu and the Tumen Rivers. The war situation developed into a confrontation between the NK Army and the CCF vs the ROK and UN forces, in other words, a showdown between Communist forces and United Nations forces. Thus the Korean War was linked with the then Cold War competition. It wad the sharpest confrontation between the western and the eastern camps since the Second World War and stood at a crossroad as to whether the war would be limited to the Korean Peninsula or enlarged into another world war.

In short. The China’s entry into the war not only nullified the hope of unification, the nation’s long cherished dream, but also forced the nation deep into the calamity of a greater war. (Consequently, though in territory the war was restricted to the Korean Peninsula, with the CCF intervention, the war at its final stage turned into a war of international character and was prolonged for two years and nine months more before it came to a cease-fire.)

When Communist China intervened  in the Korean War, it had been barely one year since it had established the communist regime (October 1, 1949), having expelled Nationalist China to Taiwan following the Nationalist Communist intra-war. At this time the Chinese Communist regime faced numerous difficult problems; it was yet to accomplish the occupation of Taiwan, its paramount revolutionary task; politically, it had to consolidate the Chinese people under its regime; economically, it had to rebuild a war-shattered economy; and militarily, it was to demobilize its huge and reorganize it into a modernized army.

Though many of the revolutionary tasks were yet to be achieved and the remnants of the Nationalist Forces still resisted in many areas, upon receiving the requests to send the Chinese troops from both Stalin and Kim Il Sung on October l, the same day that the ROK Army crossed the 38^th parallel, Mao decided on October 2 to enter the war under the slogans that “When lips hurt, teeth feel chilly”, “Resist America and Assist Korea,” and “Secure the house and defend the country.” Following this decision, the CCF crossed the Yalu with the utmost secrecy and intervened in the Korean War around October 19, the day when the ROK Army captured P’yongyang.

What were the objectives of China’s intervention in the war and by what process was the decision of committing troops to the war made? What were the CCF strategies and how could the CCF cross the Yalu River undetected? This chapter narrates systematically the background and process from the war planning stage to the crossing of the Yalu, primarily referring to th materials provided from China and the Soviet Union.

BIBLIOGRAPHY : KOREA INSTITUTE OF MILITARY HISTORY REPUBLIC OF KOREA