In 1950, the Cold War suddenly became hot. North Korea launched a full-scale invasion of South Korea. The Korean War would soon draw in nations from throughout the world. 33,000 Americans died in battle in Korea. When you include people who died in prison camps, or who simply froze to death, the total American deaths go up even higher to 54,000. How did the Korean Peninsula become the epicenter of a raging storm? How did that storm suck in the United States and its various allies? And what was the ultimate legacy of the Korean War? These are the questions that a brief (but entertaining) audiobook tries to answer. They examine the philosophies of both sides, and the series of events that pulled the war-weary free world into yet another conflict.
The context of the Cold War generally, and the communist takeover of China specifically
To be sure, this audiobook spends a lot of time on the historical context of the war. They mention various events in the Cold War – from the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, to the forgotten fighting in Greece and Turkey and Iran. They mention how the United States acquired its atomic monopoly in 1945, only to see that monopoly shattered by a Soviet explosion in 1949. And they mention Mao’s takeover of China, as the world’s most populous nation was now going communist. This last part is particularly important to cover, as communist China was one of the major players in the Korean War. This was America’s only full-scale war with China, who did not acquire nuclear weapons until a decade later. This explains why both sides were willing to confront each other head-on in Korea. Chinese casualties in the Korean War exceeded those of South Korea, and nearly approached those of its communist allies in North Korea.
Chinese Nationalist artillery during the Chinese Communist Revolution, 1948
Prior history in Korea, from ancient and medieval times to World War II and beyond
This audiobook also spends a lot of time on local Korean history. Some of this history dates back to the Middle Ages, or even earlier. But they also cover how the Japanese started to colonize Korea in earnest by 1910. There were also some historical precedents for the border called the 38th parallel. But, at the end of World War II, the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula finally ended. Soviet troops entered North Korea, stopping at the 38th parallel. Meanwhile, American troops entered South Korea, also stopping at the 38th parallel. They cover how factions in both North and South Korea wanted to have total Korean unification. What they disagreed about (and it was significant) was who was to control the Korean Peninsula. Would it be Syngman Rhee’s government in Seoul, or the communist government in Pyongyang? There was a history of small-scale border incidents between World War II and the Korean War. People on both sides tried to infiltrate the other nation. But it only turned into a full-scale invasion when North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950.
Photo taken upon the establishment of the North Korean government, 1946
The clash of visions within the American government, and how an armistice was reached
This audiobook spends a lot of time on the clash of visions within the American government. General Douglas MacArthur would later offer a blanket warning against getting involved in a “land war in Asia.” But he was the veteran of campaigns in the Pacific. And, during the Korean War, he wanted to bomb targets in mainland China, and even blockade the Chinese coast. It seems hard to square such things with his later warnings about a “land war in Asia.” He would later send a letter to Congress criticizing the Truman administration. Because of this insubordination, Truman finally fired Douglas MacArthur. This showed the world that, in the United States, the military reports to a civilian government. MacArthur even tried to run against Truman in 1952. But the election instead went to his old rival Dwight Eisenhower. When Eisenhower took over, the new president benefited from a relaxing of Soviet support for the North Koreans following Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953. Eisenhower also threatened to use atomic weapons in Korea. Because of these kinds of things, the Korean War finally ended in July of 1953.
Civilians killed during a night battle when fleeing from the North Koreans, 1950
This audiobook claims that the war was “not a victory,” despite our saving South Korea
This audiobook’s coverage of these things is truly fascinating. But the audiobook is largely ruined in the last five minutes. The audiobook proclaims that the Korean War was the first American conflict that was “not a victory.” It’s true that one of the initial American goals was to unite all of Korea into a democratic state. But one of the initial communist goals was to unite all of Korea into a communist state. Therefore, it’s actually true that the victory was not complete for either side, but we were still able to save South Korea from going utterly communist. What began as a defensive perimeter around Pusan was later turned into the full liberation of South Korea. They remain a democratic nation (not to mention an economic powerhouse) to this day. I’m all right with this audiobook’s unflattering coverage of South Korean president Syngman Rhee. And I’m glad that they covered the atrocities committed against American prisoners of war by the communists. But this audiobook’s script was written by Joseph Stromberg, who also wrote the script for their audiobook about World War II. He echoes his prior arguments about “Asia for the Asians,” although he uses other words than these here. Specifically, he argues that we should “leave it to the Asians” to decide whether to adopt the mistaken system of communism. The trouble, as with the claims of the earlier audiobook, is that the local Asians were offered little choice when they were invaded by Japanese militarists or by Chinese communists. If they were supposed to have the “power to decide,” they wouldn’t have it by being sacrificed at the whims of the local bullies. Besides that, it was indeed better to contain communism (as much as possible) to its then-current borders, rather than to allow it to expand further.
South Koreans fleeing further south in mid-1950, after the North Korean army invades
The ending of the war was still good, even if it was imperfect regarding North Korea
This is why the ending for this audiobook strikes me as rather silly. The author’s isolationist sentiments are a little easier to understand, although they would still seem to be mistaken. But saying that the Korean War was “not a victory” for the United States seems to require a utopian outcome for the entire war. If the war’s ending was not perfect, Stromberg seems to be saying, then it couldn’t have been good, either. If North Korea became one of the most terrible places in the world (and that part is quite true), then the war must somehow have been a “failure.” Similar arguments were used in the previous audiobook to question the American victory in World War II. In Stromberg’s view, this conflict just “led to the Cold War,” and so wasn’t really a victory at all. But both arguments are disastrously wrong, and those regarding World War II would seem particularly egregious. Utopian views are a little silly in the first place, and become even sillier when applied to wars. If true utopias were possible, one assumes that there would never be any shooting wars in the first place. Yet Mr. Stromberg seems to expect a “perfect” outcome from both conflicts, before he can pronounce them “victories.” In this naïve view, freeing Western European nations like Britain and France means “nothing,” because Eastern Europe instead went communist. I’m having some trouble following Stromberg’s fuzzy logic here.
Delegates sign the Korean Armistice Agreement in P'anmunjŏm
Conclusion: The audiobook is largely ruined by some silly comments in its last five minutes
In fairness, the rest of the audiobook is actually quite good, and helps to present both sides of the relevant American debates fairly. But the audiobook is severely marred by these silly comments in its closing segments, making it a second-rate resource regarding the Korean War. The five-hour television series “Korea: The Forgotten War” is a much better examination of this conflict. It’s true that this latter series interviews only Americans, and doesn’t attempt the kind of strategic overview that’s genuinely offered by this audiobook. But the information in this television series is actually quite good, helping it to transcend the unfortunate limitations of its budget. If you’re after a good overview of the Korean War, this is the source to which I would instead turn. This audiobook is entertaining, and often quite good. But its closing segments offer some of the most vacuous platitudes that I have ever heard, which would seem unworthy of a serious company like Knowledge Products.
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Part of an audiobook series
The United States at War
The Korean War (1950-1953)
Others to be covered later
See also the audiobook series
The United States Constitution
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