The Wars Of History
Painted portrait of soldiers in fur-lined winter hats marching through snow in the Korean War

The file on

Korean War

1950-1953

Documentary coming soon

The guns stopped in July 1953, but no peace treaty was ever signed, and the line where the fighting froze still splits one people into two countries. In this hour-long episode of The Wars Of History Podcast, Mike tells the full story of the Korean War, often called the Forgotten War, from Japanese colonial rule to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) of today. It's a conversational deep dive that gives a fair hearing to North and South Korean civilians and soldiers, China and its People's Volunteers, the United States and the sixteen United Nations nations that sent combat troops, and the millions of divided families still waiting for an ending.

Next, the invasion of June 25, 1950: Stalin's approval, the fall of Seoul, the Han River bridge, refugees on the roads, the Bodo League killings and North Korean occupation, the UN Security Council vote during the Soviet boycott, Truman's decision, Task Force Smith, No Gun Ri, and the Pusan Perimeter. We meet General Paik Sun-yup, the student soldiers of Pohang, and troops from Britain, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Ethiopia, Colombia and more, plus army desegregation and Puerto Rico's Borinqueneers.

Then MacArthur's gamble at Inchon, the recapture of Seoul, the march to the Yalu, China's decision to enter the War to Resist America and Aid Korea, Peng Dehuai, Mao Anying, the Chosin Reservoir, and the Hungnam evacuation, including the SS Meredith Victory, which carried some fourteen thousand refugees.

After that, Ridgway's revival of the Eighth Army, Truman firing MacArthur, "old soldiers never die," Omar Bradley's "wrong war" testimony, the Imjin River and Kapyong, Heartbreak Ridge and Pork Chop Hill, Triangle Hill (Shangganling), MiG Alley and its secret Soviet pilots, MASH helicopters, the bombing of the North, and the prisoner-of-war deadlock at Panmunjom.

Finally, Eisenhower, Stalin's death, Rhee's prisoner release, the armistice of July 27, 1953, Operation Big Switch, and the war's human cost. We look at Korean War orphans and adoption, the 1983 KBS broadcasts that reunited more than ten thousand families, North-South family reunions, the Joint Security Area and DMZ wildlife, the 2018 Panmunjom summit, remains coming home, and two Koreas that took very different paths. We close with eight lessons from the war.

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